Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!! Here's the Christmas picutre of the kids this year. It's a cute one...maybe one of the better ones I've taken.

This year we spent Christmas in Portland. We had originally decided to stay home....but then Mike's Grandma died a few days before......so we had to go to Tillamook for the funeral service....since we were there we decided to head to Portland and spend Christmas with my sister and mom and grandma.....We had a great time......The snow was ridiculous. There was about 18 inches in Portland.....the whole city shut down....some ppl hadn't had garbage service in 3 weeks!! YIKES!!

We finally made it home last night after being gone for a week only to find that we had to dig out our driveway just to get to it.......We had a fresh layer of snow..about 1 1/2 feet....

It's good to be home......

Snow on my Birthday!!

Well.....here it is my 32nd birthday!! For 32 years I've always wished for snow on my Birthday. I never thought it was an extravagant wish, especially for having a birthday halfway through December!! Spending half of my childhood on the beaches in So.California I came to the realization that my wish most likely wouldn't come true.....but then when we moved to Oregon...the great white north...(Yeah, right!! Or so I thought!!) I just assumed that there would ALWAYS be snow on my birthday. I am pleased to announce that on this day December 14, 2008, my BIRTHDAY.....it's snowing!! What a wonderful birthday present!! YIPEEEEEE!!! Ok now I have to go take pictures. Happy Birthday to me!!

Thyroid Cancer, Diabetes, Splenomegaly, OH MY!!!

What the HECK!!! My body seems to be trying to tell us something but I feel like NO ONE is listening!! Is it possible all this stuff is related?? Can it possibly be just a crappy dealt hand?? I don't know the answer but honestly I'm tired of it.....I feel like such a winer sometimes....like everyone is saying "What's wrong with Sarah now!!" Believe me it gets old......
So to add to the ever growing diagnosis in my medical chart I now get to add Thyroid Cancer...well Papillary Carcinoma to be exact. I have to admit even though Thyroid Cancer is a very curable...it's still scary to have "Cancer" It hasn't bothered me much until today...maybe I was just in shock and too tired from surgery to care...but today....today is different....I've realized this will be a part of me for the rest of my life....I will always have to tell Dr's I've had "Cancer" wether I do at the moment or not!! It's something I had never hoped to have to ever have and in some wierd way feel blessed that it's ONLY thyroid cancer... But is it.....that's what I still don't know...I don't get to see the dr for 2 more weeks and can only hope she listens to me and my concerns about this spreading......when I first started having symptoms I complained of swollen lymph nodes in my neck for several months...I also had swollen lymph nodes in my armpit...but the dr didn't seem to think it was a problem....but that was before....There is something called Thyroid Lymphoma that I researched today and will definatly ask about that....It causes enlarged spleen and elevated WBC's which I have....It's scary to say the least..
I dare not tell the children....because kids don't hear, "Mommy's got Cancer but she's going to be ok" they just here the "C" word and go to the worst thoughts...Kiley had a close friend die over the summer of a rare blood cancer so she is a little freaked out about cancer anyway.....I feel like I'm hiding something from them, I whisper on the phone in my room and hide any emails I type just so they don't get wind of it!! I feel like that's not right either!!
The diabetes still sucks and if you know me at all you know I hate to take pills of any kind....So with the Diabetes came 4 pills a day to keep it under control.....Yes, it's working and I hate it every day...but life goes on.................

Kamryn's 7th Birthday

On Saturday August 16, 2008 we celebrated Kamryn's 7th b-day. It seems like just yesterday I was holding my 10lb newborn baby girl!! Where does the time go??

Actually the celebration started on Friday when we took her to get her ears pierced. That's what she wanted for her birthday!! It was going to be a date with just her and mommy, but the whole family had to come to see the drama unfold. They all know Kamryn way to well and know what kind of drama queen she is, and they weren't missing that for one second. I called around to different places in town trying to find the best place. Apparently ear piercing has changed a lot and gone way up in price since I had Maddy and Kiley's done when they were 6months old. Most places don't use the guns anymore and only use needles as they are supposedly more sanitary. Sanitary or not I knew there was no way she would go for the needle. I wasn't even sure I could handle watching that!! I found Claire's who still uses the guns and decided on them. All the other places were serious piercing places and tattoo parlors and didn't feel like that was the environment to take my sweet little 7 yr old for her first piercing!!

