Crazy Casey's Life

"Amen! We're Done!"

2009-01-19T10:13:00.000-08:00

So Daryl left for Amsterdam on Saturday morning, and the one thing that is the most stressful for me while he is gone is going to church. Emma has really become a great kid during sacrament meeting, but Gabe is another story. It's usually like a WWF match and usually Daryl takes care of it. Which I am so very appreciative. Yesterday was a special day because two of the young men who've been such a huge part of our lives spoke. One is leaving to Argentina and one was coming home from Argentina. So I really wanted to listen to their talks. During Ryan's talk Gabe was pretty good. But when Ryan said Amen at the end of his talk Gabe yells out (he has no volume control) AMEN! WE'RE DONE! Needless to say most people in the chapel started laughing.

This comes after three weeks ago when I was wheelchair bound at church, Gabe got away from Daryl and ran up the isle with Daryl trying to reverently speed walk. Gabe continued up onto the podium and across the choir seats to the other side. Luckily one of Daryl's deacons was sitting there and stopped Gabe. Again everyone laughed as Daryl and the delinquent went out the side door. What can I say we provide entertainment at church. But we really are working on these things everyday! Oh the joys of parenthood.

For better or for worse

2008-11-28T10:36:00.001-08:00

I'm so thankful for this man. He has made my life so much better. Since August he's had to do my job and his and has done it without complaint. I love him so much. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and Daryl prepared our whole meal. It was wonderful and I was thankful and am thankful that he was just so willing to jump in and cook our dinner. He also took care of me and the kids all day long. He has done the laundry and for some reason both kids have been wetting the bed a ton in the last couple of weeks so he's had to wash the sheets for the kids several times. He has been completely busy with his job and has seemed to find a way to make things work and stay on top of the work load. He is my super hero.

But looking beyond the last two months. He has supported me and been my shoulder to cry on. He has helped me to reach my goals and is my constant support, through many a trial. I love that he still makes me laugh and that he is tender with me and my kids. I'll probably be in trouble for writing this as he will see it as ruining his tough guy image. But I just couldn't stand not writing about him.

One of my favorite things is to watch Daryl play with our kids. It seems to me that adding children to our family has in so many ways changed him. He's so protective and playful. He looks for every opportunity to spend time with them. I love that Daryl will take all of us on individual dates and make sure that we each feel his special love for us.

He loves to give gifts and I might add is very thoughtful and usually picks the best gifts. The best gift he has given me is the way that he leads in our home. He fulfills his Priesthood duties and makes sure that we have family home evening, scripture study and family prayer. I love that he has studied other men in the church and the prophets and tries to emulate them in the way he cares for our family.

I love that he is a service junkie. When we were first married I thought we would spend every Saturday of our lives helping people move or lay sod, or put in sprinklers. But moving out of a singles ward helped that some. But my husband is always aware of service that needs to be done and engages our family in that service.

I think it's great the amount of time he spends with the youth. They love him and they love Sports in the Park. I love that he takes the opportunity to love, play and teach them. I hope some day the youth will realize just how much Daryl loves them.

So to my sweetheart I love you. You amaze me and I thank Heavenly Father each day for you. Thanks for everything.

New Knees

2008-11-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

I HAVE NEW KNEES! Now I just need to learn how to walk on them and stuff. On Wednesday we got to the hospital at 9:00 am. I was supposed to go into surgery at 11:00 but I was delayed until 3:00pm. I didn't get up to my room until 8:00pm. It was a long day and I hadn't eaten anything so we immediately started on ice chips. The ice at St. Als is like Sonic ice. I love Sonic ice. So I just keep getting more. After ice comes jello and then some toast. I started doing exercises during the night.

Yesterday I had to walk two feet to my chair. ARGH that was painful. It's amazing to me how hard it is to get my legs to work. The walk back to bed was not as bad but I didn't have any pain killers, so I was really hurting. They had to take me off of them because my blood pressure was too low, and so I was light headed. Right now I'm going to physical therapy.

So now it is the end of the day and I'm pretty tired. They took out the catheter and so now I have to get up to go to the bathroom. Such a bummer when that happens. I've walked the halls twice and I'm hopefully going to be stronger tomorrow.

As I'm pretty wiped out I think I'll be going to bed now. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Surgery AGAIN!

