On our way again

Today and yesterday have been spent getting ready for our trip to Wisconsin.

Yesterday my friend Susan, who I have known since gradeschool, gave me a manicure and pedicure. Now my nails look pretty. I am the matron of honor!

Today the boys and I went out to lunch with Nicole and Kaitlyn. Nicole suggested "The Hat" because of their chili cheese fries. They were so yummy. We gave the food a 10 out of 10 but our kids a 2 out of 10. They were not bad but just busy.

The rest of the day was spent packing. We leave before the sun comes up tomorrow morning so we can arrive in Wisconsin in the afternoon. I will not be posting while we are gone.

I got good news from Darrick today via email: his leave request that he put in to come to CA over Thanksgiving was approved! I am so excited!

Hey does anyone feel like some cheese?

Our weekend

Thank you to those who let me know that you are reading. So I will continue to post while we are in California!

Saturday my parents, me and the boys drove out to LA right after breakfast to help Dave and Laura with painting their living room. They are missionaries for World Impact and live in their housing. The only downside is that inside their house, every inch almost is blue, light and dark, including the carpet. They have almost been there a year and are slowly painting it. Well now that Laura is pregnant she cannot paint so we came to help! Laura played with the boys while we got busy. We got the whole first coat done by lunch and then finished the second coat a few hours later. It looks awesome! After that Laura gave me some make-up lessons. I am in a wedding next Saturday and wanted a new look. Since I never had a sister I really enjoy now having someone I can go to and get advice on girly things. Then we went through 2 bags of the boys old clothes and she picked out what they could use for their little guy.

Today the boys and I went to Friendship Community Church, which is the church that we attended for 3 years while we lived here. It was so good to see everyone and feel so much love. After church they had a potluck at a park so we went to that too. Then we had a chance to catch up and talk to people. The boys played all afternoon with their friend Jonathan. And I went from person to person talking. Even one of our good friends, who goes to a different church now, stopped by to see me and the boys. I wished that Darrick was there too. It will be nice to reconnect with everyone while we are here.

Tonight my Grandpa Gutierrez came over to see me and the boys. I learned something that I had never known-that he joined the Navy when he was 17 years old and that he spent some time in Hawaii! He was a gunners mate and it was fun to hear some of his stories.

Last few days

I'm just curious if anyone is reading our blog. I thought that maybe people thought that since we are on vacation that we might not post. So if you are reading and would like to hear about our CA adventures can you let me know. It is not as easy here to post...my parents have dial up...enough said.

Wednesday morning we went to the Montclair plaza to do some shopping. For dinner my parents took us out to Los Monitos for the best enchiladas! Later that evening I went by myself to my friend Nicole's house and we watched the premiere of "America's Next Top Model"-one of our favorite reality shows. Confession: upon moving to Hawaii I discovered they did not have UPN (the network that plays the show) so Nicole recorded every episode and mailed them to me! What a great friend!

Thursday morning we went to visit my Grandpa(94) and Grandma(88) Vanderbilt. We were welcomed with loving hugs, kisses and cookies! We also joined them for tea time which they have every mid morning. It was such a wonderful time. That evening after my dad got home from work we went to the LA County Fair. The weather was so perfect and we had a great time. We ate yummy food and rode on the big yellow slide and saw fun exhibits.

Today we kind of relaxed and I did laundry. I am having a hard time adjusting to the time change. And now Wednesday we will be in Wisconsin and have to change time zones again!

Hopefully I will hear from someone...

Rain, rain

Today we had such a nice rainy day. In Hawaii it rains but soon after the sun is usually back out and the dark clouds are gone. It actually started last night. And today we even had thunder and lightning. It was cozy and since we did not have to go anywhere it was nice.

My big project today was to write out and address invitations for a Baby Shower I am throwing for my sister-in-law. Her and my brother Dave are expecting their little guy on November 8!

I also heard from Darrick today which was so great. It has been almost 2 weeks since we have talked.

The boys have been playing all day long. We just can't get over it. My brother Jeff left a big tub of his toys when he was little and the boys are just having a blast with them.

Monday

We had a good day today and got to do some things that we have missed while being in Hawaii.

The first was that the boys and I went out to lunch with Nicole and Kaitlyn. We went to my favorite place to eat: Acapulco's! We got our normal-the lunch buffet. It was so so so yummy except the enchiladas were not fresh but it was still good. It was so great to reconnect with a dear friend.

The second thing is that we went to Target! I love Target and they built a new one about 5 minutes from my parents house. So after dinner we headed up there to get a few things. I wish Hawaii had Target.

Nicole also told me that Frienship Community Church (our church when we lived here) is having a potluck after church so the boys and I are planning on going to that and hope to see some more good friends!

California here we come...

What's up dudes? Well like yesterday we totally made it to California safely...
Just kidding but we are here now.

Lauren dropped us off at the airport bright and early in the morning. We only had one mishap before getting on the plane. We were trying to get on the escalator and when I turned around to help Jacob somehow Micah lost his balance and rolled back down about 5 steps-ouch. Thankfully he was ok, except for tears and a small bump on his head.

