Graduations and Award Ceremonies

This week I felt like I have spent everyday at school with the kids. Unfortunately with the boys having afternoon kindergarten, they had to sit through it all too which can be pretty boring for six-year-olds. But I find it very important that siblings support each other in their accomplishments. Eric had his award assembly on Monday. He was awarded the much coveted PE award (even with a broken arm.) We were both shocked by that one, especially after my voicemail to the PE teacher. He also received the citizenship award, Pride award, and 4.0 GPA. On Tuesday, they had a special breakfast for the kids that had Straight A's all year long. So the twins and I got to attend that also with Eric. Out of all the ceremonies that Nathan and Zachary had to sit through this week, that was by far their favorite, for obvious reasons!

Wednesday was kindergarten graduation. That was cute. Zachary was kind of in a bad mood and didn't want to smile for any of the pictures or sing any of the songs with the class. I am not sure why he was so grumpy. But regardless, it was a nice graduation. Both boys are very anxious for 1st grade and they keep asking me if it will be harder. I assured them that it would be harder than kindergarten, but it would still be way too easy. That's the problem with being so smart. It's a good problem to have though.

Erin's graduation was on Thursday. Unfortunately I didn't know about her graduation until after I made a doctor appointment for Eric. So I had to leave before everyone walked across the stage and before refreshments. The boys and I left right after Erin walked. She gave a graduation speech in front of the entire 5th grade and all their parents. I was very proud of her for her courage. She wrote her speech herself and she delivered it without one hint of being nervous. She claims she was very nervous though. She earned Straight A's and she was the Accelerated Reader winner for her class. It was a close competition between her and another girl. I couldn't get Erin to put a book down for the last month of school. I almost called her teacher to see if she could assist me by ending the contest early. Erin read a lot and won a Border's gift card. Mrs. Booth is taking a few students to the movies today to celebrate them getting over 300 AR points. I believe Erin had about 700 points.

I am ready for summer. I figure the faster we get through summer, the faster Mario comes home. Melissa, Justin, and Max are coming tonight for a couple weeks to help us pass the time. We have a great vacation planned for Phoenix, Grand Canyon, and Sedona next week. Poor Eric will be limited on what he can do with a broken arm, but it should be fun to see the Grand Canyon.

88 days to go!

Mario's Kabul Branch

Erin's alien

Prayer

Mario was telling me that one of his co-workers asked him to give a "blessing" before their mission today. They had to travel further than normal and with the recent attacks in Kabul, I guess this guy was feeling a need for prayer. From what Mario has told me, he doesn't seem a particularly religious man. Another co-worker agreed that a prayer would be a good idea and asked Mario if he would like to pray. Mario told him that he was leading this mission so it was up to him if he wanted a prayer. A fourth guy who is religious agreed to a prayer. So all four of them bowed their heads as Mario said a prayer.

That scene with them all dressed in their armor reminds me of the painting that hangs in my family room. I am grateful that Mario sets such a good example for his troops.

American Girl Doll

The American Girl Doll saga continues. Eric and Erin made a trade today. Erin gave Eric her DSI that she recently purchased off of ebay in exchange for $40 and her doll back. So Christy came off of ebay. I have to admit, I was pleased with the deal. I think they both came out winners on that one. Eric got a DSI for only $65 out of pocket. Erin got her doll back that she can sell anytime she would like to make up the lost money on the DSI. I was glad to see the doll stay. I am pretty attached to them too. I feel that they keep Erin young and the longer we can keep her young, the better. I am not ashamed to say that I enjoy dressing them with Erin. It is something we both like and have in common (we both like to cook too, but dressing dolls doesn't make me gain weight.)

Gila Valley Temple Dedication

Today was a great day! Eric got to attend the 9 am session of the Gila Valley Temple Dedication and Erin and I went to the noon session. We had to alternate sessions because Nate and Zach aren't old enough to attend. It was a beautiful dedication and I am glad that our Stake was able to participate. An interview with the Bishop was required to attend, so Erin got to have her first temple recommend interview.