2008-11-10T06:45:00.001-08:00

For those of you not in the Boise area and those who are but don't recognize the picture...this St. Alphonsus hospital where I'll reside this week from Wednesday to Sunday or Monday.

I'm going in to have both of my knees replaced on Wednesday. I'm thrilled to get new knees. I'm told I'll feel like a new woman. But I'm not looking forward to the recovery. We'll get through it though.

I've been overwhelmed with the out pouring of love and concern and I am so thankful to all of you have and will help. Thank you so much. It takes a village to keep the Conley's going I swear. It's been hard to be excited about this but last night Daryl gave me a blessing and I feel much calmer and ready for the challenge ahead. I should qualify that with I feel more emotionally and spiritually ready. Physically there's a lot that has to happen in the next couple of days. So I will be back when I get home. As I will mostly be laying around I'll be happy to be blogging all kinds of stuff. Till then thanks again to everyone.

Gabe

2008-11-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

This week Gabe celebrated is third birthday. I has made the best of the last few months of being a terrible two. So we'll see what this year brings. I am constantly reminded of the miracle it is to have him in our family. Way back to when we were adopting Daryl lost his job. Which delayed our adoption just long enough for Gabe to become available to be adopted. It was a trial at the time but enduring has brought the greatest blessings. So we have had him for almost two years and in that time he's grown and changed so much. This is a picture of our first night together. This was taken after his traumatic first bath. The best part was that I bathed him first and he screamed the whole time and then I dressed him. Emma was next and he screamed the whole time for her. It had been a big day.

When he was in the orphanage and we would visit he wanted nothing to do with me. In fact when they tried to hand him to me he wouldn't come. All he wanted was Daryl. And if Daryl moved Gabe moved so that he was touching him. But the day we got them Daryl had to leave right away to go get their travel documents so we bonded right away. The poor guy got sick and stayed that way for most of our first year together.

Here he is in his traditional Russian clothing and with his first stitches. He endured surgery within two months of coming home and was as tough as nails. He has an extremely high pain tolerance. I was, and am amazed. He can totally crash and jump up and continue on.

Gabe is so loving and thoughtful. His sister might disagree but he is constantly aware of others feelings. And I love this sweet side of him. I love this picture because he loves to give kisses and I love kissing him. I've told him several times that I'm just making up for that first year of his life when I didn't get to kiss him at all.

I loved the day that we were sealed as a family and will forever treasure the temple and the blessing that we receive within it's walls. The kids were really good that day and when they walked into the sealing room there was such an amazing feeling there. And I couldn't stop crying just looking at him because he looked like a mini missionary getting ready to leave for his mission.

So Happy Birthday Gabe we love having you in our family you are a ton of fun. Thank you for all the fun memories. You are an amazing kid and I'm so glad I get to be your mom.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-06T01:05:00.000-08:00

We of course carved pumpkins and the kids had fun. Last year Emma kept just eating the pumpkin but this year not so much. I guess her tastes are becoming more refined.

Gabe hated the feeling of the goop inside the pumpkin and would not pull that stuff out. Maybe next year.

Emma actually carved most of her pumpkin this year and that was fun. Maybe next year I'll get to carve one too.

Daryl and the kids had a fun time trick or treating. I was the lame sheep who stayed home to hand out candy. Literally I'm lame I can hardly walk right now but that's for another post. We had a great day. The best part of Halloween was the fact that Emma spent the afternoon over at her friend's house walking along the wall and practicing trick or treating. It was pretty hilarious. Even after all that practice she would just knock and say "we need some candy." That's my girl direct in all that she says. Let's not beat around with this be nice and polite stuff but just get down to why we're really here. Give me the candy and we'll get out of here.

Gabe on the other hand was not satisfied with just one piece of candy so he came home with a ton more

candy than Emma. He was not happy about being a sheep. As we were getting dressed he just kept saying

"I don't want to wear that sheep shirt. I don't want to wear those sheep pants." But once he came to

terms with the fact that he had to wear them to get the candy it was like a totally different kid. "okay

I'll wear that just get me the candy."

Feeding the ducks

2008-11-05T23:31:00.001-08:00

This fall has been full of lots of fun activities. So here are some highlights. We went over to HP one evening and fed the ducks. They have a park there so we got some good pictures of the kids playing.

Gabe and Emma both LOVE to climb things. So he is so proud of himself whenever he climbs up on anything at the park. I love this picture of him because it is his true personality shining through.

