Roaring Springs

Monday would seem, was and maybe is, our last really hot day of the summer.  So my friend Natalie asked me to please go with her and her two kids to Roaring Springs.  For those of you not in Idaho it's our one and only (I know sad) water park.  Natalie had a free pass and Gabe was free so we went. 

We were in the kiddie pool area all of 30 seconds and I couldn't find Emma.  Natalie and I looked for about five minutes for her.  All the while I'm talking to myself, "Be calm Casey, it will be okay.  When you find her don't kill her there will be witnesses...stay calm." I finally asked the life guard if they have a procedure for lost kids because I being mother of the year had lost my daughter.  It's true I was feeling like really I can't keep track of my kids at all, which by the way was Daryl's concern with this whole adventure.  I had told him it would be fine and that I could handle it. HA! Emma loves to prove me wrong.  I guess that's her job.  Anyways back to the story.  The lifeguard tells me to go talk to this guy with a radio and as I start to walk over there, I see a lady with a radio and Emma in tow.  Turns out Emma left the kiddie area, climbed the stairs and went off the drop off slides pictured above.  It's like a 6-7 foot drop into a 10 foot deep pool.  The park employee who so nicely is bringing my daughter back to me says, "the guards had to pull her out of the pool." I'm screaming in my head BIG SHOCKER! I couldn't believe that the "guards" let her down the slide.  

So Emma then is forced by the mean mom she's been blessed with to become an appendage to my arm for a while.  When all is said and done she looks up at me and says, "Mom those big slides are so much fun. We can do it again and you can catch me."  Part of me is still upset but more of me is so excited that she loves things like this.  My little adrenaline junkie.

My Gabbers loved this slide and we had to do it a couple of times.  This adventure will be so much more fun when everyone can carry their own mats.  Gabe and I went down the dark tube slide and we got to the bottom and he said, "Mom that was spooky.  Let's do it again."  I'm so thankful to have two little thrill riders.  It will make family vacations so much more fun.  At least for me. 

We did have a lot of fun and were safely returned home.  We'll try again another time.  Each year gets a little bit easier.  Thank goodness.  Happy summer to you all.  It's sadly almost over.  BUMMER!

Infertility, Hysterectomies, and tears oh my!

This Friday I'm scheduled to have the much waited for hysterectomy.  It's a laproscopic procedure, so hopefully the recovery won't be too bad.  It can't be worse than double reconstructive knee surgery.  At least I hope.  

Many people have asked me why I haven't done this sooner.  So I thought that I would try to explain.  When there have been years of tears and years of trying to get pregnant, it's sometimes hard to decide what to do with all that trying.  We have some frozen embryo's and it's hard to know what is the best thing for the possibility of them working out to create a little Casey or a little Daryl.  But the fact of the matter is this...my insides are not healthy and even my doctor finally said that I have a much slimmer chance at this point of getting pregnant than ever. 

If you remember a few posts back I've had an intense pain on the right side of my body since the middle of May.  It is thought to be endometriosis attached to either the fallopian tube or more likely my appendix.  The pain is acting like appendicitis.  Lots of fun let me tell you. 

SOOOOOO please don't be sad or tell me your sorry that I'm having this done because I am so excited to be pain free.  I really can't wait.  I'm hoping to feel a ton better which my doctor assures me I will. YEAH! He said I'd have more energy which is good as Emma and Gabe seem to have an endless amount of that.

But I want to address infertility.  It's an ugly beasts full of lots of emotions and decisions.  My blogging friend wrote this on her blog,  "Infertility is full of a lot of great lessons, the premiere of which is that control is not an option. The next is that we should make plans but then play the cards we're dealt. And finally we've learned that the end may turn out to be different than we expected but can still be just as happy."  I never thought that in my life I would adopt my children, or that I'd have fifty or more youth that are still like my children.  I feel blessed to have gone down this road and I love that I have grown so much because of it.  Infertility has taught me that we don't always know what someone's cross is to bear but for sure they have one. So when you see that woman looking perfect and for sure her life is all put together, I'm sure there is something that is not.  Maybe her toilets aren't clean...but whatever it is I pray that we will be kind to each other as we don't know who needs our kind words today. 

I love the role of mother.  It is a hard one and some days I think why did I spend so much time crying about not being a mother. I didn't know how much easier life was, but it wasn't as full as it is now.  I know that I'm a better person for waiting for the Lord's timing.  And I thank all who have given me their shoulders to cry on and have buoyed me up along the way.  I am so blessed and so here we go, the insides that have wanted to be on the outside for so long, or at least that's how it felt every month, get their wish and I can move on knowing that this particular course of getting children has closed.  I can focus my efforts elsewhere.  So if you need some tampons I'm gladly giving mine away! YEAH!

