two years & a few days later...

Well, where do I begin... My last post was January 28th of 2009... After my post I took a sleeping pill that evening while Mackenzie stayed with at my parents... I woke up & we went to Saint Agnes to be induced & have baby #2! IV, Pit & Epidural... 5 to complete in about 10minutes, then at 11:13am we welcomed ASPEN ELIZABETH a healthy 7lbs 13oz & 20inches! Now fast forward... she turned 2 two days ago... where have the past two years gone??? I can say that one of my resolutions this year is to start blogging again & to actually do it reguarly... which I'm hoping for monthly at this rate. SO there is so much to try to catch up on from the past 700 plus days... so here it is in short... 2009 was adjuding to life with two kids... two girls for that matter! I returned to work part-time at SAMC in L&D and cousin Tiffanie was Aspen's nanny for a few months before there was room for her to start child-care. It was fabulous & we were blessed to have her help us out! Mackenzie turned 4 that June & we celebrated at Pump It Up with family & friends. That September we went to Disneyland which was a blast. Aspen was 8mo & did great... we also took my mom along to help out with the kiddos. Cousin Shanna & her girls joined us as well, it was such a fun trip! We also took a family trip to South Lake Tahoe which was great until Guy got sick & we came home early. Poor Aspen had a rough fall & winter with repetitive ear infections, constant antibiotics, croup, RSV, etc. She has been on 2 inhalers regularly since then & had tubes put in her ears the week before her first birthday! Aspen was also diagnosed with hip dysplasia so she sees a pediatric orthopedic surgeon frequently... but it has seemed to mellow out. She has been a trooper through all her lil body goes through. The start of 2010 was absolutely insane... I cut back to per diem at SAMC due to our move to Lemoore, CA. Guy has always wanted to buy land, farm & build a house in Island District and we found ourselves in a situation too good to pass up. We are renting a home from some friends of ours & hoping to build in the next 3-5yrs on our property. Any sooner would be a miracle, but I would love to have OUR OWN house tomorrow. But I am being a patient wife & trusting my husbands plans... We hosted Aspen's 1st birthday party, Easter party, Mothers Day, etc... so it's been a fun change for our family... even if they have to drive 40 minutes to see us! In February our nephew Kolben Malcolm Powers was born & he is such a cute lil kid... no visible signs of Portuguese at all! Mackenzie & Aspen were adorable flower girls in my cousin Tiffanie's wedding in Avila Beach (the same day as Guy's cousin Sarah's wedding too... in Shell Beach, so we were able to make an appearance!) I decided it was too much with the commute, so I resigned from SAMC in May. Both girls did swim lessons at Jan Thomas again, they are natural fishies! Miss Mackenzie turned 5 in June, but unfortunately both Guy & I were sick with the flu, so no big party. She lost her first tooth with the help of Mimi (my mom) & her dental assisting skills! We also took advantage of living on the south fork of the Kings River & floated a handful of times which was awesome! Good times with great friends! Looking forward to floating season again! Wonderful weddings in Paso Robles & Pebble Beach over summer, it just flew by! Mackenzie started Kindergaten in August at Island Union School, which convienently is right behind our house... well, through the pistachio orchard... she has an amazing teacher who we had heard nothing but wonderful things about... and who has now become a friend! I help out one morning a week in her class & have become involved in the school through the Parent Booster Club. I am in charge of the Accelerated Reader (AR) reward program, worked the Secret Santa Shop & help out wherever I can! It's such a fantastic school with so much parent involvment! Guy just finished landscaping 3200sq.ft. in the Kinder yard, complete with a new irrigation system, sod & DG pathway! We have 8 more yrs for Mackenzie at Island than a few more with Aspen and I know it is where we are supposed to be! We have met some wonderful families, many of whom went to school with Guy, including the principal! Aspen attended preschool 3 days a week & has had a blast in the program. Another blessing in moving down here... we wanted to find a church for US! We were attending 3 churches in Fresno/Clovis between Sunday services, AWANAs & bible