So at Claire's while she was picking out her earrings I warned the lady that full on drama may ensue. I was all the time hoping that they could do both ears at the same time, and when I learned they could only do one at a time I was very skeptical as to whether she would go through with the second one. I tried to talk her out of the earrings she had picked out. She was adamant to have her August birthstone, Peridot. It's a light green color. It actually suits her well, and makes her eyes look more green than brown. Anyway, she climbed up into the chair and was very brave. The lady cleaned her ears and marked them. Then came the point of no return. She pierced her right ear first. Kammy's only sound was "OW OW OWEEEEEEEE." She looked at me and I thought OH NO she doesn't want the other one done. But she was OK, she let the lady do the second one and squeezed my hand. I was so proud of her she didn't even cry. She did admit later that her eyes watered a little but no crocodile tears that frequently exit Kamryn's tear ducts!! She looked in the mirror and said "Oh they are Beautiful." I was relieved that it was over. Since it was dinner time and Red Robin was right next door we decided to go have an early b-day dinner. It was busy since it was Friday and there were lots of people there, it seemed like most were celebrating b-day's. Kammy saw them singing and clapping and most of all saw the huge hot fudge sundae the waitress took the birthday boys and girls. She asked if since it was her b-day if they would be bringing her one of those yummy things. I told her I didn't know but probably since it was her b-day. She asked how they know it's someones b-day. I told her they just know. They can tell by looking at you, that you sometimes just radiate birthday-ness and look 1 year older. She bought it and I couldn't wait to be done with dinner to see her face. We were finishing up our unlimited supply of french fries when she looked at me with the saddest puppy dog eyes and said "They aren't coming are they, they don't know it's my bday!!" Just then a huge crowd of employees came up from behind her. They were clapping and singing and brought her the sundae she wanted!! Her eyes were huge and the smile was even bigger. It was a really fun moment. She eventually did share with her brother and sisters after she devoured most of the whip cream and hot fudge. Now all the kids want to go there for their birthday's!!

Saturday we planned a family party at Mike's sisters house. We first went to Prineville Reservoir for swimming since it was supposed to be 105 degrees. We spent most of the day there at the reservoir swimming and enjoying each others company. Then it just got Way to HOT!! So we stayed until about 2:30 and headed back to town where we found it to be 109 degrees!! Mike's sister Jalene didn't have air conditioning at her house so we all sat outside in the shade and just completely melted!! Oh speaking of melted, so did Kamryn's cake!! Poor girl, her cake was a hopeless cause, it was falling apart and there was not much we could do!! We all had fun despite being uncomfortable. She got lots of fun gifts and was so happy!!

She's grown so much in the last 7 years. She's such a little lady, but will always be MY little baby!!

Our contribution to the Oregon roadways!!

I would be sad if I didn't start my blog with this hilarious story of our trip last weekend.......

Michael had wanted to go camping for a couple of weeks, and circumstances just never allowed, but finally last Thursday he decided this was the weekend. I really had NO desire to go, but he finally talked me into it. So we packed up all of our stuff and prepared to leave the following day after work.

We got on the road and I was actually kind of excited about camping by this point. We were headed for Sunnyside Park in Sweet Home where we go every Labor Day for the family reunion. As we were driving I started noticing that all the campgrounds along the way had no vacancy signs. I started to get a little worried but knew there would be a spot at Sunnyside. It's a huge campground, plus there were many other campgrounds within a few miles just in case.

The Hwy to the campground is beautiful. The only problem is it's at 11% downgrade and has lots of curves. I started feeling a little nauseated and I was even in the front seat. I didn't say anything for fear it would start a wave of pukers in the backseat!! Poor Michael upon every corner I told him to SLOW DOWN, even though he was going 20mph on a 45mph corner. He was a little irritated with me to say the least. I didn't care, when your carsick 20mph feels like 60mph and I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to make it.