Emma loves to swing and finally figured out how to swing all by herself. I've never been happier. I think she could just swing all day long. She really has just been so full of life and been one happy little girl. The best part of this is there is a ton less crying. YEAH!

Emma's 1st Day of Preschool

2008-10-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

Okay I know it's the middle...or almost the middle of October and school started in September. But recovering from surgery involves more than just my belly. Unfortunately the entire household needs recovering. In other words I'm just catching up on everything. But we're getting there and I'm feeling good. I did tear some internal sutchers coughing and sneezing the week after surgery so I'm still slightly restricted for another month. But other than that I'm so happy that so much pain is gone and I am hoping that I'll have more energy.

Back to the cute one in this picture. Emma was so excited for school to start. She could hardly stand it. In fact this is the night before. She came out of her room and just laid down on the floor and went back to sleep. She's so sweet when she's asleep. Thanks to her great dad for putting her back in bed.

But in the morning she was up and ready to go. Thanks to Noni and Pop Pop (my parents) for the cute new outfit to wear. Emma loves this new skirt. And the fact that there is an apple on the shirt makes it just so cool to her.

Emma loves to write her name and is constantly upstairs playing on her magna doodle practicing writing letters. She is learning and absorbing so much more this year. Her preschool is a co-op that I do with five other mothers. There are six girls and only girls in our group. They seem to get along great and are becoming one tight knit group. They squeal and hug each other every time they are together. It's so fun to watch.

The beautiful thing to Emma is that she has just become so loving and sweet lately. I truly enjoy spending time with her as she just will talk to me and we love to sing together. Last night in fact we went to the hospital to see my sister Heather's new baby boy and it was so fun for me to watch Emma as she held and loved her new little cousin. She was so excited to see him get his first bath. It was funny because she just knew he was going to have "so much fun in his bath with all of his new toys." Emma did feel kind of bad that he didn't just love it as much as she thought that he would, but on the way home she said it was because they didn't give him his toys.

After going to the hospital she and I drove to the temple and walked around. Emma has a great love for the temple and sings the temple song all day long. Ever since our sealing she has wanted to go back. It was nice to walk around with her and have the opportunity to talk to her about the temple. I never know if it's really sinking in but hopefully someday she'll remember.

I love this girl and I'm so thankful that she is my daughter and that Heavenly Father gave her to me.

A Quick Update

2008-09-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

After surgery I've been slowly recovering. Everything went fine until I got sick and started coughing and sneezing and tore some internal sutchers. But other than that I'm on the mend. I've actually had two days in a row of no naps. So I guess I'm starting to get some energy back. I am so very thankful for all the prayers, the help, and especially the daily angels that just came and grabbed the kids so that I could rest. It helped more than you know.

It's amazing how the gospel comes to life when we are serving one another. I find that those whom I serve and those who serve me are so endeared to me and I love them even more. I'm so thankful for all who have served me over the years. If I really spent time and wrote about each service performed, I'd first be bawling and trying to see the screen, but also it would take weeks. It is overwhelming how blessed I have been. I'm so humbled by the whole thing. Thank you all for your love and support. I wouldn't be who I am today without you.

THANKS

Roaring Springs

2008-08-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

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.

The Russians are COMING!

2008-07-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

Okay the Russians are here and we are loving it. Although we wish of course that we had more time with them. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...Ivan (the one that lived with us for seven months in Siberia) and his wife are here. Also with them is Vitaly and his wife Katyia. Vitaly was our translator the first time we went to Russian. They are here visiting the U.S.A. But more importantly Ivan and Ksusha were sealed last week in the Boise temple. They went to Yellowstone and are back here now in Boise. So the point to all this is there are great posts to come just not this week probably. Happy 4th of JULY! YEAH!

Weeds! Weeds! Weeds!

2008-06-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Okay taking a break from vacation blogs...

While we were on vacation unfortunately the weeds were not. We got home and oh boy what a discouraging sight our garden was. When we left it was weed free. But this is what our entire garden looked like when we got home.

There were NO weeds in this garden two weeks ago. So I was sad to see the rapid growth. If only our peppers had been the ones rapidly growing.

So Daryl soaked the garden to make weeding easier. I went out there yesterday afternoon and started to get to work. While I was working my friend Natalie came by. Really I was watching her kids while she went visiting teaching. Anyways she saw our plight. And crazy as she is she decided that for Family Home Evening her family was coming to weed with us. And they did. It turns out that Natalie really likes to weed. Our plan for Family Home Evening was weeding as well.

