Halloween Pictures

I never wrote about Halloween--but they had the usual sugar high. It rained cats and dogs the day of Haloween, so we trick-or-treated at the mall, but then the older kids braved the neighborhood later in the evening.

Photos of Guthrie family

Here are some more cute pictures of my trip to Provo in September. What a sweet little baby Lance is! I sure had fun with her other kids, too. And I had to document the peaches!

Tracy's birthday

We had a little birthday party one evening for Tracy. Her first birthday! Her papa was here from Belgium, so we were able to meet Pascale for the first time. Mado and Tracy have become good friends. We miss them now that we are in Missouri. Gros Bisous, Tracy!

Random photos of kids

More Christmas photos

Christmas Photos

Christmas pictures. It was a fun Christmas despite being in the middle of a move. It was extra nice to open Santa presents in the morning, then have a family meeting where we read the christmas story and some stories from the friend, and then went to church. It was very quiet and worshipful. Then we came home and opened presents, and played with new toys. Lovely day.

Grandpa Grant--kids afternoon

Martin Luther King DAy so the kids were out of school. We did one of our Christmas crafts==made our own bouncy rubber balls--very colorful and fun. The kids spent the afternoon practicing a dance show and then dressed up in black and white costumes to perform. It was cute--fun to see them all playing together so nicely.
But, today was also a sad day. Trevor's dad called to say that Grandpa Grant passed away this morning. He had been in a lot of pain, so it's a blessing in a way. But I know Grandma Gladys is really having a tough time. Trevor is going to fly out on Thursday afteroon for the funeral.

Sunday

Last night I took Max to a stake baptism fireside for children who will be baptized this year. It was really very nice. The children went to different stations and learned about the Holy Ghost, what it's like to have a bishop's interview, they got to see the baptismal font, and then heard some special stories about baptism and the Holy Ghost. They gave each family some materials for some family home evenings about baptism and the holy ghost. This stake has stake baptism days--and it looks like the one for Max will be May 6th. I guess the church is doing these stake baptisms to simplify. I'll miss the nice personal family/ward baptism that we had for Emily but I can understand about wanting to simplify the demands on priesthood leaders and their families. I asked max afterward if he would like to give a family home evening tomorrow night on the things he learned at the fireside. He thought that sounded like a good idea.
One other funny thing about Max. He got it into his head that he wanted to go to work with Trevor today since there isn't any school for Martin Luther King day. Anyway, we explained that it isn't possible for him to go to work at Daddy's new job, but Max being the tenacious fellow that he is, left a note for us on my pillow. It said, "Dear Mom, I really, really, really want to go to work with Dad so it's either give me $30 or let DAd take me." Didn't work, but it was a nice try.

Sunny day!

Honestly, I can't even believe that it is January. It was over 60 degrees again today, and we played outside this morning and then took a walk around the neighborhood. This afternoon we walked to the bus stop to pick up Emily and Max and then played outside again for a little while. Max was finally able to start school today. His teacher, Mrs. Carter, seemed nice, and he made friends with a girl named Claire. Quite the little ladies man. Max is pretty easy-going about most things and makes adjustments pretty well. Now that the kids are finally getting over their sicknesses, it's me who is getting sick. I've got a sore throat and cough starting. Ick!
Today was actually a really nice day. It was nice to be back to "normal"--just Sam and Ginny at home--and since I've made a lot of progress in the unpacking and work of making the transition--we were able to read books, play outside, do laundry, and then while they watched a movie in the afternoon, I unpacked the toy room. They thought it was fun to rediscover all of their toys--especially the new ones from Christmas that they didn't have much chance to play with before they got packed up.
It was a nice day for Sam and Ginny, too. I could tell they were glad to get more attention from me again.

Book of Mormon

I wanted to record before I forget about it that I did finish President Hinckley's challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the 1st of the year. When did I finish? New Year's Eve at about 10:00 p.m. How's that for cutting it close--not that it really mattered that much. The point was to read the book, not really the date of when you finished. I started out in August dutifully reading my one chapter a day. But by mid-October I had missed quite a few days, and then I found myself reading once a week or so. Anyway, by the end of November I was just in the beginnning of Alma. So I decided I would have to really get going and read a whole bunch at a time. And I did quite well with that---actually I thought many things made more sense when reading 20 or so chapters at a time. It gave a nice perspective of how the events were all linked together. I am actually rather proud of myself for finishing the goal in the midst of the roof, the move, Christmas, etc. I was particularly struck at the end at how sad it was to see the nations "dwindle in unbelief." I almost cried when Mormon says, "O ye fair ones..." What a contrast between the joy of the saints and the terrible state of the wicked. That provides such a good perspective in how important it is to make the right choices each day, and to stay close to the Lord through repentance and prayer.