I was a little sad during the dedication because I saw all the husband and wives sitting together enjoying this special moment and I was sad that Mario couldn't be there. I knew he would want to be there more than anything. But this last 3 months will pass quickly. Seeing the slideshow of the many beautiful temples during the first 30 minutes made me dream of a time when Mario and I are hopefully able to serve a temple mission together.

The boys were well behaved for Eric while I was gone for that 3 hours. Everyone got along really well today and I felt a lot of peace in our home. That reminds me of a promise that I think came from President Eyring today...when we attend the temple, we will have peace and those around us will too. I loved that. I wish there was a temple in Tucson. Then I would go weekly just for that blessing alone!

Pet Tortoise

Mario's shop has some new pets...4 tortoises. They were a gift from their translator. They were supposed to go in their new fountain. Unfortunately they sink, instead of swim like turtles, so they have to live in a wood box. From what I have seen (through several pictures), they get a lot of attention when they are out for a walk, even from the General on the base. Sounds funny to walk a tortoise!

The boys want to know if Mario can bring one home in his suitcase.

Under $5

Mario accused me of stealing after he saw what I bought at a yard sale today for under $5 without even negotiating.

I can't believe the lady didn't just take everything to Goodwill since it is way too much effort to have a yard sale to just give stuff away.

Pamered Chef large stone with rack (new)-25¢

3 Table clothes-50¢ each

3 candles holders-$1

Genuine Longaberger basket-$1

Salad Spinner-50¢

2 vases-10¢ each

cupcake/apple holder-25¢

This was our first yard sale of the morning and we were on bikes. So we had to go home and drop off the loot and go back out. Our second yard sale had American Girl Dolls for sale for $25 each. I had to look twice. You can easily sell these dolls on ebay for 2 or 3 times that price. One was a 2005 retired doll and Erin really wanted her. But she didn't have $25 and I stopped giving loans (I don't want the kids to become accustomed to borrowing money.) I told the lady that she should sell them on ebay. She said she thought about it. She had a daughter Erin's age and so we picked up a couple pairs of shorts and shirt for Erin for 50 cents each. When I went home and told Eric about the doll, he said he would pay for it and sell it on ebay. So I went back to see if they still had the retired doll. They did and so I bought it along with lots more shirts for Erin. But then I felt guilty about putting it on ebay since they lady thought it was for Erin (why that matters, I don't know-she had her chance to ebay it and decided not to.)

I got home and didn't know what to do. I felt bad since Erin really wanted the doll and so did Eric (that sounds funny even saying that.) But, I decided (with the help of Mario) that Erin shouldn't get the doll because she can't pay for it. Eric should get it because we are encouraged to make money (Mario quoted the story of the talents in the Bible.) So I let Eric buy it with the intention of selling it on ebay. But then Erin asked him if he would sell one of her other dolls and let her keep Marisol (she really is cute.) So she gave Eric her "Just like Me" doll with some extra clothes. Marisol would easily sell for more than Erin's doll because she is retired.

Sorry about a long blog from our morning of yard sales. I was just excited about my good deals.

Toyota Sienna Power Sliding Door

Well last week I wrote about my power door on the Toyota. Toyota told me it would cost $110 to fix the door. So I made an appointment to have it done. I brought the van in a couple days later and the part that they had to install was much harder than they thought, so the wait was a lot longer. While they had the door taken apart, they noticed that the sensor needed replaced. Great! So much for my $110 bill! They would have to order the part and it would take an hour and a half to install. So I made another appointment to bring it back. My service manager (we are each assigned a manager) told me that my $110 bill can wait to be paid until I came back to have the sensor fixed. I reluctantly made the appointment to go back because by now, I had spent a couple hours (at least) at the Toyota dealership with two 6-year-olds. I didn't know if I would survive another wait. But I did since we love having the door work. That repair was estimated to cost an additional $240. So now it was going to cost me $350 for the door to be fixed and I was quickly losing confidence in the mechanics. I was wondering if they were just grasping at straws trying to fix this door.

