Happy Anniversary

Today is our 16th anniversary. Unfortunately we are a world apart for the day. But I don't think it is the first time. I think Mario was TDY back to the mainland for at least one of our anniversaries when we lived in Hawaii.

I can't believe it has been 16 years. In many ways it feels like yesterday. But then I look around and see my 12 (almost 13) year-old son and realize that yes, it has been many years. I recall when I was a teenager, my dad and brother, Billy, thought I was difficult to get along with. I don't think they would have believed then that I would ever make it to 16 years of marriage. I was telling Mario that yesterday and he said that speaks volumes for him. He said that it shows he is a very patient man. I agree. He doesn't get mad at me for stupid things like backing into his truck or making two big holes in the house or wanting to go on lots of vacations or for all the other obnoxious things I do. In fact, he never seems to get annoyed with me.

I look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with him (hopefully we'll be in the same location for most of them.) As for celebrating today, Zach and I are going to lunch. Why Zach? Not because he's my favorite but because I have taken the other 3 out to lunch the last couple weeks and it is his turn. Nothing special, just Quiznos because there is one in my neighborhood and kids eat free everyday and that's where I took the other kids. I am a cheap date! Speaking of cheap date, when Mario and I were dating, Whoopers at Burger King were 99 cents. We ate a lot of Whoopers. My kids would be surprised by that since we don't eat at hamburger joints very often now.

We were out shopping yesterday morning when the kids started getting hungry. Eric and Erin decided they wanted to take me to Subway since they didn't get me another gift. That was very thoughtful of them.

Exercise Bike Mishap

With all my knee problems, I can no longer run on my treadmill or even walk long distances. Mario suggested that I try an exercise bike. After researching new ones, I opted to buy a used one since you can buy a used one that is practically brand new. I have found that some people buy them with good intentions to ride it, but never do. I found one on Craigslist that was close to my neighborhood. Erin and I took Mario's truck and went to check out the bike listed for $100. I bought it and they loaded it into the truck. I pondered how to get it off the truck since Eric has a broken arm and Mario's deployed. I decided to back Mario's truck into the garage so I had less distance to carry it. Unfortunately as I was backing up, the handlebars didn't clear the house, and I had two handlebars stuck in the house. Erin said, oh no, the garage has 2 big holes. I thought she meant the garage door and I started to panic. That would be a very pricey repair requiring me to purchase a whole new garage door. I was scared to look back. But I was relieved when I did look back and just saw two holes in the stucco. That surely wouldn't cost as much as a new garage door.

I had to take half the exercise bike apart to get the handlebars out of the holes (so much for buying an already assembled bike.) The bike was very bent up and appeared to be in bad condition. I thought it would end up in Monday's trash pickup. We finally got the bike into the house and were able to bend everything back into place and put it back together. I gently broke the news to Mario (he was just relieved that his truck wasn't damaged.) He just blew it off as no big deal and told me to call the repairman. Fortunately, I found a guy that works very cheap and he said he could fix it for $50 Monday morning. So now my almost brand new $100 exercise bike is a pretty beat up $150 bike. I learned my lesson...next time, ask for help!

Master Manipulator

In the middle of the night, while I couldn't sleep, I thought up a plan to see if Mario was messing with me about the two week deployment extension. He was originally supposed to leave Afghanistan on August 14, but was told that everyone gets a 2 week extension. I started wondering if this was really true or if Mario was just wanting to surprise me and come home early.

So when I talked to Mario this morning, I told him that I found some cheap plane tickets to Florida in mid August and I was thinking about going to see my brother, Charlie, before he deploys. I knew that if Mario was coming home earlier than expected, he would have to tell me so I wouldn't buy the tickets.

It worked like a charm. He had to tell me that he has a chance of leaving Kabul August 14 instead of August 26. The military is extending everyone by 2 weeks, but Mario has a compelling reason to leave early. He needs to get back to prepare for the RIF board. So his bosses (so far) are agreeing to let him leave August 14. Mario didn't want to tell me in case it doesn't work out and then I will be disappointed all over again.

No respect for the Air Force

Strange Kids

My kids (well at least 3 of them) must have gotten their eating habits from Mario's side of the family. I guess Nate takes after me because he is a picky eater. But tonight Erin asked for turkey burgers. I didn't want to eat a bun so I made some mushrooms and onions to put on top of my burger. Eric, Erin, and Zach all asked me to make extra for them. I was shocked. I didn't eat those things until I was an adult. The three of them love refried beans (and many other types of beans) which I hate. In fact one meal that I dreaded as a kid (and still do), ham and bean soup, is one of their favorites.