It was a ton more fun to do this job with friends and with all the kids help we managed to only kill a couple of plants. We had fun chatting and it seemed to take no time at all. So as usual I am so thankful for all of the wonderful friends that Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I'm thankful for Natalie and her family for all their help. Here is what my garden looks like now.

Disney Day 2

2008-06-22T21:36:00.001-07:00

Day two was more exciting than day one just because the kids knew where we were going now. I have this friend April who told me to buy Disney gifts here in Boise and then give them to the kids at the hotel so that I wasn't tempted to buy the really expensive stuff in Disneyland. So I did. I got Emma a Cinderella princess dress, and Gabe a Mack and Lightening McQueen. I was really glad because the princess dresses were $65-75.00 each at Disneyland. I paid $19.99. Yeah! So of course Emma had to wear the princess dress to Disneyland. So here we are at the start of our day. Thanks to Noni for the Minnie and Mickey ears.

The first thing we did was go to Playhouse Disney. It was really exciting to see the "real" Little Einstein's, Handy Manny, Tiger and Pooh, and Mickey and friends. I thought Gabe was going to jump out of his pants when he saw the Little Einstein's. I have decided what is magical about Disneyland is how excited the kids are. It was really fun to see them so thrilled.

After that we walked up to toon town where we got to see Pluto, walk through Minnie's house, and see Mickey. I thought that Gabe was going to hug Mickey all day long. He was very excited. We also rode the roller-coaster. Gabe had his arms up in the air the whole time. I'm such a proud mom. My little thrill seeker.

Me, Emma, Gabe Gracie, Sam & Daryl & of course Mickey Mouse!

(Gracie and Sam are cousins)

We were really blessed to share this whole experience with my parents and sisters and kids. Emma and Noni (my mom) have a special bond. Emma loves to spend time with my mom and was just happy to walk beside her and talk to her and share her excitement. I'm also very thankful to my parents for providing us the place to stay at their timeshare. Oh and sitting with kids while we went on rides. That was a huge help.

We left Toon Town to go to the Princess coronation. What a trip. Emma was beside herself. When Belle came out in her big yellow dress this is how our conversation went:

Emma: "Mom, I need a big princess dress."

Me: "You have this big blue dress right here."

Emma: "I need a bigger one like hers."

Me: "Oh dear I'm in big trouble."

Gabe was just mesmerized by the beauty of Belle and was completely paralyzed. He was in love I think. He just held onto her dress and walked beside her. And I just laughed.

Emma did keep running into Cinderella and now thinks that Cinderella is one of her best friends. I love the princesses. Especially mine.

We went to go see the bugs life show. It's a 3D show with lots of special effects. I won't ruin it for ya but it was a crazy show. Emma was fine until she put her 3D glasses on. Then she started to scream these blood curdling screams. Gabe on the other hand liked it so much he went back to see it again. He did scoot as far back as he could in his seat. Emma want's nothing to do with that again.

The kids loved the pixar parade so much that we did it again. Gabe woke up just as Lightening Mcqueen was driving by, thus the cranky look. Emma was so workin it in her princess dress. Everyone just kept talking to her especially the characters in this parade. It was fun. Whenever someone would call her princess she would just let them know that she is Princess Emma. Which she is. Hopefully she'll remember that when she's a teenager.

We took Emma on Soaring over California. If you haven't been on that ride it's pretty cool. It's like you're hang gliding or something and you fly over different areas of California. You can smell the forests of Tahoe or the orange fields. It was cool. Emma was ecstatic. Everyone should get to ride with her. It made the ride for me.

This is the end of the day and our dear princess is completely wiped out. She's with her cousin Sam. Gabe was totally hyped at this point. I think our day was a success. We had fun and I'm so glad that we got to do this. It really was a dream come true for me. I love having kids!

A day at the beach!

2008-06-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

What would a trip to Southern Cal be without a trip to the beach? We drove up to Huntington Beach and pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was quite amazing. Okay really it was a little cool. Like a high of 70 degrees. But we had fun. And I decided that Huntington Beach probably was a fun place to grow up Aly.

Emma the water is the other way!!!

