December!!!

Where has this year gone? I know it has been FOREVER since my last post. Please forgive me, my life continutes to be CRAZY. Right now I have one more week of my first semester of Nursing School. Up to this point I have been going to school Monday through Thursday and working night shifts Fridays and Saturday in the ICU at Kaweah Delta. I LOVE my job, and I'm loving school right now. It has been quite challeging for us all to adjust as a family me being gone so much but we have weathered the storm and are adjusting to our busy schedule. Mitchell is loving pre-schools till and the twins have been enrolled at his school starting in January! They are very excited attend his school with him. They will be going two times a week half days. Andrew is still doing his business 6 days a week while taking care of the kids a lot while I have been gone. It is amazing no one has gotten too sick over the course of these 6 months. Knock on wood. Here are our recent family photos which will be coming out on our Christmas cards. Enjoy!!!

June!

June was also a memorable month. Andrew, Gale, and I got to attend the dedication of the Cebu temple in the Philippines! Thanks to my parents and Andrew sisiter, Elizabeth, who watched our kids for us while we were gone. I decided to go three hours before leaving Visalia. I called my parents who said yes to watch the kids, I called my work and got my shifts covered, and we got a plane ticket online. It was crazy to pack and get the kids ready in such a short amount of time. For those of you who don't know, Andrew served a 2 year mission in the Philippines in 2002-2004. He speaks the native language Cebuano. It was such an amazing experience. It was life changing. The poverty level there and the lack of medical supplies and care there is astonishing. It made me value my childrens health and all the luxuries we have in the states. I realized that there are so many things that we simply do not need and it has taught me the value of a dollar. Most the of the families there could not all be together. A lot of the parents and sometimes both of the parents had to move to other countries to find work. The children would live with relatives away from their mom and dad. I will blog more about the experience when I have time...but since my time is limited right now I will just say that it was life changing...and we want to go back soon. I will post pics soon of our trip will details. Also in the month of June we celebrated out 6 year anniversary. 6 great years of marriage with a family of 5 now, 4 years of the Valley Sign Post, 3 hoodlums later, the 2 of us are having 1 great adventure. I love you Andrew!

The month of May!

Here is a picture of all of Andrew's siblings and the grandkids and of course GG and Papa at his graduation party


May was a great month. I started working at my new job which is hard work but I LOVE it! Andrew also graduated from Fresno State. I couldn't be more proud of him!!!

Well, almost a quarter of a year later...

I guess I need to start with the month of April since it has taken me so long to become motivated to post again. The month of April was great! Andrew surprised me with a over night stay in Pismo for my birthday and we turned it into a weekend thanks to my parents who watched all the kids. Here are a few other pictures from the month of April.

Nursing School Here I Come!!!

This will be a short blog to tell you all I GOT INTO THE NURSING PROGRAM AT COS. I start this fall and am SOOOOO excited to start. I also have some more big news, no I am not pregnant. I just got a new job as an aide in the ICU at Kaweah Delta Hospital. I have officially given my notice at the bank and will start next month at the hospital. Things are changing quickly for us and we are planning for a hectic future, but then again, we already live hectic lives! :)

Long Overdue!

Time to post again since I seem to be doing it quarterly instead of monthly like I promised I would. The kids are growing up!!! Mitchell still enjoys pre-school 3 times a week, and the twins are fortunate enough to do a mommie and me pre-school through Bright Start(Early intervention program due to their developmental delay) once a week. Andrew is finishing his last 5 weeks of school before he GRADUATES!!! And I am awaiting my letter from COS to find out if I got in the Nursing Program. Lots of new changes, but we look forward to the challenge. After all these last almost 6 years of being married have been nothing but a challenge. Meaning we have never taken the easy route, but have appreciated the leasons we have learned. I can't believe I will be 26 in one week! I feel like I am at least in my late 30's. My kids have aged me, in a good way! Here are their latest Easter pics plus I threw in some baby pictures of Andrew and I so you all can compare who they look more like. :) Enjoy!

Babies!!!

No of course not from us!!! That would be just crazy!!! I wanted to officially say CONGRATS to all my friends who are pregnant!!! In the order they are due and what they are having if they know...Dolores(BOY), Tawni(GIRL), Heather(BOY), Michelle, & Vanessa. We are sooo happy for you guys all and can't wait to meet your beautiful babies. :)

And we added one more...

Introducing out new German Shepard puppy...Sadie! 7 weeks old and growing each day!

All my kids birthday's!!! As most of you know all my kids were born February 1st!!! Mitchell turned 4 and the twins turned 2!!! We opted out of a huge get together this year and did an intimate dessert with just grandparents. This is the one day out of the year I know I will cry. I have said it before and will say it again, that when you come so close to losing your children it makes you realize how much you truely have. That feeling of almost losing them will always be branded with me. I am amazed at how much they make me whole and who I am.

The twins got new bunk beds. They are separated and not bunked for obvious reasons.

Christmas!!! Mitchell learned how to ride with no training wheels and got a new bike! Andrew actually let go for the first time and he just went...the rest is history.