The boys did so great on the airplane. Micah watched our new DVD player and Jacob even took a nap.

We were greeted at the airport by my dad, mom, brother Dave and sister in law Laura (with her cute pregnant belly), my friend Nicole and her daughter Kaitlyn! It was such a warm welcome and even some tears were shed.

Upon leaving the airport we were greeted by a lovely LA traffic jam on our way to Dave and Laura's house. But we finally made it and ate yummy dinner and dessert before heading home.

The boys are having so much fun at Nana and Papa's house and eating up all the love and attention. We are all feeling pretty tired with the time change though. We went to my parent's church today and had traditional Sunday Pizza. I unpacked this afternoon and the boys played.

It was 60 degrees when we woke up this morning and the boys and I were cold! Well I am going to go get some dinner for the boys...Later!

Unwanted house guest

Tonight when we got home from Bible Study I found a dead centipede in our master bathroom. It was about 2 cm long. That was the first one that we found in the house. I am trying not to get freaked out about it but they are posionous and now I am wondering if there are more lurking around...

We had a really great Bible Study tonight. I was sitting there thinking how a year ago I did not know all the specifics of my future, only that I was moving to Hawaii. Now there I was in a livingroom with other believers, just soaking up their knowledge and experiences. It is amazing how when you have the Lord in common you have a bond. I feel like we are connecting and growing closer. They are amazing people and so encouraging.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our last full day here! Final packing and preparations have to be done tomorrow because we leave at 5:45 am Saturday morning for the airport! Yikes! I better get some good rest tonight.

I did it

A few months ago I set a goal to read the complete "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. I think I said in a post way back that I saw a preview for a remake of "The Lion, the witch and the wardbrobe" coming out this winter. I have a beautiful hardcover book that contains the entire series in the correct order. The book is heavy and about the size of an 8x10 photo. It is 524 pages. Well my goal was to finish it before I left for CA and last night I did it! This is a huge accomplishment since as the mother of 2 young kids I don't have a lot of time to read.

If you have never read the whole series I would highly recommend it. The whole thing was beautifully written and the symbolism was amazing. By far my favorite book was "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". I cried during this one a lot. One night Darrick asked me if I was ok and I read him the passage and he was pretty touched too. It just paints so vividly what it is that Christ does for us when we give our lives to Him fully. I get emotional just thinking about it right now.

When the boys get older I plan on reading the series to them.

Continuing to improve

Well we had a great night sleep last night-meaning no one threw up! Micah sleep 12 hours, Jacob 11 hours and myself 10 hours. We all really needed it.

So today we just continued to rest but we did run one errand to KMart. After naps we played out front with the neighbors which was so nice since we have not done that for a few days.

I packed some of my clothes and the boys clothes for our trip to CA. It makes me feel better knowing I am not leaving it all until the last minute.

Jacob is having a hard time understanding why Daddy is not coming home. Last night he cried for Darrick. A few nights ago I told him that Daddy was on the ship and he said "I go on ship too!" I think it will be good to go to CA that way it will distract him and keep him busy!

Stomach Flu part 2

There is nothing like being woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of your child crying and throwing up...ahhh, parenting. Next victim:Micah Time: 2 am Place: his bed He threw up all night long about every 1/2 hour so neither of us slept. But the good part is that it passed pretty quickly and he is starting to feel better already. Hopefully there will not be a part 3...

Today I hit my breaking point. I'm still trying to recover and after being up since 2 am by mid morning I had lost it. I couldn't hold the tears back back anymore. I was running out of food and diapers, I didn't know how I was going to get to the store. I finally went over to my neighbor Audrey's house, and ended up crying on her doorstep. She came over and sat with Micah while Jacob and I went to the commissary. Thank God for caring people again!

It is so hard to ask for help sometimes and to admit that you can't do it it all (I guess that is why we end up Worn Out Women, huh Nicole and Shelley?) But I did reach out and ask for help these past few days and everyone has been so willing.

Audrey and her husband Brian even came over in the afternoon to watch the boys so I could keep my hair appt. It was nice to have a little break.

I'm am so excited to sleep! Goodnight...

So Thankful

What a rough few last days!

Darrick and the USS Hopper left on Thursday morning. We had to bring Darrick to the ship and get up at 4:45 am! So of course we were all tired the rest of the day. I took a little nap when the boys did and woke up with a headache but still thought it was because I got up too early. I kept going and in the evening the boys and I went to Bible Study, which by the way was really good.

But by the end I was not feeling good at all and made a quick exit home. I barely got the boys and myself in the house before the stomach flu it me hard. In between my bathroom stops I somehow got the boys in bed. Everyhour, if not more I was up getting sick. By morning I was wiped out.