Emma racing the waves

My little body boarder

Gabe had a blast in the water. We couldn't get him out, the waves would go out from under his feet and he would just giggle and giggle. Daryl kept pulling him over waves on the body board and the boy was wearing a perma grin. He loved every minute of it. I made him get out for a while to warm up, but he just couldn't stand it. I finally told Daryl that we were going to have to leave or Gabe would never stay out of the water and he was going to by hypothermic. The funny thing was Gabe standing out of the water just shivering all over and I was asking him, "Gabe are you cold?" His answer, "No mom, I want to go back in." Only you could hardly understand him through his chattering teeth.

Emma loves to run from the waves. She loves the race I think. Daryl had dug a big hole in the sand and Emma spent most of her time trying to fill it up with water. The best part of this was that she was carrying her bucket full of water up a little hill and dumping it. This little exercise tuckered that poor girl out. Yeah for mom!.

I love that my kids will jump in and do whatever we're doing. They will try out the waves, or rides at Disneyland. They really seem to have no fear. Don't get me wrong there are things that scare them but they are pretty adventurous and I love that about them.

New Glasses!

2008-06-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, sorry for the delay in vacation info. So the day after Disneyland we woke up early. When I say we I mean Emma and Gabe. In order to not wake up everyone we went outside to walk around the resort. Of course we went out sporting Mickey and Minnie ears and both kids towing their big mylar balloons from Disney. Gabe's was a giant Pooh bear (he shocked us both by picking Pooh instead of Lightening McQueen or Mater) and Emma's a giant Minnie mouse. Emma loves Minnie because she has a big buntinki (hair bow in Russian) like Emma. Those two brought about a ton of smiles and were just so happy with their Disney spoils.

After that great fun we spent most of the day getting some new glasses for Emma. They are sassy red glasses. The funny thing is that we can not get her Minnie ears off of her. So she is proudly wearing the Minnie Ears and everyone just keeps smiling at her. She really is a delight. Emma is such an example to me of living life to the fullest. She loves life and is so very excited about trying things. She's so fun.

So the guy at Lens Crafters puts her new glasses on her and she shouts, "YEAH! I can see!" Everyone in the store laughed. It was great. So off to more vacationing. That night we cooked dinner for my family. We were in California with my parents (it was their time share we were staying at), my sister Lindsay and her son Sam, my sister Jesse, her husband Kenny and their daughter Gracie. Mostly this day was a chillin' day.

Travel Posts

2008-06-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

I'm posting things by the day that they happened sorry we're so late getting the fun to you. I'll try to hurry and get them done. Thanks a ton...Casey

We're at Disneyland WHOO HOOO!

2008-06-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

Our first day at Disney was a huge success. Our first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which Gabe decided that he would like to go home. Emma thought that the pirates were singing a beautiful song for her. We left that and went on Splash Mountain, which Emma loved until a rogue wave hit and soaked her. But she did want to go down the waterfall again. Gabe loved the Winnie the Pooh ride. Although I'm a little concerned that Pooh was on some sort of acid trip when he was dreaming.

We played on Tom Sawyer island and climbed Tarzan's tree house. That was Daryl's "favorite" part of the trip. Okay just kidding we thought the tree house was much better as the Swiss Family Robinsons tree house. We went on the safari cruise ride. Here is a picture of Emma right before she looked over the edge and lost her glasses in the water.

I looked up and she was just sobbing that she had lost her glasses and that could I please help her find them. I felt so bad. She spent the rest of the ride looking for them. So her hero of a dad called Dr. Cleverly's office and they said to go to Lens Crafters and then they'd send the prescription. We called, and they got the prescription and called and said they would have to try and find the lenses because her prescription is so strong. And they did! So we would be getting those glasses on Tuesday. Okay back to Disney land!

The exciting thing to me was that my husband who doesn't ride rides was riding rides. Daryl loved the Indiana Jones ride and Pirates of the Caribbean. It was fun to sit in front of him and Emma on Splash mountain. Soooo I sent him to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad with Emma and I stayed with Gabe and Gracie (my niece). He comes back and says, "That's a rollercoaster ride!" I say, "I know isn't it awesome!" and he says it was okay. Emma on the other hand LOVED it! The rest of the day she asked to go back to that one. She is a total adrenaline junkie. So here's proof, Daryl rode the rides I know not too exciting but here he is on the Dumbo ride.

Emma had that thing going up and down the whole time. Whatever we can do to make the ride more thrilling.