We went back today at 8 so I could get the kids to school for afternoon kindergarten. We were there 4 hours before they offered me a free rental vehicle so I could get my boys to school. As I was filling out the paperwork for the rental, the mechanic came in to tell me that the door was finally fixed. The service manager felt bad about all the trouble and aggravation that he just charged me for the part today and wrote off the repair last week and the labor for today. So I am glad they compensated me for my aggravation.

Poor Mario couldn't understand why I was so upset at the long wait to have it repaired. He reminded me that there are worse places to be (like Afghanistan). But I wasn't just frustrated with Toyota, it is the stress from having him gone, all the appointments at Toyota, and all of Eric's appointments for his arm.

While I am writing this, the nurse just called to tell me that a kid in school tripped and fell into Eric forcing him out of his seat and landing on his arm. So it looks like more trips to the dr. I hope he is ok. Poor Eric.

April Fool's Day

I guess Mother's Day wasn't the first time Mario hacked into my blog. Mario did some "customizing" to it for an April Fool's Day joke. Imagine his disappointment when I only noticed it a couple days ago.

99 Days

I just looked at the countdown and it says 99 days! We finally made it to under 100! What a great day!!!

Suicide Bombings

Today I woke up to the headline, "5 US troops among 18 killed in Afghanistan suicide attack." Again I was scared to click on the link. I often wonder how I would want to find out if something really did happen to Mario. Would I prefer a call from a co-worker or the dreaded knock on the door by the military chaplain? I definitely would not want to find out from an online article so I don't know why I always click on it. I guess the knock at the door would be better because at least there is someone there to comfort me. Mario says one of the chaplains on base is LDS so he would probably come and probably bring our Bishop with him. It makes me cry just thinking about this scenario.

Anyway, I did click and read the news. I found out the time and realized I had talked to Mario just after the bombings. I guess he didn't know about them yet. Regardless, I knew he was safe. It appears they were targeting the military and bombed some vehicles. Sounds like they were the same kind of SUV's that Mario drives almost daily, probably even the same roads he drives daily.

I keep telling myself that at least if something happens to Mario, I have no doubt he will make it to the Celestial Kingdom. He is a very good man, husband, and father. Ok, now I am crying again. This morning, I received this very kind email from his LDS co-worker who has been a very good friend to Mario.

Hi Terry (Terri) sp?,
Your husband wanted me to drop you a quick line letting you know he is safe and sound. There was a bombing in the area today and wanted to let you know. He has been in some meetings today which have prevented him from letting you know this.

While I am at it I would like to thank you and your children for the great sacrifice you are making at home. I know from my perspective that the family members of Military members should receive as much recognition as any soldier fighting this battle for freedom. Thanks again for all of your efforts, faith, trust, and prayers.

Grant Horsley

Afghanistan Plane Crash

Mario told me that he was flying to Bagram, Afghanistan today. He has to travel around Kabul almost everyday, but he has never had to take a flight anywhere. He was excited about his trip and I want to be excited for him, but I would be happier if he never left his base. Today, when I woke up, I checked the news headlines. This was one of the top stories, "Plane carrying 44 down in Afghanistan." I wasn't sure if I should click on the link or not, but I did and was relieved to find out that it was a plane flying into Kabul and not one leaving Kabul. Eric quickly reminded me not to read the news.

Then a couple hours later, while I was at the dr with Eric, Mario called to tell me he never left Kabul. He waited at the airport for 11 hours before they finally canceled his flight due to bad weather. Their mission had been scrapped. I wasn't disappointed. He said it was a good day because he finished the first Work and Glory book, read lots of conference talks, and took a nap. It was the first relaxing day he has had in 3 months. I am so glad he had a day to rest.

Better Day

I had a good day yesterday. I took my Toyota in to the shop because the power door was only working half the time. I googled possible solutions to the problem and was freaked out when I saw that most people were paying $1600-$2500 to have their doors fixed. When we bought the van, I told Mario I didn't want a power door because repairs would be expensive. But he persisted and I have loved the door. I found out that I am one of the lucky ones and it only needs a $110 new latch (at least for now.) Toyota is getting a bad rap right now with all the recalls but I stand behind my van. I love it and have not had anything mechanically go wrong yet (knock on wood).