A few little things

I took Max to the doctor, and I did really like the pediatrician quite a bit. He was friendly and helpful--the office was really busy, so I hope the wait times won't be horrendous. He has an antibiotic now and I got a note for him to be able to take his inhaler to school. He had a much better night last night. He slept all the way through, so I think that after he starts the antibiotic he'll be able to start school. The bad news on the car is that we have to replace both the power steering pump and the steering rack. Expensive. Thank heavens for Dad's mercy. He said we could delay paying him back our previous loan so we would have the money for the car repair. He's so good to us.
I wanted to write down about how Sam and Ginny have been playing together quite nicely recently. Sam has got Ginny dressing up like batman and they go chasing all the villains together. One day we read the Sleeping Beauty story and Sam and Ginny spent all afternoon dressing up as the prince and princess. Sam would save Princess Ginny and then they would get married and dance away into the sunset. Very cute. Max has been a pretty cuddly little guy recently, too. Probably because he doesn't feel very good, but it's still nice. Yesterday when Trevor got home, Max went up to him and said, "Dad, can we cuddle for a little while?" Trevor was more than happy to oblige. Then later, Trevor helped him with his trumpet playing. Max is actually doing quite well on producing a good tone on several notes. He would rather play by ear than read his music, though.
Emily has her first activity days tonight. that will be good for her to get to know the other girls from church. She's playing after school with Michelle--her first time riding the bus.

Missouri

Pictures of Sam and Matthew playing while we are packing up in Normal. Super heroes!

Haven't written in a long time. The chaos has been so crazy! We just got internet connected a few days ago, and I haven't had time to do much of anything besides just check my email. The move went smoothly thanks to help from our beloved friends in Normal--the Wheelers, Andrea, even my old friends Kathy Davies and Nanci Grilliot came to help . We had tons of help from the elders quorum, too. WE have been warmly received into our new ward as well--we had lots of good help to unload our trucks, and many friendly faces at church. There are some families in Pacific that we'll be able to have play dates with. Things I love about our new home in MO so far...1. our house is very nice, the neighborhood is quite friendly with lots of kids, and we have a great yard,2. the school seems to be pretty good, although different. 3. There are some beautiful natural areas around here. We took a great hike in a state park on Saturday. 4. Access to fun things of the big city. 5. Trevor loves his job. 6. The weather is warmer than it was in Normal. 7. The ward seems nice.
Things that I don't like as much... 1. Because we live in such a small town (6,000) there is not very good access to a lot of shopping. My salvation is a Walmart 10 minutes away. There also are not as many opportunities for inexpensive enrichment programs for the kids--Bloomington Normal was amazing for this. I miss my job at Parks and Rec already! There is nothing like that here! Doctors and hospitals are 20 minutes away. Church is 20 minutes away. ETc. 2. The cut-off deadline for kindergarten is July 31st, so Sam can't start school next year after all. Too bad! 3. The transportation system at the schools will take some getting used to. 4. The library is TINY! But they do library share programs and have a story hour each week, so I'm sure it will be fine. 4. Not sure how our finances will work out. Several of our costs are a lot higher here, and so what we thought was an increase is not turning out to be that way. I think our budget will actually be tighter for awhile until Trevor gets his raises and I get some teaching opportunities figured out. Money is always an issue! Even the money we thought we would have to be a cushion from the house sale is turning out to be draining away with car repairs, having to purchase appliances, etc. etc. etc. Also, just moving is very expensive--start-up fees etc. for utilities, paying final bills from Normal, etc. It's quite a headache.
It doesn't help that National City pulled a mortgage payment from our checking account that should not have been pulled. (from the previous house) Apparently the automated system did not update the pay-off info in time. That did not help our checking account situation at all.
Enough about the move.
The kids are all sick...poor Max has been sick for several days. He hasn't even been able to start school. The worst is that it has brought a flair up of his asthma. Last night was really terrible. He was coughing so much that he would throw up, and he was having trouble breathing. I gave him all his asthma medications, plus some cough medicine, but nothing really helped till I thought of letting him breathe the saline solutions throught the nebulizer. That finally calmed his cough and breathing and he was able to sleep again. He seems a little better today. I called the nurse, and she said that since he was better again this morning, we should wait another day before going in, since it is most likely that it is a virus, and if we get the asthma under control he should be okay. I guess we'll just have to see. Now Emily and Ginny are sick, too. I've heard Sam cough a few times, too.
Emily did start school last week. She really didn't want to go, and complained loudly. She had a very grumpy look on her face the first day. She doesn't like her teacher at all--apparently she yells a lot and insists on abolute silence, which is quite different from her former teacher. Mr. Harrison was really a lot of fun. She did make a couple of friends, though, and has been invited to play at Michelle's house this coming week. I think she'll be fine. If only Max will get better, he can go back to school, too.
I guess that's it for now.
Still can't believe we live in Missouri!