After Dumbo we went to the Fairy Princess pavilion. The kids made their crowns and Emma got to see a "real" princess she was pretty jazzed and it wasn't even one of THE princesses. Here's some pics.

Prince Gabe

Emma & the REAL Princess

Okay the highlight of my day was the Pixar parade. I wish that everyone could have seen the excitement on Gabe's face when he saw Lightening McQueen and Mater. So Lightening McQueen opens the parade and I thought that Gabe and Emma were going to just lose it. They were so excited. I don't know that words can explain. But my entire family just wanted to watch them. Gabe was the first to see Mater and he about jumped off of the trash can he was sitting on. (I know kind of gross but at Disney they are very clean) So here is the picture of Gabe when he first spots Mater. Look close he's across the way sitting on the garbage cans.

What's amazing about Disneyland is the drug that hits as soon as you hit the car. Both kids crashed with Mickey and Minnie ears intact. They had a great day. It was really fun. When we got back to the hotel they woke up just long enough for a few pictures.

Okay so they were tuckered out. YEAH! So was mom and dad.

Side note Emma woke up in the middle of the night, found her Minnie ears and asked Daryl to put them on her. We're not sure how as it was pitch black in our room. She loves those ears! Can't wait for the rest of the week!

The exciting thing to me was that Daryl rode the rides. The only rides he didn't ride were the Matterhorn, and California screamer. He love the Indiana Jones ride and Splash Mountain. It was fun listening to him as he rode the rides.

Disneyland Here We Come!

2008-06-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

So we finally left on our trip! For those of you who don't know what's been going on...here is the scoop. I've had this intense pain on the right side of my abdomen. After lots and lots of testing it was discovered that I have some issues that need to be fixed by surgery. I have some fibroid tumors on my uterus and some cysts on my ovaries and my endometriosis is back really bad. So we'll deal with that later.

On to the really fun stuff. We left on Friday at about 3:00 and drove to Las Vegas. We drove as far as Costco (to get gas) and Gabe started crying and saying that he wanted to go home. In fact it wasn't until tonight that Gabe decided that he would like to stay and play here in Cali. We had hopes of sleeping in but Emma had a different plan. So we got up and looked around a little bit and got on the road.

We got to stop by and see Daryl's Nana and let her meet the kids. It was really great for them to meet her and for her to see her great grand children. We left there and traveled to New Port Beach. We attended church and did some family activities today. It was really fun for Emma to see the ocean for the first time. She had a blast throwing rocks into the ocean. She kept saying that she had to have her swim suit. A difficult thing to understand when we're walking pass the pool and along the beach. I had to promise that we will swim and play more at the beach.

Tomorrow we're off to Disneyland and are very excited. Well the kids and I are excited. I'm sure Daryl will be more excited tomorrow. Just kidding he's excited too. Till we have more to write.

M-I-C-K-E-Y MOUSE!

2008-05-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

So this didn't happen this week but it's a great blog story. So I thought that I would share. A few weeks ago Daryl the kids and I were on a double date. (Emma and Gabe love to go places as long as it's a date.) We had gone to dinner and then we were walking around Joe's sporting goods. The kids have learned to sing quite well and they love to sing I am a Child of God. So everything was going fine they're singing quite loudly about being a Child of God when they start to argue. So the argument which is being yelled at the top of their lungs goes something like this:

Emma: "GABE! I'm a Child of God! Not you."

Gabe: "NO, I'm a Child of God."

Emma: "NO Gabe only Emma is!"

Gabe: NOOOOOOO! I'm a Child of God.

It continued on and on. Luckily we knew almost everyone in the store so they were all just laughing.

Have a good one and I'm the child of God! :)

Bye Bye Dogs

2008-05-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

Well after much deliberation, Daryl and I decided that it was time to help our dogs find a new home. So on Saturday we gave them a bath and loaded them and Roxy cat in the truck and I took them to the Idaho Humane Society. Really I felt like a loser pet owner, It seemed that everyone else there was adopting a new pet. But they said the dogs would probably be adopted within a week and that Roxy would be pretty easy to place. I'll probably call on Saturday to see how it's going. They did tell me that Xena is too old and would probably not be adopted so we're looking for a place for her if anyone would like a cat. We are trying to do this because of my allergies and the allergies of nephews and friends. We will totally clean out the house after all pets are gone.

