New Year's Eve in Denver

It finally snowed the day before New Year's Eve and we were all so excited! While the boys were out bowling, Ava went outside to play in the snow with Aunt Jennifer and Grandma Kathy. Mommy was too cold to go outside (it was only 3 degrees!) so she stayed inside and drank hot chocolate instead. Ava helped to shovel snow to make a snowman and made beautiful snow angels. I ran outside just to snap a few pictures, and then we all came inside to warm up before our NYE dinner at Three Margaritas.



Ava's such a good helper!



Snow Angel!



Aunt Jennifer's snow angel

Aunt Jennifer and Grandma Kathy with their snow ball gown

Isn't she lovely?

Once again, I was amazed at how well behaved all the kids were and how well they all got along. They all got to sit together at the restaurant, which allowed the adults to have some adult conversation as well. We all enjoyed a delicious meal and endeavored to live up to the name of the restaurant. Even if that meant taking some margarita to go! Once we got home we had a dance party with the kids until about 9. Unfortunately that seemed to take all of our energy because once they were in bed, we were all kind of tired. We tried to rally and popped some champagne and played some games. But we were unsuccessful. By 11:30 we gave up and went to bed!

Happy New Year!

Dan and Uncle Scott



The kids table



Me and Laura with our margarita to go



Aunt Jennifer and Grandma Kathy celebrating 2011

Dance Party!

Everyone dancing

The men take a break for some poker

Rob and Laura, our gracious hosts

We're starting to lose steam...

We tried to stay awake by playing Hedbanz

Laura and I getting sleepy

We went to bed before midnight, and it was -3 degrees outside!

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother’s Day weekend was quite busy in our household. We had Ava’s birthday party and her spring sing on Friday, then a HOH picnic where we signed our charter (!) on Saturday. Saturday night I got to go to a movie and ice cream with girlfriends and Sunday brought church and a spa day with some girlfriends in honor of Mother’s Day.

The HOH picnic was very nice. We had great weather that day (and the weather has been unpredictable around here lately), and had about ten families come out and join us at the park. The kids were able to play together, the parents visited and we got our charter signed! This will be a great thing for our group, but there will be another post on that later.

On Sunday I got to sleep in while Dan and the kids prepared breakfast for me. When I got up they were excited to give me their presents. In fact Ava came home from preschool with her gift for me on Tuesday and said “Guess what it is, it starts with a v and it holds flowers.” I tried to tell her that I wanted to be surprised and not to tell me, but she told me later “it’s a vase.” She’s too funny! Drew made me a beautiful hat at school on Friday, so I did get to have his present early. They also both made me cards with adorable fill in the blank answers. Here are some excerpts:

Drew’s
My mom has: black hair
and her eyes are: like mine.
She is: 32
and she weighs: 25 or 30

Ava’s
My mom spends most of her time doing these things: Eat snacks. She goes to the gym and works out. She talks to my dad.
I really like my mom because: she loves me and I love her.


Then after a lovely church service in the morning I got to head out for lunch and a massage (and a hand and foot treatment with paraffin dip). It was so relaxing and fun. It was just what I wanted for Mother’s Day. We even got to spend time in the party room where we enjoyed our foot soaks, warm neck wraps and some delicious treats that we brought to share (think chocolate covered strawberries and champagne). And my present from Dan was airfare to the Mended Little Hearts Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I really wanted to go and was so happy he made that possible.

I am so blessed to have such an amazing family. I love my husband and kids more than anything and often wonder how I got so lucky to have them in my life. Thanks for a great Mother's Day!

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a great Thanksgiving!

We started out on Wednesday, by helping assemble and deliver Thanksgiving baskets to the families of the Green House, a non-profit that a friend of mine runs. I brought the kids with me and they were good little helpers, finding the different items that I needed and putting them in our boxes. Then when it was time to deliver all the ingredients to make a Thanksgiving feast they were so excited to go door to door. It was a really great experience and I love that it's something I can include the kids in. We talked on the way there about what we were doing and why. Ava and Drew both liked the idea of "helping people." It was such a rewarding experience, I hope to make it a yearly tradition!

Then, on Thanksgiving morning, Dan, his mom, and I ran in the Run to Feed the Hungry. We did the 10k timed run which starts at 8:45 and Uncle Scott stayed at home with the kids. They watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade while we ran in the cold! We ran this race a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, even though it's the largest organized run in Sacramento and had over 30,000 runners and walkers this year! It's a great way to start the day. You get the feeling of being part of a community, you are raising money to support the Sacramento Food Bank and getting some good exercise in before indulging in all those delicious Thanksgiving calories. This year Dan found the best place to park and we walked right over to the starting line. I think Dan was motivated to beat his mom to the finish, so we ran much faster than I am used to. We ended up finishing our 6.2 miles in 58 minutes and 30 seconds, which gives us an average pace of 9:18.