Finally with the end in site the road straightened out about 5 miles before the campground turnoff. All of the sudden Nate yells out "Mom, my tummy doesn't feel so good!" I know from past experience when Nate says that, you better either pull over or get a bag back there really quick!! The only bag I had available was a paper Burger King bag from our dinner on the road. I tossed it back to Nate just in time!! I knew a paper bag wasn't going to hold what he was putting in it, so I was screaming to Mike to pull over!! I was NOT going to have Puke in my new van!!! Before the car was in park I got Nate's door open and told him to "Throw the Bag, Throw it, go ahead it's OK, Don't let the puke get in mommy's car" Luckily the bag held and my car was saved!! I hopped out to attend to Nate when I hear coming from the far backseat "Mommy, I HAVE to PEE, I can't hold it, Oh my goodness, I think I'm going to PEE my Pants!!! All I could think of was "NO, Not in my new van!!" It was Kammy of course, who ALWAYS has to pee at the most inconvenient times. So I begged her to hold it, for goodness sake we were only 5 minutes from the campground!! She was crying that she couldn't make it, so for the sake of "mommy's new van" I hit the button to open her door not knowing that most of our camping supplies had shifted and were resting on that door. It was like slow motion, everything starting to fall out on to the hwy. I sent Mike to attend to Nate while I started picking our things up off the road. Kammy jumped out in the meantime and decided she was waiting NO MORE!! The next thing I remember, I looked over at Kamryn "squatting" along side the road. Apparently "squatting" to her meant pulling down your pants and bending over at your waist!! She peed all over herself, her clothes, her shoes. This was absolute roadside chaos!! I swear if anyone could have video taped this it could be on America's funniest videos!! So Kammy being Kammy wasn't going to wear peed clothes for 5 minutes, and of course our suitcases were tied to the top of the van and we couldn't get any out. So I found a towel and wrapped her in it. We finally got back on the road headed for our destination. Only to find out when we got there that Sunnyside Park was indeed Full!! What now??? We decided to go to the Safeway parking lot and get some 7up for our nauseous tummies and to get poor Kammy some clothes.....
We ended up in Tillamook for a visit and had tons of fun of course....then came the ride home!!!

We said our goodbye's and headed home Sunday morning. I remembered that I had a half of a Dramamine tablet in my purse and promptly gave it to Nathan as to avoid any more Puke fests!! I know how Hwy 22 can be and it prompts carsickness every time. About halfway to Salem, I hear coming from the backseat "Mom, my tummy doesn't feel so good!!" But instead of being a warning it was Kammy throwing up in the backseat!! NO NO NO, not in mommy's van!!
She doesn't have the experience with being car sick like Nate does, and giving me time to get a bag back there. She tells me as her hand is over her mouth and she's actively throwing up. Again, I start screaming at Michael "Pull over, Pull over, I don't care that there's NO where to pull over, the other cars will stop, Please Pull over!!" Him being the sane one at this point finds a safe pull out and exits the roadway as normal people should. I hop out grab some wipes, which BTW, I'm even amazed I have in my car!! I start cleaning up Kammy, and find that she has thrown up all over a quilt she had on her lap and only got a minimal amount in "Mommy's new van!!" Yeah, for her, she's a good little puker!!!! As I'm cleaning her up I hear another voice say "I have to PEE!!" Oh not again!! It was Maddy this time and so I sent her behind a bush to do what she needed to do, I figured she was old enough to take care of herself. She begs Kiley to go with her, you know girls and the bathroom, we always have to go in pairs!! A few minutes go by and I look over to the girls by the bush and I see Kiley standing there holding all of Maddy's clothes and her shoes. I think this may be one of the most amusing moments in my motherhood. I ask what the Heck is going on and Maddy pops her head out from behind the bush saying she didn't want to pee on her clothes, so she got NAKED!! I was cracking up and couldn't stop laughing. I looked towards the road and all I could see was people in their cars passing and almost getting whiplash cranking their heads around and trying to figure out what in world was going on!!! Kammy puked about 3 more times, I was running out of plastic bags so I started emptying our dirty clothes bags, and each time tossed them out the door. God Bless the poor people who have to do road cleanup!! So as our legacy, we left a trail of Puke and Pee across the whole state of Oregon!! Yay for us!!