Love to you all!

Friends are life's blessing

I have been blessed with many good friends that I don't know what I'd do without.  I remember when we first got married all of my friends were in Utah.  Or so it seemed.  But since then we have been blessed to get to know several couples and others through different wards and work situations that I feel that my bucket overflows.  

We have a fondue group.  We were friends with all three of the other couples but we all came together due to a love of cheese and chocolate.  What else do you need to connect you, really.  The beautiful thing is that our friendship has gone beyond fondue.  When we were in Russia these friends did more for us than I will ever be able to thank.  They sent me a baby shower.  It was so fun.  As soon as they heard what kids we were getting they went shopping.  They wrapped everything up and sent the box.  It was so fun to unwrap so many super cute clothes and I was so thankful for their style sense too.  It helped me in this fun adventure of shopping for kids clothes.  One of them also took care of our mail and bills for us while we were gone.  Her dedication to helping us was so very selfless.  It was so nice to know that things were being taken care of while we were gone.  They have been their for me when I was breaking down, having surgery or just to laugh.  I love these friends very much and I would hate to not have them in my life.  

I have another friend who seems to have gone through more than her share of trials.  The amazing thing about her is that she can laugh before she throws up.  She is so kind and generous, and would do anything for you.  We connected because we served together planning trek and that event changed our lives forever.  It's amazing to me how the Lord helps us to find the friends that we need.  She has been a great support as well and I love her.  She along with the others already mentioned, made sure that our house was cleaned and decorated for us to come home to from Russia.  They worked so hard to make things so nice for us when we got home I will never forget that sacrifice on their part.  Remember we came home in the middle of the Christmas - New Year holdiay time.  I'm sure that they had a ton on their plates and they took such great care of us.  

I have other friends that make sure I go to the gym, and take my kids and have cooked me dinners and such.  I have friends that have helped me weed my garden and have gone to dinner and a movie with me when I needed a break.  Or who will drop everything for a pedicure to make sure I get a break.  I have friends that lift me up spiritually and constantly fill my bucket.  I have friends that have made sure that my house is safe and animals are taken care of while we are out of town.  I have friends that are brilliant decorators and have helped me with my house.  I have friends that struggle and are real with me so that we can be there for each other.  

 

I have friends here in Boise and friends around the world.  And I am so thankful for them all.  I love reading your blogs and I love getting your emails.  I have many many friends and I'm sure you all don't want to read about them all.  I've just felt overwhelmingly blessed as so many people have offered to help me this week coming up. (I'm finally having that hysterectomy) I love you all and I'm so thankful for all of your support.

love to all my friends.  thanks for being in my life.

 

Birthdays are fun for princesses

There are no shoes in Princess Emma's kingdom.  Barefoot is the way to go!

The wonderful thing about adopting is that you get a kid who has your same birthday! Okay not me but Daryl.  So poor Daryl now shares his birthday with Emma.  I don't feel too bad but here we are more than half way through August and there has been no birthday celebration for my dear sweet husband. But Emma's birthday was a ton of fun.

Daryl was traveling so I did all the pre-party plans.  He did request that he got to be King so since it was his birthday too I found him a king costume.  Emma by the way wanted a princess party.  So we did her hair really curly and made her a princess.  And her little friends all came dressed like princesses.  We had a red carpet for them all to walk up and they were excited.  They were all oohing and ahhhing at each other it was great.  

We had a great feast of homemade chicken pops and mac & cheese, ham & cheese croissants, some veggies of course and the much requested lemonade.  The girls were so funny just chatting away.  

Princesses: Maya, Amberly, Jaycie, Sydney, Alyana, Emma, Nina

                              What a yummy feast!

To Emma the most important thing about birthdays are the balloons and cake. We had to have LOTS of balloons. Which we still have one hanging around our house. That hi float stuff really works.  She was also very excited to have a crown and a new wand.  It really is the simple things in life for her.  

We had a "real" princess come and teach the girls how to curtsey, and wave and to be nice.  Princesses should not be mean.  It was one of my former young women whom I love dearly.  Sara.  You should've seen the girls it was like seeing a Disney princess.  It was so much fun.  Princess Sara helped Emma open her presents and to be nice about it.  It was AWESOME!