After the run, we got cleaned up and headed up to Amador to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Aunt Marie, Uncle Terry, cousin Heather and her husband John, cousin Adam and Grandma Honey and her friend Gil. Grandma Kathy and Uncle Scott came with us too. There was lots of delicious food and lots of good times! After dinner we went for a walk in the woods and saw a bunch of deer. Then it was time for more food--we had three different kinds of pie! The kids each had two pieces of pumpkin pie! And I confess-I had a sliver of each! It's a good thing we ran in the morning!

Uncle Terry and Aunt Marie with the bird

Heather (with a tiny baby bump) making gravy

Uncle Scott, Dan and Ava

Grandma Kathy, me and Drew

One side of the Thanksgiving table

The other side of the Thanksgiving table

This morning Dan and I hit some of the Black Friday sales. We went to Kohl's, Walmart, Costco and Toys R Us and got some great deals. It was our first experience shopping on Black Friday and it wasn't bad at all. There were some long lines, but they moved quickly and were pretty organized. Except for Toys R Us. That place was packed and we decided to leave instead of shop.

When we got home from our shopping we learned that my grandma had a mild heart attack last night. She should be ok, but she is in the ICU at a hospital here in Sacramento. So this afternoon Heather and John and I visited her at the hospital. She is so sweet and we are so thankful that she is still here with us. She was very sleepy today, so we didn't stay too long, but I am planning to go back and visit her tomorrow. If you could please keep her in your prayers, I would appreciate it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, probably second only to Christmas. I love the time of reflecting on our blessings, giving thanks to God, and sharing what we have. This year I participated in a kind of challenge, each day coming up with one thing that I am thankful for. So I have had a lot of time to think and reflect on what I am thankful for. I like spreading it out through the month, so I can experience gratitude on a daily basis.

You would think that with all we have been through as a family, all the stories we've come to know through being a part of the CHD community, that we would never take anything for granted. That we would never sweat the small stuff or get caught up in petty things and that we'd count each day that we are able to open our eyes as a tremendous blessing. But, we are human. And once things settle into a normal routine it's easy to fall back into our old habits.

I'm thinking it might be a good idea to continue the challenge of finding one thing to be thankful for each day for the entire year. Wouldn't it be incredible to look back at it months later and be able to actually count your blessings? I think it would be a great way to keep life in perspective.

So what am I thankful for?

I'm thankful for my family.

• I'm thankful for my strong, supportive, loving, generous, hard-working husband. I'm thankful for him every day.

• I'm thankful for a healthy little boy with 100% oxygen saturations and so much energy he is a little bit naughty.

• I'm thankful for my sweet, feisty little girl who feels everything BIG and has the best laugh and the cutest little dimple...and she knows it!

I'm thankful for our health.

• I'm thankful for Hearts of Hope and the amazing professionals in the field of pediatric cardiology. My life has been permanently changed because of you.

• I am SO thankful that Drew got his H1N1 flu shot! A huge thank you to Dr. Teimor Nasirov for making it possible for Drew and the other heart kids in our support group to get the shot they need to be protected!

• I'm thankful that our peds office got the H1N1 injections in and that Ava got her shot. I was going to take her to the county health department clinic and saw on the news that some people waited 8 hours in line!

I'm thankful for my friends.

I'm thankful for babies.

• I'm thankful that so many of our friends and family are having babies! We have been praying for some of these babies for years, and now they are on their way!

• I'm thankful for baby Ashley, who learned how to say "Auntie Andrea." She is so cute!

I'm thankful for all the little things that make life comfortable and fun.

• I'm thankful for crisp fall mornings and morning jogs with my husband. And the spa to sit in afterward!

• I'm thankful for our Sunday morning tradition: pancakes and chicken apple sausage for breakfast. Yum!

• I'm thankful for my crockpot. It cooks dinner for me while I clean the house and go to the gym.

• I'm thankful for my minivan with DVD player. It makes the six hour drive to my parent's house so much easier!

• I'm thankful for my cozy house and my own bed! And that our whole family is together under one roof.

• I'm thankful that God has provided for all of our needs...and that we are able to share what we have with those that are less fortunate.

This year I am most thankful that 2009 is the first full year that Drew has not had an inpatient hospitalization since he was born in 2004. Thank you Jesus!