Then I talked to Eric's principal, the PE teacher, and the Radiologist who gave me all the good news that I had been hoping for. Eric wouldn't have to do summer school due to his excellent grades, his PE teacher would go easy on him, and the Radiologist said that I shouldn't worry about the shield. But he did have a talk with his technicians about proper procedures and he even thanked me for letting him know because he is not back there with them and doesn't know when they make a mistake unless someone informs him. I also signed my twins up for summer camp for 4 days and I talked Erin into going to full-day summer camp for 5 days. I wish there was a full time (all summer long) summer camp for the boys that was close by. But that would probably cost me a fortune. Everything multiplied times 2 seems like a fortune to me. Twins aren't cheap!

Best news of all...Mario hit the 3 month mark yesterday. So if he hadn't been extended 2 weeks, he would be about half way done. But 3 1/2 more months to count down is way better than 6! I am also excited that Missy and her kids are coming in a couple weeks. That should help the time go faster too.

Casualties of War

Dear Terri,

I'm excited that it's Thursday. That means a relaxed evening and the morning off. I'm really looking forward to church.

This has been the fastest week since I've been here. I've gotten a lot more engaged in the work and understanding so much more. Grant has been a great friend too, which makes this all more bearable.

This is a challenging place for some members of the church. I've seen one guy fall away completely, another is on the way, and one looks to be battling hard and winning.

The first guy is a young, good looking Army soldier, in the prime of his life. He came to church the first two weeks and even a FHE back in late Feb when he first arrived. He wasn't overly friendly, but he was there. He didn't come back. I've been seeing him once in awhile. At first he would just nod, now he won't make eye contact. Yesterday I saw him in the gym working out with a couple other soldiers. I heard the guys he was with swearing up a storm. I quickly turned up the volume on my music player hoping to not hear him. It's too painful to see a young saint falling.

The other member is an older civilian guy from Ft Huachuca that started out strong (came in March), even gave a great talk in church. Super friendly with a family back home, a kid in college and one on a mission. Now he's hit or miss... mostly miss... at church. Today I found him smoking in the smokers pit behind my building. I walked up to shake his hand before I knew what he was doing and just saw it. I tried not to show any reaction as I greeted him and I quickly walked away.

There was another young Airman member of the church I saw looking at the smokeless tobacco at our BX. He didn't see me until he turned around to walk out (I guess he decided not to do it). I just played it off as if I didn't see him. He wouldn't speak to me for awhile, but I always said hi when I saw him. He still comes to church and even tries to bang out a few notes for our hymns (valiant effort). He sits and talks to me in the dining facility occasionally now. And now he always says hi and is very friendly. I think he went through a spiritual battle and I suspect he won (I figure since he's friendly and active).

My eyes well up when I think of the loss the first two brothers... casualties in a deadlier war than the physical one here.

Please share this with the kids. We all go through trials. Once you slip out of the light, it's hard to find your way back. I'm thankful I've made the decision long before coming out here to take the high road. I could have never made that decision while being here with temptation everywhere.

I love you and appreciate your encouragement and example of obedience. Let us pray for all three of the brothers out here. It's never too late to repent and get back on the high road.

Love,
Mario

One-handed Archery

Today when I picked Eric up from school, he told me that his PE teacher asked him to participate in archery with the rest of the class. Eric declined. I am not quite sure how archery works one-handed. It is funny how defensive moms become of their kids. I was upset and immediately called her but had to settle with leaving her a voicemail. I was probably a little rude when I asked her if she would like to see the ER report or a letter from the Orthopedic surgeon. I guess because it doesn't have a cast on and he only has a sling, she thinks it is not very serious. I hope she doesn't mark him down on his PE grade because that would ruin his straight A streak. I wish they could give him an alternative elective, but PE is required. Needless to say, I am not happy about the stupidity of some people. She still expects Eric to work out each day. I am not quite sure what he will do other than walk. Even walking can be dangerous if he trips and falls on his arm. Thank goodness school is about out (and my homework will end.)