A couple years ago I bought a book about sneaking vegetables into meals. Come to find out, my kids actually don't mind many of the things I was sneaking into their foods. They would prefer me just to be honest with them and serve it the way it is intended to be served.

I have noticed that Erin will eat almost anything that she makes even if it has some ingredients that she hasn't eaten before. Eric isn't too picky when it comes to food. He just eats what is served. If he likes it, he will have seconds, if not, he is done. Zach is the most impressive of all. I have been ordering baskets of fruit and vegetables from a co-op. I order the basket on Tuesday and it is available to pick up on Saturday. All the baskets are the same, so there is no choice in what we get. It has been so much fun to get our basket and try new foods. Most of the food is familiar to us, but some is new. We have tried eggplant, avocado, kale, fennel and several other new things. Zach will try everything that comes into our basket. Eric and Erin will try some things, but Nathan will try almost nothing new (unless there is a really yummy dessert waiting). I have to sneak things into his homemade popsicles that I make with my new Vita-mix. He doesn't like the shakes I make, but he likes the popsicles (that are just frozen shakes) most of the time. So now I don't care if he eats a popsicle for breakfast. In fact, I encourage it.

A Pair of Cripples

Eric and I make a fine pair...he with a broken arm and me with an injured knee. Today we went to buy some water bottles. Neither of us are supposed to pick up heavy stuff or push a heavy cart. We just laugh at ourselves and our injuries.

Today I took Eric to the orthopedic surgeon and the news wasn't what we hoped for. It has been 6 1/2 weeks since his injury and it looks like he will have another 3 or 4 weeks before it is fully healed. So we will have to postpone our plans to go the water-park on Friday. How disappointing.

But I was able to ask the dr if they would be able to complete the surgery on my knee if I got a referral. He said yes and even looked up my MRI results. I may have a long recovery since my injury is 2 years old and hasn't healed yet. I asked how long...6 weeks on crutches with no driving. That sounded like worst case scenario. So I went down to talk to my physical therapist from last year and he agreed to get me the referral. Now I just have to figure out when the best time would be to have the surgery. I am thinking around Thanksgiving in case my recovery takes weeks. I can just shop for Christmas from the comforts of my family room. I would like the have the surgery in early September but then I may not feel up to our San Diego trip.

Happy Birthday Mario

I dreaded my birthday and Mother's Day for days beforehand because Mario wouldn't be here to celebrate with me. But my kids made both days wonderful for me (not to mention all Mario's kind emails, gifts, and blog pictures.) Now I have found June 20th to be probably the hardest day for me since Mario has been gone. Today is Mario's birthday and Father's Day. I love celebrating these days with Mario. Growing up, Mario's family never made a big deal out of these holidays, so Mario doesn't expect much. But I love decorating, making a cake and all his favorite foods. So not being able to make a big deal out of his birthday and Father's Day has been really sad for me. I am just glad they fall on the same day this year so I only have one day to be sad, but too be honest, I have been sad about it all week. Probably doesn't help that I haven't been feeling well all week from my dental work.

I think I better bring a whole box of tissues to church with me. But that may scare people and they will think something bad has happened to Mario. I am sad that the kids don't have him here to celebrate Father's Day. I am sure there will be a lot of talk about Fathers at church. But I have noticed that the kids are much more resilient than I am.

As hard as it is to have Mario away, I am grateful for men (and women) who sacrifice so much to defend our country. It is only fair that Mario takes his turn at a deployment. I am just glad that his first turn is winding down and hopefully his next deployment (if there has to be a next one) won't be for a few years and it will be to Latin America instead of Iraq or Afghanistan.

Here's a quote from a recent email from Mario regarding his deployment:

I miss you very much. I do feel sad that I can't be with you and the family on Father's Day. But, I've been looking forward to it and my Birthday because it is at the tail end of the deployment. I'm at about 2 months away from see you. I know without doubt the Lord sent me here for a reason, several reasons actually. We didn't know the AF would be cutting folks, but the Lord did. This deployment really beefs up my record. I got a great stratification statement, actually its the best I've gotten in 12 years. I also am getting the best medal I've gotten in 12 years. I get deployment experience in my record. Serious, World Series level deployment experience. I also get joint credit, which is a big deal for FGOs.

Those are just the career related benefits. I also think I'll be much stronger for being here. I will, I hope, be a better father and husband. I have learned so much about people and life. I've become more compassionate and understanding of others. I'm sure you'd rather have me home, and so would I. But we're almost there. Not much longer now.