christmas caroling

Went caroling with the kids tonight. It was freezing cold, but really fun--they had a good time singing to our friends. This is a fun time of year to look in the mailbox. Usually we just get bills, but I look forward to checking the mail for christmas cards and packages from family, etc.
I went to the post office myself today to mail cards and packages to grandparents. I was up until 2:00 a.m. getting things ready. The post office trip was a disaster--Sam and Ginny were extremely crabby and Sam especially was not cooperative at all. We survived, and the packages got mailed, but I was glad to get home.
Had a nice visit with Gladys this morning. What a great lady she is! I'll miss her a lot.
We also had the radon system installed today. I'm glad that's done. I really can't wait to get this move over with...yet I'm sad to leave our home and friends.

Theft

Well, yesterday was just a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Yesterday morning when I was getting ready to go visiting teaching, the kids and I went out to the van, and I noticed that the contents of the glove compartment were spread all over the front seat. I immediately thought that the kids had been playing in the car or something, but then I noticed that the DVD player was gone, too, as well as the adapter for plugging it into the car. The thing that worried me most was some old cards on the front seat--insurance cards, an old debit card, swimming passes, etc. The thing is, I remembered that in that pile of cards was a credit card that we never use so I had stuck it in the glove compartment one day when I was cleaning out my wallet. Anyway, I'm not totally sure that was in there, but it definitely might have been. So, I called the bank to get a copy of our credit report with all of our account numbers, etc. and spent the whole day calling to cancel this and that just in case. I'm so glad I didn't leave my purse in the car. Mostly I just feel violated. I don't like the idea of someone creepy sitting in my car going through all of my things. I couldn't ever really find the account that I was remembering, but I called everything on the credit report--and I'm pretty sure that the credit report shows every account we have. Anyway, it's a bummer to not have the DVD player anymore, but I was far more worried about our accounts/credit being compromised right when we are trying to buy a house.
I hope I took care of it okay.
Later, I was supposed to pick up Emily from a friend's house, and couldn't find my car keys anywhere, and that's when I fell apart. I cried and called my friend Marilyn, which made me feel a lot better. Sometimes you just need to cry to feel better. Anyway, I did eventually find the keys, and Emily's friends' mom brought her home, so everything worked out okay. I guess that was just the last straw. But after the tears, I got everything together and we had dinner and the kids did their homework and practicing, etc. We even did our scriptures and prayers and read some stories, so at least the evening didn't end in disaster.
Trevor called later, and said that his new boss, Jeff, had taken him out to dinner and the movie, King Kong, and had had a really fun time. He was excited about working on the store's website, and really happy to be working for such nice people.
I think he's really thrilled with the new job, which is great news. I'm anxious to just get moved now--two weeks from today we'll be in the new house.

Emily

This morning as the kids were getting ready for school, I looked at Emily--she was wearing a pretty new pink shirt with her black pants and her hair cute from her new haircut---and I was suddenly just amazed with how beautiful and grown-up she is! How does this happen? It seems like just yesterday that she was sitting in my lap like Ginny is right now. Ginny looks so much like her sister did at the same age that I'm having lots of nostalgic moments. Speaking of Ginny...she's like her sister in other ways, too. Absolutely every time we get in the car, no matter how cold it is, she takes her shoes and socks off! It is just making me crazy! Especially because after she pulls her shoes off she starts to cry about having cold toes. What a varmint!
Ginny is a cutie, though, and gives great hugs. Yesterday she and I had fun dancing in the living room.