Long, Rough Day

I finally was able to get Eric an appointment with the Orthopedic PA. He agreed to see Eric after Mario called the clinic from Afghanistan to get the ball rolling. I called the ER and found that they hadn't sent the ER report to the dr so that is where the hold-up started. The dr asked me to go pick up the ER x-rays and bring him in as soon as I could get there. That presented a challenge since I have 2 six-year-olds that needed to go to kindergarten in an hour. I called a classmate's mom and asked her to watch the boys for the hour. She kindly agreed and I left to pick Eric up from school. If Eric misses more than 9 days of school a semester, he has to do summer school. We didn't realize he had already missed 8 days. I can't imagine them making a straight A student do summer school but I am not sure how strict they are with the rules. So Eric is a bit nervous. The lady in the front office agreed that it would be crazy to send him to summer school.

Anyway, Eric and I left and went to the hospital and then to the clinic for more x-rays before seeing Orthopedics. The first x-rays weren't good enough so they sent us back for more. That is when I realized they didn't put the shield over Eric during the first set of x-rays. Everyone assures me that he will be fine and not a big deal unless it happened several times. I emailed the radiologist's wife (who is a friend) to ask her to ask her husband. Then I realized that he probably won't be able to answer me since it is his clinic that made the mistake and one thing I noticed about drs is that they clam up when it come to malpractice.

Anyway, second set of x-rays were better. Eric's elbow has some small fractures as well but they are old fractures. So nothing to be concerned with. He received a better sling from the dr and is doing much better with the new one. The dr told us that he didn't want Eric going to scout camp. It was taking too much of a risk that he would break it again.

After the dr, I rushed Eric back to school hoping that they wouldn't count his 2 1/2 hours away as a half day absence. When he returned from school, he informed me that his teachers want me to write for him so he can do his classwork and homework. Ugh! I will never complain about him doing his homework in school again. This is terrible. Now I have to help the twins and Eric. Fortunately school is out in less than 3 weeks. So now I am hoping that the teachers will slack off and not give much work.

After homework and being the taxi driver for Erin, I came home and made dinner for the kids, took Sister Park a meal since she had surgery last week, had FHE, and finally sat down to relax and watch the first hour of Titanic with the big kids. I love our Clearplay DVD player. It edits movies down to PG. So now my kids can watch just about anything unless it isn't appropriate due to thematic elements.

I hope that tomorrow is a very boring day.

Mother's Day

This morning I received this email (notice all the artwork from the kids and friends on his office wall):

Then when I called my mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day, she said she saw the picture of Mario on my blog. I had no idea what she was talking about so I looked. Mario has never posted pictures to my blog. But he had replaced the picture of him and I at the beach with this picture:

He sent me a couple necklaces, chocolate, and gum. Erin made me lasagna for dinner and I bought a Trader Joe's cheesecake for dessert. It was a good day but I look forward to next year when Mario is home to help me celebrate. His birthday and Father's Day are the same day this year so that day will be hard on the kids and I but at least it is one day instead of two days of sadness.

Talent Show

Erin played "The Dreamcatcher" for Desert Willow Elementary School's talent show. She also was chosen to emcee. She did a great job and I am very proud of her. Her good friend, Baylee Done from church, came too.

I was trying to hold the camera still but Nathan kept leaning up against me. So the video looks like I am shaking.

Eric's detour to school

Eric and his friends like to go skateboarding before school since there is a skatepark on the way. He usually forgets to call and tell me that he made it to school safely. So I was surprised when my cell phone rang. When Eric called, he calmly told me that he had an accident on his skateboard and that he couldn't feel his right arm. Talk about panic...the first thing I thought was maybe a spinal injury. Fortunately it was a half day of school so the boys had morning kindergarten and I didn't have to drag them to the hospital with me. I quickly loaded up the three younger kids and dropped them off a block from school. Then I rushed to the skatepark to get Eric and take him to the ER. The nurse took us to x-rays right away. Then they brought us to a hospital room to wait for the doctor.