Broken Tooth

Last weekend I was eating some popcorn when I suddenly felt some pain. I thought it was popcorn stuck in my braces, but later discovered that it wasn't going away even after brushing and flossing. So I called the dentist first thing Monday morning. He took x-rays and didn't see a cavity. He thought that the pain was from braces but I assured him that it wasn't my braces causing "this" pain. He did a quick little test on me and determined my tooth was cracked. Fortunately he was able to do fit me with a temporary crown right after I made a quick visit to my orthodontist (who is within walking distance) to remove my wire and bracket.

Now four days later, I am still feeling pain in my jaw. I can't open my mouth very wide to eat either. So I don't know if I am having complications from the crown preparation or it is the normal pain associated from having my mouth open so long for the dentist and the orthodontist.

I feel like I am getting old. I still have a lot of trouble with my knee. I guess I am going to have to get the referral to the orthopedic surgeon so I can look into surgery when Mario gets home.

Speaking of Mario, he is taking his third flight today to some unknown location in Afghanistan. He can't tell me where he is flying, because according to him, the bad guys are always listening to our conversations. It's bad enough that he has to drive the streets of Kabul, but flying all over the country is even scarier to me. I keep reminding myself to have faith that he will return home safely.

Bye-Bye Melissa, Justin, and Max

Today I was sad saying goodbye to my sister and her kids. It was so nice of them to stay here for so long. I know they were anxious to get home to see Josh, but it sure made the first 2 weeks of June go by so fast for me.

She is a wonderful and caring mother. She is way more patient than me and very good with my kids too. They enjoyed having her here. She is way more fun than me.

As expected, Zach didn't shed any tears when saying goodbye to Max. I was sad though. He brought a lot of laughs like learning to shake his finger to say no and climbing the counter to get to the microwave where the cookies were hidden. I think he has a bigger sweet tooth than Nathan. Max learned lots of bad habits from my boys. Josh and Melissa will be thanking me later, I am sure.

Thanks Josh for letting us borrow your family for a couple weeks and thanks to Melissa for sacrificing the long flights with a one-year-old.

Buzz, Melissa, and Max

It is not surprising that Max loves Buzz. Most kids do. But even a non-dog lover like Missy can't resist Buzz.

Max and Zach

I have really enjoyed having Melissa and her kids visit. It is nice to have some adult conversation (Eric takes offense to me saying this because he thinks he is an adult.) I have gotten to spend a lot of time with Max and he is so much fun. Zachary has been jealous of the attention I give Max and often thinks that I don't like him when Max is around. So I don't think he'll be crying when his plane takes off for Florida on Tuesday. Zachary is content with me not having any more babies (me too.)

Max is a handful, no doubt. I am trying to remember if my twins were as busy as Max. Unfortunately I don't really remember. I do recall not ever letting them be alone unless they were asleep. They got into too much trouble (like dumping pudding mix on our very light carpet in Illinois.) I recall never wanting to take them to the library or post office. They were completely out of control at those two places. Taking them shopping without a stroller was impossible because they would run in opposite directions. I never knew which one I should chase down first. I remember being so excited when I could finally trust them to be in a different room than me. It wasn't really until we moved to Monterey. So they were almost 4! Our house in Monterey was so small that I could hear what they were doing from whatever room I was in.

Max is much better behaved for me than for his mom. Why are kids like that? He will try to climb out of the grocery cart, stroller, or highchair if Missy is there, but he sits perfectly for me. He loves to tease Zachary because he gets a huge reaction from him. Zachary tattles on him for almost anything and everything Max tries to do.

It makes me sad to think that I probably won't see Max again until he is at least 3. I am sure he will change so much by then. Hopefully by then he will stop giving Missy such a hard time. As a parent, it is hard when your first one is so easy and the younger ones challenge you. Justin is a sweetie pie and doesn't get into much trouble. I often wonder if I was hardest on Eric and that is why he is so well behaved. But most likely it is just that each of them is born with such different personalities. I do think that it is hard to be consistent and I sometimes just give into my twins because it is easier. But the consistency is so important.

I have really enjoyed my time with Max. But it also makes me realize how happy I am to be out of that stage. I love that all my kids will be going back to school in about 5 weeks and I can shop alone, take naps in a completely silent house (with the exception of Buzz barking at random trucks) and most of all, I look forward to lunch dates with Mario.

I have no complaints...Life is good!

Grand Canyon Trip

My sister, Melissa, and her two boys, Max and Justin, finally made it out to Arizona. I love when all our short milestones hit because it means it is just that much closer to Mario coming home. I love that they came to visit and help the time go by a little quicker for us. It is always so nice to get the cousins together too. Plus Missy and I didn't have much in common growing up since we are 7 years apart. Now we have a lot more in common since we are both mothers.