The relief of not having that extra responsibility has been wonderful. So now we are working hard to make our back yard a place we spend a lot of time in. We have quite a bit of work but it will be great when it's done. Although with home ownership I don't think it's ever done. It seems like we'll have a summer of work and play...sounds about right.

I would like to say that those two dogs were so sweet and loved everyone. They truly are gentle giants. They were awesome with the kids and were good to have around. I'm sorry that we couldn't keep them.

The curse returns

2008-05-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

Okay so the last year and four months has actually been filled with a lot of sickness. I have been so excited because we went through March and April with no sickness. But I should've knocked on wood. Because the night of April 30th I became sick. Emma and I have been a little sick more me than her. She has a cough that really seems to attack when she's sleeping. I on the other hand have had a head/chest cold. But we have gotten good at treating such things. So thanks to Daryl's help I've slept a ton and feel significantly better today. Luckily I was sick while we were experiencing this weeks winter days. For those not living in this valley we've been having summer days which are quickly turning back to winter. For example Monday was 78 and Wed had a high of 47. I just want it to be warm, so we can plant our garden and some flowers. Last weekend we did plant a new tree and ridded our yard of some shrubs that I hated. YEAH!

So there you have it. Just a lot of sleeping here!

Swings, waffles, and teasing

2008-04-20T10:24:00.001-07:00

This week has been full of fun. The weather here in Boise has not really cooperated with us. It's warm for a couple of days and then freezing again. I keep wondering if summer will ever come. When it's warm I take advantage and wear my kids out. The other day they were so exhausted that when I asked Emma if she wanted to go to the park (usually an instant jump up and go word) she said, "no, I want to lay in my bed." Ahhhh success. I have worn her out. Oh well lets go and play at the park with your cousins. Emma loves the swing and I think would swing all day if I let her. Plus once we got there she was thrilled to be hanging out with her cousins.

Emma and I made waffles yesterday. If you ask her she made them by her self. It's fun to have her help in the kitchen most of the time. She loves to cook. She especially loves the measuring and turning on the mixer. I'm amazed at how quick she learns things and is really quite independent.

Gabe has decided that his most favorite past time is terrorizing his big sister. He does things just to set her off and then sits there and smiles. He's really a jokester and loves to play around. Often times I find him just sitting and laughing hysterically. I think he's remembering a time that he teased someone and it was successful. I'm not really sure.

Oh the joys of motherhood.

Thanks to Jesse

2008-04-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jesse I am officially beginning to blog myself. Daryl started a blog but has stopped after one post. I'm sure he is going to post again. I know he has a great title for his next post so I hope to see it soon. He's got some good stories to share. I have the same ones but he's much better at creative writing than I am. So I'll leave him to tell you about Gabe's monkey moments.

The last year and a half has been a real whirlwind for me. I can't believe how much my life has changed and how much I have grown. The biggest and best change of course was adopting my beautiful children from Siberia. It was a miracle to get them here to Idaho and I am thankful everyday for them. Looking back, as hard as the adoption process was I now think that was the easy part. The hard part is being the mom. We have been sealed in the Temple, blessed the children, taught Emma English, finished potty training Emma, and so many other things. Plus we moved to a new house, Daryl changed jobs and travels a lot now, I stopped working, and so many other changes and projects but I don't want to bore.

So with that said I'll catch up in my journal but I'm going to start my posts from this point on, or at least from January on.

Emma is in preschool and loves it, especially now that she has glasses and can see what's going on. That helped her in primary as well. She is really quite sassy and the glasses just emphasize the sassiness of her personality. I've decided that she thinks she's an adult as she likes to tell everyone what to do. My sisters would say that she's bossy just like me. She is quick to remind me that she's a beautiful princess and she loves to visit with anyone.

Gabbers is potty training right now. He's doing really well, it's fun to watch him get so excited when he's successful. Gabe is a shameless self promoter. If he's standing beside you when you do something he'll proudly proclaim, "I did it!" when he really had no part in doing it, whatever it is. He is a comedian already and loves to tease his dad. He's all boy except for his obsession with shoes, especially high heels. He really loves Aunt Lindsay' shoes and Aunt Leslie's boots.

Well I guess from this point on I will give more recent updates. Until then have a great one!

New to the world of bloggers

2008-03-29T14:24:00.001-07:00

Casey's life, crazy as it may seem, is about to be documented through blogging!