There was already a young woman in there talking to a doctor on the other side of the curtain. The doctor left and a cop appeared. I could hear the woman say, "I was hoping they wouldn't call you." Then Eric and I had to endure several minutes of questioning about domestic violence. I felt so bad for the girl. She wouldn't provide the police with the man's name. I had never met (to my knowledge) a victim of domestic violence. But it was just like on the show "Cops." I've watched countless women on tv defend the actions of the abuser and now I was seeing it firsthand. I wasn't so thrilled that my 12 year-old had to be subjected to this talk. But I think he was intrigued and didn't want me to find a nurse to ask if we could be moved. I kept thinking how sad I would be if that were Erin in the hospital after being abused by her husband or boyfriend.

Anyway, back to Eric. The doctor came in and told Eric that he had fractured his right humerus (of course he is my only child that is right-handed) but there wasn't much he could do for him due to the break being close to his shoulder. He referred us to an orthopedic surgeon and told Eric to leave it in a sling and take his prescription medications.

So now Eric is excused from the piano recital that he has been dreading. I am not sure how he will write in school but fortunately I am sure his teachers will go easy on him since it is the end of the school year and they all love him. When I called his piano teacher, she said that he could still come to lessons and work with his left hand. Poor Eric!

The kids were so worried about Eric while in school. All they knew was Eric was hurt and couldn't feel his right arm. Zach vowed to not ride his skateboard anymore. At first he didn't want to go swimming after school because he wanted to be home to take care of Eric. So it is very sweet seeing everyone being kind to Eric. Even with a broken arm, Eric went to Erin's talent show tonight. I love when the kids show their support for each other. Sometimes I can tell that they really do love each other.

Another Week

Nothing much exciting to report on my blog this week. I did buy the kids all new baseball gear because Zachary wants to learn how to play. I find it incredible that I have 3 left-handed children. Finding 3 gloves for them was not an easy task. But we enjoyed a couple nights of playing baseball together as a family this past week. On Monday I told the kids we could play baseball for our FHE. We rarely go without a lesson on FHE nights because at least one kid objects and says it is not FHE unless there is a lesson. Eric was always that kid until recently and now Zach has taken his place. It is funny to listen to Eric try to convince Zach that it is OK to occasionally go without a lesson and just have a family activity.

Mario is doing pretty well in Afghanistan. He will reach the half-way point this month. So we are very excited. Some days are difficult and we don't see an end in sight. But overall, time seems to be going pretty quickly. Today was a pretty good day for both of us. Mario felt good about accomplishing a lot at work. My morning started off rough when Erin didn't want to clean her room but instead of getting too mad (I was upset about it for a while but Mario quickly diffused me), I decided to serve her and clean her room while she was gone to school. I wouldn't recommend doing that all the time, but today I felt like maybe it would show her that I do love her and I like to serve her. She appreciated it and she was quick to thank me. Mario always reminds me that we love our children the most when we are serving them. I feel like I am serving them 24-7, but I guess small things, that are out of the ordinary, like cleaning up a room for her means a little more. I miss having Mario around. He keeps me well balanced. I think we balance each other out. I love being married. I guess that is mostly due to who I am married to. (Yes I did indeed write this...Mario didn't get hold of my blog again!)

Gila Valley Temple

Last year, Eric, Erin and I flew to Salt Lake to attend the Draper Temple open house. But Nathan and Zachary weren't able to join us. So yesterday, I took all four kids to the Gila Valley Temple open house. It is exactly 120 miles from our home and took about 2 hours to drive. Mario could probably drive it a little faster.

The Temple was absolutely beautiful. There was an amazing chandelier in the Celestial Room. As you can see (these are pictures I found online), the mountains behind the Temple are an awesome sight too. I guess I appreciate mountains more than most because I am from Florida where there are none. There was still snow on the peaks yesterday.

The temple was small so the tour didn't take long. But it was great to be able to show my kids where Mario and I go when we are inside. We had to put little booties on so we didn't get the floor dirty. The kids asked if we put those on every time we go. One room that touched me was the Bride's Room. It made me realize that it won't be too many years before Erin and I are in a Bride's Room preparing for her sealing. Eric wanted to know if they had a groom's room.

I felt the spirit strongly during our tour. I hope the kids did too.