We took off on our Northern Arizona trip last Tuesday. Good thing I have an 8 passenger van because every seat was filled (including 3 car-seats). I arranged for us to stay the night in Phoenix at a hotel with a small water park because that would break up the 5-6 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. I hate to drive long distances so Hawaii and Guam were perfect places for me to live. You could be across the whole island in about an hour.

The water park was a lot fun. Eric probably did way too much in the pool considering he had a broken arm. The hotel was very nice with a waterslide, lazy river, waterfall, and a couple large pools.

Our next stop was a KOA camp in Williams, Arizona which is about 45 minutes south of the Grand Canyon. We stayed in a KOA cabin in Palmyra, NY a few years ago and the kids loved it and have begged to stay in another. Unfortunately the one we stayed in this time had trouble with the pool inspection and so it was closed. They offered to find me another camp (my disappointment must have been obvious.) They told me that the bike and wii rentals were free since we couldn't use the pools. So I agreed to stay (I doubt they could find me two cabins somewhere close by anyway.) There were pony and buggy rides in the evening for $5. Too bad those weren't free because that is what most of the kids wanted to do. Actually, it wasn't a bad deal since they let the kids take 10-15 minute rides. Zach discovered that he likes horses (almost as much as Erin.) He and Nathan were willing to spend their report card money on the horse rides (Nathan rode the buggy.)

I have vowed to not camp again (unless Mario makes me). Luxurious hotels (or even not so luxurious hotels) are way nicer. We started a camp fire on Wednesday night for hotdogs and s'mores. Thursday night, we went out for pizza. I hate all the work associated with camping...But of course the kids loved it. Missy doesn't seem to mind it either. Unfortunately she had to do a lot of the work because my knee started bothering me at the hotel.

The second day (Thursday), we went to the Grand Canyon. I had no idea what to expect and how long we would want to stay. I originally thought we would want to spend at least a couple days there, but everyone told me it was just a day trip. We left about 7 in the morning (all the kids seemed to be up by 5:30) and arrived by 8. We stopped by the visitors center and got information on the buses. Then we boarded a bus and headed for some overlooks. We decided the bus was too much of a hassle and we wanted to get back to the van so we could have more control over our schedule. But the kids seemed more interested in eating than viewing anymore of the Grand Canyon. So I think we exited around 10:30. I wish my knee was better and I could have hiked, but I am not sure Max would have been up for hiking. It was a little scary having little kids near the Canyon and it wasn't nearly as safe I imagined. I thought they would have really good rails, but surprisingly it would have been easy for a kid to go over.

We got back to the cabin with a full afternoon to fill. Naps are the perfect way to fill an afternoon, but a bunch of kids have different ideas. The weather was great up at the KOA but Erin was freezing and covered in a sleeping bag and asking me to put the heat on in the middle of the afternoon. That was our first clue that she must be sick. I went and bought her way over-priced tylenol at the gas station and she felt well enough to go out to dinner. But when she woke in the night to use the bathroom, she threw up. Fortunately I got the cabin door open in time that she didn't make a mess. This is where the hotel would have been much more ideal. Plus you don't have to bring all your own bedding and cooking supplies.

With Erin still feeling sick, we checked out of the KOA and headed for Sedona. Our plan was to do the natural waterslide there but that idea got scrapped because we got there an hour before the park opened, the water was freezing cold, and Erin and Eric couldn't do it anyway. But the drive through Sedona was well worth the detour. We drove to Phoenix with an exciting trip to IKEA. I have only been once in Utah and was anxious to go again. We checked the three 6-year-olds into the daycare and looked around the store with the 3 other kids. I only purchased some curtains for my bathroom. Then we headed to In-n-Out Burger for some lunch. Eric has been begging for lunch there since living in California. After lunch we checked into the hotel (thank goodness we weren't camping anymore.) This hotel wasn't near as nice as the first but it did have a full kitchen with an oven. I took a short nap and took my kids shopping at the LDS bookstores where I picked up the new Clearplay Dvd player. Then we went grocery shopping and headed back for some swimming with Missy and her kids.

That evening we decided to go to the Phoenix Children's Museum since it was free that night. Wow, I think everyone in Phoenix with kids under 7 must have been there too. The kids had a lot of fun, especially Max as he showed off his driving skills at the simulated car wash. He would run anyone off the road that got in his way.

The next morning I woke up early and headed to the Mesa Temple. That was the highlight of my trip. I felt when I was walking up to the Temple that I was there to represent Mario too since he couldn't be there himself but he would have wanted to be there more than anything. When I left, I knew that no matter what happened that day, it was a good day. I had been to the Temple and felt the peace that I can only feel in the Temple.

I got back to the hotel and we went down for breakfast, then swam, and then made the two-hour drive home. It was so nice to be home.