Christmas Happenings 2012

What a December.  It has been full of many miracles and lots of fun.

(The kids after decorating our Christmas tree.)

 

We had a special angel drop off presents for the kids and a cute gingerbread house on our porch.  It was so fun to speculate who our special angels were.  The girls got some fun presents from them including earring holders with earrings, train for Calvin, lotions and a water barbie.

 

Here at Country Haven we had our owners come to the property on December 20th.  Whenever the owners come, which is twice a year, things are really stressful.  It was nice because they came for an hour, stayed in the office, and left since it was so cold and raining. 

Calvin had his second birthday while on the road.  He is such a fun little boy.  We got him a fun car set for his birthday. 

After the kids got out of school that day we packed up in the car and left for California.  We left our house at 4:30 PM and had quite a bit of traffic getting out of the Portland Area.  Mitchell decided to bring his new truck since the van needed new tires.  The trucks brakes squeaked but we decided to leave without repairing them anyways and would get them fixed while in Riverdale   Once we got out we were fine until we got to Roseburg.  We saw a sign that told us that chains were required in 20 miles. 

 

The snow was really bad and the roads were really slippery.  We got to Roseburg at 10 PM and after a very very long night made it to Redding at 8:30 AM.  It was so nice to be able to take the chains off the truck and get to Riverdale. 

It was so nice to get out of the car after being in it for 23 hours straight.  We did pull over for an hour to let Mitchell sleep.

Hershel's neighbor came over to fix the truck's brakes and he was astonished that we were driving on such bad brakes.  He said we were running metal on metal and it was really bad.  We definitely were protected through the night. 

 (Picture of a brake that came off our car and one that is kinda normal.  Our brakes were really really bad).

 

We enjoyed staying in the apartment above the barn at Jan and Hershel's house that Mitchell helped to build.  As we walked in the door the girls noticed a chocolate bar on their pillows.  It was a lot of fun.  That night I got a call from my Mom that my Dad was in the hospital for pneumonia and his kidneys were not doing well.  He has been on the kidney transplant list for 2 1/2 years but it was definitely time to start dialysis. 

(Hailey in the apartment on her bunk bed.)

In the morning I was able to go with Mitchell to the Hanford Adventist Hospital and see my parents.  My dad looked OK, just coughed a lot.

 (Calvin's new friend in the mirror.)

Jared and Danielle, Mark and Lanie (Mark's girlfriend) met us at the hospital in the morning so we could visit with Dad.  Jared gave my Dad a beautiful blessing and Mitchell gave my Mom a beautiful blessing.

 

Since my parents sold their home and will be closing in a few short weeks this was going to be the last time being in my parents home that I grew up in since I was 10 years old.  I have so many amazing memories from that home.  I was excited to be able to go one last time to Corcoran Branch and see some of the old faces again.  Whenever I go there I look at the wall that has my special plaque on it because I got my Young Women in Excellence Award.  My girls love looking at the pictures also. 



 Not the best picture, but we had a lot of Young Women get their medallions. 

After church we went back to the hospital to visit with my Dad.  His pneumonia was not getting better.  It was still nice to be able to visit him.  Jared and Danielle, Mark and Lanie all had to go home for Christmas. 

After a couple of days the girls were finally able to ride on the quads at Grandma and Grandpa Couch's house.  It was too muddy when we got there so they waited patiently.  Calvin went on with Lindsay and decided he never wanted to go on the quads again so he hung out with me.

(Lindsay and Hailey on the quads)

(Ashley riding with Sweetie.  Whenever the girls rode Sweetie needed to ride also.  If the girls would go too slow she would wine really loud which made them speed up really fast.  They always have fun riding around the property.)

(Calvin had a long day.)

On Christmas Eve my Mom decided to spruce up Dad's hospital room with a beautiful tree and a stocking. 

 

On Christmas we woke up at Jan and Hershel's house.  The girls opened their Santa gifts in the apartment and then we went down for a delicious biscuits and gravy breakfast before we opened presents.  The girls had a lot of fun opening everything from us, their grandparents and Nana. 

(Ashley opening up her money jar from Jan and Hershel.)

(Hailey also opening up her money jar from her Grandma and Grandpa Couch.)

(Lindsay opening up a shirt that I gave her to match her new boots.)

(Grandma Couch on Christmas Morning.)

(Calvin enjoyed all of his fun presents.  He loved his new wagon and tool set from Grandma and Grandpa Couch.  He also loved Ashley's Yoga ball and the girls bean bags.  He thinks everything is his.)

(Chris Couch pulling Calvin in his new wagon.)

(Silly Calvin)

 

After opening presents we took the kids to the hospital to see Grandpa.  Lindsay and Ashley were able to go into his room and see him for a few minutes then we took them to a waiting room.  My Mom was outside in the car and saw three missionaries walking into the hospital so she asked them if they could help give Mitchell another blessing to my Dad.  They were honored to be there to help.  The blessing was absolutely beautiful and was so heartfelt. 