The princesses made new crowns and we ate cupcakes.  It was so cute and they were so much fun.  Emma had a blast and it was so fun to see her be so excited.  The girls all played so nice together and were giggling nonstop.  

Making crowns

Emma blowing out her candles.  We had to do this twice so I could get the picture.

I hope that Emma will always think of herself as a princess.  I want to teach her that she is a true princess with a divine purpose here on earth.  She is an amazing young girl and I'm so thankful that she's a part of my life.  I love you Emma.

King Daryl with Princess Nina (our niece)

The Russians came!

Well I thought blogging would be a sure way to stay caught up on journaling and keeping track of all that has happened to us this past few weeks or maybe six weeks.  So I'm going to try and catch up and post some significant activities that we've experienced. 

The Russians came and what a blessing it was to have them here with us.  We sure love and miss them so much.  They are truly a part of our family. Ivan lived with us during the time that we were living in Siberia.  We are very thankful for that because it was nice to have his great Russian speaking abilities.  But more importantly it was nice to have him with us.  He is like a cross between a little brother and a son.  He is a tremendous person and I learned so 

much from him.  He was dating the very beautiful Ksusha while we lived there.  On Christmas Eve the night before we left Siberia Ivan proposed to Ksusha.  

They have to get married in Russia first and then leave the country to go to the temple.  Elder Beus was a senior missionary serving in Irkustk and Ulan Ude (I  know you're having fun trying to pronounce all this Russian tee hee) who is from Kuna, ID a suburb of Boise.  Ksusha is from Ulan Ude.  But more importantly Elder Beus had such a positive influence on Ivan as well.  Soooooo Ivan and Ksusha came here to BOISE to get sealed.  It was a wonderful thing to be in the temple with them and to feel such an amazing experience.  They will be such a huge blessing to the church in Russia.  

They were here for a couple of weeks so we did lots  of fun things.  We took them out to the Beus' and they got to tour the dairy.  They calves sucked on all of our fingers.  That was weird but fun.  We left the dairy and took them to my parents place.  My dad was great and took them to shoot guns.  Apparently the girls were sure shots.  Ksusha LOVED shooting guns.  We rode four wheelers, and fished, and had a barbeque.  It was a ton

of fun.  

We went to Big Jud's  and Daryl, Vitaly and Ivan ate the "Big Jud"  which is like one pound of hamburger on a huge bun, a pound of fries or tater tots, and a drink. It was disgusting and total and complete gluttony.  But they did get their picture on the wall.

Our 4th of July was spent shopping, shopping and of course more shopping.  It was fun to help them find some good deals.  Ksusha is a great shopper.  Ivan says he will not go shopping for a very very long time.  We ended the day with swimming at the Smith's and watching all the fireworks going on from there.  

We went to Smith's cabin and taught the Russians to water ski and played on the tube and jet skis.  We were able to get Vitaly, Ivan and Ksusha up on skis.  Unfortunately the Smith's had to leave early and we really missed having them there.  We are so grateful for their generosity and letting us stay there and to play with the boat and Jet ski's. It was a ton of fun.  Even Daryl went on the tube.  

Ksusha, Katya, and Brandi on the tube.

Ivan, Daryl, and Ksusha.  Daryl is trying not to die and Ivan and Ksusha are laughing so hard they can hardly hold on. Good times for sure!

We finally got Ksusha up and it was fun! 

Ivan was a pro one more day and he would've been ready for tournament...or at least one ski.

Vitaly was a quick learner too and did great.  He tried to switch to one ski but we didn't get him up.  

Truly the two weeks or so was really fun but my highlight was hearing them share their conversion stories and testimonies to our ward and friends.  I feel so strengthened by them.  I loved having them here and cried for along time after I dropped them off at the airport.  I'm so thankful to know so many wonderful Russians and for the way they have changed my life.   They are great people.  

Okay I am now going to make a shameless plug....Due to visa requirements in Russian the church will not be sending any more young missionaries to Russia.  Right now the Russian government is requiring that all missionaries leave the country every 90 days to renew their visas.  They are sending them to Prague, Madrid, or Paris, mostly due to some requirement changes.  It use to be every 6 months and they could go to places like Kiev, Estonia ect. Places that are closer and cheaper.  sooooo what does this mean.  One that we need to pray for Russia and the church is still allowing senior couples to go.  If you know of anyone that is of senior couple age, this is a great opportunity to serve.  They will be put to work and work hard.  It would be an amazing experience for them and they would leave their heart there.  I know that I did.  Let me know if you have any questions we could hook them up with the Smith's or other mission presidents who could give them more information.