Happy Fourth of July!

We had the best Fourth of July weekend in a long time!

It started out on Wednesday, when we got to visit the TNT Fireworks warehouse and pick up our free fireworks! These awesome folks have agreed to donate fireworks to our family every year until the kids are grown up. And they add another heart family each year! Valerie set it up for us and while we there we were totally spoiled with T-shirts, hats, and pins for the whole family, plus flags and candy for the kids. We are so grateful to them! You should definitely buy your fireworks from TNT every year!

Drew at the warehouse, with his flag, pin, shirt and visor!

Thank you TNT for all of these awesome fireworks!

Then on Friday we enjoyed a pre-holiday bbq with lots of our church friends at the Krengel's clubhouse. Everyone brought a dish to share and there was plenty of food! The kids enjoyed swimming and the parents enjoyed visiting. We even stayed for the fireworks show, which was good practice for the kids for the next night.

Some of the moms, watching the kids swim

Some of the kids in the kiddie pool

Saturday morning we went to the Carmichael parade, just down the street from our friends the Quayles' house. We walked from their house to the parade route and had great seats! All of the kids enjoyed watching the parade and it was a great start to our Fourth!

Keilani and Ava waiting for the parade to start

Jacob, Eben and Drew eating popsicles while they wait

Mommy and Drew

All the kids

We all went home and had naps in anticipation of staying up late to watch fireworks. Well, Dan and the kids took naps. My aunt and uncle came over for a bbq and while everyone else was sleeping we made a peach pie and batch of peach jam. Both turned out delicious and I'm excited to try and make some more peach jam all by myself.

Mmm, peach pie!

For dinner we had a yummy tri-tip, some corn on the cob, watermelon, asparagus, leftover red white and blue cake, and of course, peach pie! The weather was not too hot, so we ate outside and the kids got to run around and play until it was dark.

Eating outside with Aunt Marie and Uncle Terry

Me and Dan, enjoying the evening

Ava with the red, white and blue cake

Drew with the red, white and blue cake

Then it was fireworks time! I got earplugs for the kids to try this year, since neither one of them likes loud noises. They worked great! They were both able to stay and watch the fireworks and ENJOY them this year, which was nice! Our neighbors had some fireworks too, so we took turns lighting them off and even took a break to watch the ones we could see from our backyard at the Sunrise Mall. We all stayed up too late and had so much fun! It really was an awesome weekend!

Oh yeah, we had to crate and medicate the dogs this year so they could survive the loud fireworks. They stayed inside and listened to the weather channel.

Drew doing a sparkler

Ava and a sparkler (As a side note, I find it interesting that we tell kids all year long not to play with fire, and then on the 4th of July we hand them an exploding stick and tell them to wave it around in the air)

Watching the show!

Thanksgiving Number 3

Saturday morning Dan and I got some shopping in (my mom and I went on Black Friday too), then picked up the kids and headed over to visit my Dad in Simi. We met at Red Robin, which is my favorite kid-friendly restaurant, had a yummy lunch and visited with Grandpa Mark. Afterwards, we hung out at Grandpa's house for a while and enjoyed some delicious treats that he made. My favorite was the key lime cheesecake. YUM! The kids really liked playing on his stairs, despite my protests.

Me and my dad

Sunday morning we did some more shopping, if you can believe it! We are not even shoppers! I think we were just so excited to have willing babysitters, we took every opportunity to go out by ourselves. We even squeezed in a movie during this trip-Four Christmases. It was cute.

Sunday afternoon we joined our good friends Matt & Jamie for their daughter's Baby Dedication at their church. Ashley looked so adorable in her ladybug outfit and did great with their pastor. It was a privilege to be present as her parents dedicated her to the Lord. We stayed for lunch with their family and had a great time visiting.

Matt, Jamie and Baby Ashley

Me, Jamie and Ashley

Thanksgiving Number 3
From there, we drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house for our Italian Thanksgiving. It was pretty much the same crowd as on Thursday, but with our grandparents this time. Grandma made some lasagnas and some chicken and vegetables, plus a pineapple upside down cake and a lemon cake. She also gave the kids their Christmas presents early. Drew got a plush mountain that holds seven plush dinos. He loves it! Ava got a dance mat from Yo-Gabba Gabba. I have never seen this show, the only thing I know about it is that Isaac loves it. I don't know how you do it Kathy! Two days with this toy and I think it might run out of batteries real soon, if you know what I'm saying...

Drew and Ava

Watching a movie with Great grandpa

Ava and her great grandpa

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow I will post about Disneyland!