The Doctors decided to put Dad on Dialysis.  In the morning they put a catheter into the top of his chest and later that day they started him on the dialysis.  Mitchell took the kids back to Jan and Hershel's home and I was able to be there with my Mom while we waited the two hours.  Dad was really scared to start the dialysis but he did really well.  While waiting Mom and I were able to go down to the cafeteria and eat a free prime rib meal that they offered to the guests on Christmas day.  It was nice to be able to just sit and not think about cooking and just talk with my Mom. 

 

On the 26th Mitchell and I were planning on going home so I went to the hospital one last time to see my Dad.  When we walked in he was already in the dialysis room again and he did not look good at all.  I tried talking to him and his speech was mumbled and I could not understand him.  His catheter was bleeding a lot and there was blood all over his chest.  I asked the nurse about it and she acted like it was no big deal and that someone would come and fix it.  He looked drastically worse from the day before.  I called Mitchell, who was in the car with the girls, and asked him to come up.  He saw how bad Dad looked so he decided to talk to a nurse.  The nurse let us speak with his Dialysis Doctor who assured us he is getting better and he was mumbling because of his meds that he was on. 

 

I would have to say that I still thought that my Dad was going to pass away that night.  I stood there by his bad and caressed his hair and held his hand thinking that this would be the last time that I would ever see him alive.  It was so hard to leave the hospital.  It was so hard to say goodbye. 

 

Heather decided to fly down to be with my parents for a couple of days to help them pack and get ready for their move.  She has been a huge help to them and I know it was a relief for me for her to be there since I did not want my Dad to be alone. 

 

Our drive home was nice and was a lot faster then the drive to California.  We were able to see Jared and Danielle and Pam and Ryan at their homes for about an hour.  It was a nice break.  That night we stayed in Weed at a hotel.

 

Yesterday I had to take the girls to a hotel by the temple to babysit some kids while their uncle was getting married.  On the way there my front passenger tire blew.  I was able to get to the side of the road safely and Mitchell was able to come and give me his truck and take the car to the shop so I could get the girls to the babysitting job in time.  It was heaven sent that we did not take the van to California because we would have had worse car problems if we did and who knows where we would have been stranded with a flat tire.  The tire shop showed Mitchell the crumbled tire tube and said it was really really bad and dangerous.

 

Today, December 29th they are discharging my Dad.  His kidney levels have been at 17% and yesterday they were at 27% which is better then they have been in years.  The dialysis is working.  I am so thankful that he is doing so much better.  Wish that I could see him now, but I am so thankful that my Mom and Sister are there with him.

 

It has been an eventful December, one of many miracles and one that I will never forget.

(The fun tutu, wand, crown and wings that Nana gave to Hailey.)

Calvin Update - 22 Months

I can not believe how old my little boy is.  He is such a delight and is such a fun little boy and has a great personality. 

 

 He LOVES to play with balls.  He constantly has a bouncy ball around or some kind of ball to play with.  He is really good at throwing the ball but has yet to catch it once it is thrown to him but he is pretty close.  He will sit down and point for you to sit down and then he likes to roll the ball to you.  A couple of weeks ago in church he had his pacifier and did not want it anymore so he threw it as far as he could and it landed a couple of pews back.  The guy who got it, Brother Dotson, came up to us and told us that he should be in the minor leagues with that kind of arm. 

We are working on sign language with him since he is still not talking very much at all.  He will make a couple of sounds and will say Dada and Mama at times but won't say much more than that.  He will sign "milk," "all done," "please" and "more".  He just started signing "please" yesterday so I was so excited.  If you ask him to talk and use his words he will make a "na na" sound for anything that you want him to say.  Jean, the lady from Early Intervention, is excited by some progress that he has made.  When he plays with his train set he will say, "choo choo" and make noises which is a HUGE change from when he would just play really quietly.

 

Since we are trying to teach him some signs my friend lent us the DVD "Signing Times".  This little guy will not watch TV.  I can't get him to sit still for 2 minutes but when Signing Times is on he will watch the whole thing.  I think that he likes sitting in the big chair and sitting at the computer.

Lately when it is time for him to go to bed he will run to Dad who is usually at the computer and he will have Dad open the door to the office desk and climb inside and hide from me.  After a couple of seconds he cries for the door to be opened then he likes to cuddle with Daddy.  This is his routine for the past couple of weeks and I love it, but then it is sad when he cries because he wants to cuddle with Daddy.

He is such a Daddies boy.  He LOVES it when Daddy is home and he gets to hyper.  When Dad is laying on the bed he thinks that he has to lay down by him.  The problem with him laying by Dad is he does not lay still, he moves and kicks and jumps.  This boy has a very hard head and he hits himself on it all of the time and usually he ends up off the bed because someone got hurt.