My original plan was to go grocery shopping that day because we were out of the basics. I called my neighbor Lauren to ask her if she could get us a few things. She dropped off saltines at my doorstep. My neighbor Margaret saw her and found out I was sick and later came over and took the boys for about 3 hours. Lauren came back with my groceries and told me to take some advil (my temp was 101.4) and gave me a banan and 7-up. I couldn't even think straight. After Margaret's daughter woke up she took the boys for a few more hours and then Lauren took the boys for dinner and baths! I cannot tell you how thankful I am for such caring neighbors. It is so amazing to be in a community that supports one another especially when our husbands are gone.

And then today Lauren called to check on me, Margaret stopped by and my other neighbor Audrey heard I was sick and offered me help or if I needed anyhting from the store. On top of all that, someone mowed our lawn today. Whoever did it (Margaret was it you?) thank you so much.

I am feeling better today but still weak. I'm so glad it was only a 24 hour bug!

I cannot believe that next week this time the boys and I will be in California-we're so excited!

Katrina

You will probablly find this hard to believe but before today I had not seen ANY footage of the hurricane. Of course I was hearing bits and pieces of what happened. Since I have 2 little ones at home, I have made it a point to not watch the news anymore during the day. The news is not good and the commercials are terrible too. I don't even watch the morning shows because we have cartoons on. At night I have other things to do.

Well today after talking to my friend Lauren I decided I should try to watch some. Jacob was napping so and Micah was playing so the only news on then was CNN. It was interesting because the guests were the Surgeon General, Dr. Phil and Rick Warren (author of Purpose Driven Life). I was pretty amazed and shocked at everything that was going on.

Then I noticed that Oprah was doing her show about it so I tuned it. By now Jacob was up and they were both cuddling by me. I couldn't help weeping at what I heard and saw. I was trying to explain to the boys why I was crying and what we were watching. At the first commercial I muted the TV and told the boys we needed to pray. So they bowed their heads and closed their eyes and in between my tears I got the best prayer out I could. I can't believe this world we live in and the condition of the people's hearts.

Every night when we tuck the boys in we pray and sing a song. Lately they pick "This little light of mine" every night. After the traditional verses I added "let it shine to the people in the storm" and Micah asked me why I did that. I told him so that Jesus could help them and they could have hope. When I look at the state of this world and think what it will be like for the boys the only things I know I can do is pray and raise them to be strong God fearing men every chance I get.

Labor Day

Today we invited our neighborhood friends over for a BBQ. At noon only one family came and a friend of our family so we grilled and had a yummy lunch. Later in the afternoon more neighbors came so we grilled again for dinner! We all enjoyed ice cream sundaes for dessert-after lunch and dinner!

We had 3 pools set up, the trampoline, the sandbox and a slip 'n' slide so the kids were busy all day. We had weird weather-it was sunny and hot, then it would rain even though it was sunny, a rainbow came out and then a double rainbow.

We really enjoy entertaining and having people over. The adults had a great time talking and laughing and eating of course!

Happy Labor Day! The summer is now over...

Our Sunday

We had such a great day today. During breakfast we were talking about the next few weeks. It is wierd to think that next Sunday will be our last one here for awhile and then the next one we will be our first full day in CA! Darrick leaves this week for a couple of months so we wanted to have a family day today.

We went to early church, which starts at 8:15 am so it is nice to have a great start to our day and then a long day ahead still. Right from church we headed to North Shore. We stopped at Dole because my cousin Dan and his wife Dee just had their second child(a boy) born on Sept. 1st and I am sending the baby a gift and wanted to send something for the big sister too. I remember that people did that for Micah and it helped him adjust to the new baby. It was super crowded today-tourists everywhere. I even got bumped and pushed!

From there we headed to Haleiwa and had lunch at Cholo's-yummy, but not near as good as Mexican food in CA-I can hardly wait, my mouth is watering right now! From there we headed to Shark's Cove. Last week when we took Karen there we had so much fun. Well now that Micah is swimming he feels more comfortable in the water. He was trying to look at the fish using our snorkel gear which was too big. So this week, while at Walmart I bought him a kid size set and Darrick wanted to see him use it before he leaves so we thought today would be a good chance. We had so much fun. The water was warm and we saw so many cool fish. We enforced the buddy rule with Micah so first I was his buddy. At first I thought he was panicing but then realized that he was just so excited by the fish he was seeing. What we like about Shark's Cove is that you do not have to go very deep at all to see fish. On the way home we stopped for some shave ice. I tried 2 new flavors-pina colada and strawberry with ice cream on the bottom-it was sooo good! Darrick is hooked on ice cream in his too!

Tonight we cleaned up the house and got some food ready for our neighborhood BBQ tomorrow! It is raining right now but we hope it will be sunny tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Today we celebrated our friend Charlie's 3rd birthday. We met at the Ewa Beach Railroad and had sandwiches, chips and birthday cake. Then we all boarded the train for a 45 minute train ride. We all had a good time and the engineer even let the kids each blow the train whistle after the ride!

This morning we ran around doing some errands. And this evening Darrick mowed the grass.