studies, so we were really hoping to find it all under one roof! We decided to try a chucrh we had heard so much about on Easter Sunday & we knew we found the one! We have been able to get in a parents group, moms group, financial bible study, etc. We just feel blessed that we found a church where we feel that we fit! Mackenzie was in the Christmas program as a sheep! sooooo cute! We have met some great people & made new friends through church! We love Koinonia Christian Fellowsip! In August we found out that we were expecting again... not overly shocking, but not neccesarily planned! Everything seemed to be going great, but on October 1st, I miscarried & had emergency surgery. It was tough to go through...again... but through faith, family & friends we got through a dark time & even saw the light! God has great plans for this family & we want to do His will! One perk, and huge secret, of 2010 was when we went to Lets Make a Deal with Wayne Brady in September. Our friends, Brandon & Sheri Schmidt aka.the newlyweds invited us to join them for the taping of the show. We were hoping that they could get on as a contestant & win a honeymoon! They wore well, their tux & wedding dress of course...me a cheap, last minute girl scout vest and then there was Guy... he wore & fit into his actual Eagle Scout uniform from when he was 18... high socks, short shorts, oh yah! It was hilarious, Guy & Sheri won for costumes, but again you have no idea who they will pick for the deals. You go through a brief interview process, but who knows what they are looking for. Again we were just hoping one out of the four of us would get that chance. Well they moved Guy & I right before they started filming to front & center (right next to Wayne Brady) probably cause I am loud & full of spirit! Sheri got picked in the first act & unfortunately lost $4000 in her pinata but won a lifesize ZONK paper airplane. So happy she was picked, I just kept cheering in my seat for whomever was making a deal, when all of a sudden Wayne Brady picked me as the first of three contestants for a deal. He said in this act we could win a all-expense paid trip to... ASPEN, Colorado! Aspen of all places... kinda crazy, thats my kids name! Oh my goodness... so we had to pick can 1,2 or 3 (one had $1500, one ZONK & one wins the trip!). I picked can 2 for my 2 girls and guess what??? I won! Yep, me! I won a $8000 trip plus his&her ski's, boots & bindings. Awesome right! But wait, I was the person with the highest valued prize... Wayne was going to ask me if I wanted to give up my Aspen trip & go for the Big Deal of the Day??? What would I do??? I didnt even think I'd get picked, let alone win, and then now this... so I did it... I went for the big deal! So now I have to pick door 1,2 or 3... there are no ZONKS, but the prize could be valued less that what I gave up ($8000 trip). So of course I picked door 3 since I was 10weeks pregnant with our 3rd... (made for a bittersweet moment watching it air) but very real on my reasoning. Anyhow, they showed me door 2, I passed up a snowmobile (Guy shed a tear) but I was okay with that. Then Wayne said he was going to open door 1 so I got really excited thinking that he was saving the big deal (my door) for last... but he called me out & said, you think we have a system? so after getting boo'ed he opened door 3... it was a 2010 Lexus IS 250 fully-loaded worth $34,163... MINE, but only one catch... I had to keep it a secret til in aired in early 2011... how was I going to do that??? Holy moly, it was hard, but on Friday January 21st, 2011 our episode aired & even before I got to see it, friends from all over the world watched it & messaged me through Facebook. It was crazy, my friend in Key Largo was the first... so crazy! Anyhow... that was the hardest secret to keep, but if CBS found out the show was leaked, then I lose my prize! So it wasnt that difficult when they dangle a $34k car in front of you... anyhow, good times! So now its 2011, kicked off the year with a week up at the cabin. Had the Cromwell family join us & had a blast. Mackenzie skiied for the first time, we built a killer sled run & enjoyed putting the kids to bed so we could drink wine, eat nachos and play Farkle & Catch Phrase! So much fun! Back to school routines & life as we know it... can't believe its been over 2 years since my last blog entry... its theraputic, I should try this more often. But now I'm tired & am ready for bed, so with that... til next time, and I surely hope its before 2013!