 Calvin also likes to wear his Daddies hat.

I am not too fond of this one but he likes to wear his Sisters clothes, head bands, necklaces, anything that he can get ahold of.  He tries to put on his own clothes but then gets frustrated and just goes onto something different.

  He loves this little crib that is for Hailey's dollies.  He also loves carrying around baby dolls and wrapping them in a baby blanket.

He is so independant and wants to do things himself.  This morning I put him in his high chair and gave him some oatmeal right after I gave him a bath.  I guess I learned not to give him a bath until after he eats his breakfast.

 Our girls adore this little guy.  They love to play with him, read stories to him, play catch and love to make him giggle.  The other day we went into Fred Meyer and since it was close to Halloween they had all of the Halloween candy, costumes and such out.  They had a life sized witch that talked and giggled in her witch giggle whenever you walked by.  The girls thought it would be funny to take Calvin by her and it totally freaked him out.  Now whenever we even drive by Fred Meyer he plugs his ears.  I am so glad that scary witch is gone. 

His new favorite thing to play with is a train set that I bought for him about 6 months ago.  He had no interest in it until a couple of days ago and now he loves it.  It is nice that he wants to play with it because he is making sounds along with is play. 

 I can't believe my baby is almost 2 years old.  He melts my heart every day and I just love him.  I can't wait until he gives kisses.  If you ask him for a kiss he will lean his cheek into you for you to kiss his cheek.  Jean thinks that he can't quite pucker his lips yet and that is why he is having a problem speaking but in time it will come.

I love you my baby boy!!!

 

 

Crab and Beach Cake

Kyle Selfaison, one of Mitchell's Priests, graduated from High School this year and will be leaving to BYU-Hawaii in the Fall.  His father called and asked if Mitchell could make a cake for his graduation party. 

The weekend of the graduation party Mitchell was gone with the youth on a camp out to Silver Falls.  This was the first cake that I had to make entirely by myself from start to finish.  I looked all over the Internet for recipes and for ideas on what type of cake to make.  I wanted to use a crab since Kyle works on a fishing dock at the coast and so it was fun when I found something kinda similar to the cake that I ended up making. 

Since Mitchell is the fondant maker and does better at it then I do I wanted to try something different and not use fondant this time.  I ended up making a raspberry filled lemon cake that was AMAZING!  It was really really heavy and was hot in my home so after I staked the cake it started collapsing on me.  I decided that I better freeze it to see if it will hold together better if I did that and it was definitely the trick.  The crab, flowers and suitcase are made out of marzipan and the "sand" is graham cracker's that are crushed. 

 When we took the cake to Kyle he was so surprised and loved it.  I was so worried since it was not our best but he did not care.  Everyone said it tasted really good also so I was so happy.  I will definitely be making this kind of cake again, but not for a cake this large.

Deep Sea Fishing

Mitchell was asked to go with a couple of our friends deep sea fishing on Memorial Day.  James, Kyla and Kaitlyn Selfaison along with Kendall and Jessica Beatty went.  He had to get up at 3:30 to be in Banks by 4:30.  Mitchell took some Dramamine before he left the house but that did not help so much.  They had a great time but their day was cut a little short due to everyone getting really sick. 

 They caught 22 crabs.

 We had so much fish which were lincod and they were so good.  That night we made fish and chips and it was amazing!

KOA

The KOA trip in May is always the highlight of my year.  I look forward to it so much and we have so much fun.  For the last three years we have rented the Kamping Lodges that include a shower, stove, fridge, toilet and beds to sleep 6.  That is my kind of camping!!!! 

We enjoyed driving around Astoria and Mitchell decided it was time to see the Astoria Column since we have never been up there.   

 It was such a beautiful view from the top of the hill. 

 Everyone wanted to walk up the stairs to the top of the column and I made it about 1/4 of the way then decided to come back down.  I was so scared the higher I got up.  Calvin and I enjoyed our view from the ground.

 Ashley and Hailey from the top of the Column looking down at Calvin and I.

 Lindsay took my camera to take some pics.  This is of the stairway inside the column.

After they came down some people threw a paper airplane down and it was so fun to watch.  Mitchell ran to the car and made a paper airplane for the girls and Ashley and Lindsay went back up to let them go.  I was amazed how far the first airplane went.  It caught a thermal and was in the air for at least two minutes in our view. 

The kids, and Mitchell, being silly.

 We then went on a drive across the huge bridge to Washington and watched the sunset.  It was so gorgeous!

The KOA has so much to offer from a jumping pillow, indoor pool, miniature golf and such.  The KOA also put on a carnival and it was so fun to watch the kids play the games and jump in the differnt bounce houses.  Can't wait until next year!