2 1/2 more pounds lost!

Here's this week's update. I guess I will keep posting them unless I had a really bad week. I'm a half pound away from my goal for this month. If I don't ruin it over Thanksgiving, I think I will have it made. So, that makes a total of 21 1/2 pounds lost since Sept. with 30 1/2 pounds to go!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

I just got a phone call from Chase letting me know that we got the house we had applied to rent. We were unsure because they told our agent that we probably didn't meet the income requirements, even though Chase will be making his full pay after 2 months and we have no debt. Chase will be moving in Dec. 1st and we get to finally join him again at Christmas. We are so excited! While I was on the phone I told the kids and they literally screamed with excitement and tackled me with hugs until I almost fell over. It's been crazy and unbelievable how no one wanted to lend to us because of Chase's work history and income, then it looked like it would be difficult for us to rent as well. We did eventually find someone willing to lend to us when Chase graduated, but even then it was a low amount not high enough to find us a big enough home for our big family long term. We decided it has been hard enough being apart for this long, so we thought the best thing would be to rent and get out there sooner.

I would like to send a shout out to everyone who has helped us these last 2 years... my parents, Chase's parents, Chase's grandparents, anyone who has given to us of their time, services, monetary help, etc. We are especially eternally grateful to my parents for putting up with us for so very long and allowing us to live with them. Also, without my parents so kindly subsidizing some of our rent for 2 months and a letter stating they would do so, we wouldn't be able to get into this house. So, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU everybody!!! We are so thrilled to finally be able to be together again!

Emery Misses Her Dad

Emery has been struggling lately with some emotional and behavior issues, which I believe have stemmed from our last 2 turbulant yrs, but most recently from the absence of her dad. It got noticeably worse when I left to visit with Chase for a week back in Oct. as well as for some other children.

Emery has been really sick the last couple of days with croup and a possible ear infection. She's been more clingy than normal, but has appeared to be happier the last 2 days and a little bit more well behaved. Today while I was trying to eat lunch and read my scriptures while the baby was napping, Emery decided that she needed to climb all over me and sit in my lap. So, I finally gave in and let her sit on my lap while I tried to read. After a few minutes of me trying to read and asking her if she wanted me to read out loud, I decided it wasn't working. I figured that maybe this was one of those moments where family obligations need to come before church/spiritual obligations. So, I closed my scriptures and decided to talk with Emery.

The following conversation occurred...

Emery: "Mom, a long time ago, you left, and I was sad." (This was the first time she had talked to me about how she felt.)

Me: "I'm sorry, but I came back."

Emery: "It was a long time. I was happy when you came back." (Then she proceeded to make up some stories about her siblings while I was gone, at least I'm pretty sure they're made up. Something about Cam saying he was going to be bad and then he gave Addie and Bailey presents but not her.)

Emery: "I want my dad!"

Me: "I know sweet heart. We get to see him real soon."

Emery: "I want my dad now! I miss my dad, I want my dad, I want my dad, I want my dad!" (I lost count of how many times she said that. She couldn't be consoled or distracted. It started to break my heart.)

Me: "Emery, next week we get to take a trip to see Daddy. It's only 5 more days!"

Emery: "I want to go on a trip! I'm getting my shoes."

Me: "Emery, we're not going today it's not for 5 more days."

Emery: "I'm getting my shoes. Mom, go get your shoes!"

Well, a couple of more times trying to explain to a 3 yr old why she can't go see her father and then we eventually were able to distract her by playing a game of Uno Stacko Jenga, well I tried to play the real way, but we ended up building different things instead.

But before we played the game Emery told me the following story...

"There was a woof (wolf) and there was a baby woof. The mommy woof left and made the baby woof sad. The mommy woof came back and the baby woof was happy. The daddy woof was gone and the baby woof was sad. Then the daddy woof came back and the baby woof was happy."

I've been trying to give Emery the positive attention that she's been needing and trying to cope with her behavior issues in the right way, which can be difficult. I've been trying to reinforce her positive behavior while trying to deter her negative behavior and channel it in different direction. Today, I saw a glimpse of the old, happy, silly, and sweet, but still slightly sassy Emery that I have missed. It has been hard having Chase gone, but I think it will make us stronger and bring us closer together as we have learned to truly appreciate eachother as individuals and as a family. I have deffinately seen how not having one parent or the other in the home can have a very real and devastating effect on children. I am so thankful for a loving and righteous husband and father who is only going to be temporarily absent. We are very blessed to have Chase and we are not the same without him. Hopefully, we will be together soon. We are so very excited to see him for Thanksgiving, hopefully with everyone healthy and well again. We're counting down the days!

1 1/2 Down!!!

So, 1 1/2 more pounds gone from last week. Making 19 down and 33 more to go. I think I can, I think I can. Now I just need to get my Zumba instructor to stop playing Grease Lightening and Jive and I will be a happy little camper :)

Community unites to celebrate at religious festival | Universe.byu.edu

This is the link to the article I was interviewed for. See how famous I am, he he :) Anyway, it has better pictures of the festival and explains it a little better if you're interested. Also, I guess we just missed the cow, it came after the dancing and Joelle was getting fussy so we had to go out. We were over by the pond waiting for the lighting ceremony when the cow was brought out, darn it.

Community unites to celebrate at religious festival Universe.byu.edu

Diwali Festival

On Saturday, Nov. 6th, I decided to take the kids at the last minute to an Indian celebration being held at the Hare Krishna temple called the Diwali Festival (Festival of Lights). Diwali is a combination of words "deepa", meaning lamps, and "wali", meaning row. Homes in India are decorated with rows of lamps in the windows and places of worship to bring in the best of the New Year. This is what I read that morning in the newspaper about the festival. Part of the Diwali feast is in remembrance of Krishna lifting a mountain and using it as an umbrella to protect his people from devastating rainfall. Part of the ceremony was honoring a live cow, which symbolize abundance and the sanctity of life. We never saw that part of the celebration, not sure if we missed it.

We were able to participate in one of the rituals which I am not very familiar with, and they didn't explain it to us and I didn't read about it in the paper. They had this wooden cart with a wheel attached that steered it and a rope on the other end for people to pull. It was decorated with flowers. We followed the cart around with others in the crowd and clapped along to the singing and music. Every once in a while we would stop and they would sing and dance. Then we would follow it around again, around and around the temple. We did this for a while before venturing off to explore other activities and the temple grounds. We enjoyed traditional Indian dancing and music also.

At the end of the festival we gathered around a gated pond with a statue, that I believe is of Krishna(not sure though), for the lighting ceremony. They lit tiny lamps of cotton balls placed on leaves and then placed them in the pond and made a wish. The kids really wanted to do this, but it was just too crowded and I didn't feel like ushering 5 kids in the small confined space and most likely have one of them end up in the water, so we just watched. Then we watched the fireworks which were pretty cool. They were set off just on the opposite side of the pond directly across from us, so they were very close, loud, and smoky.

We had a really fun time and I enjoyed having the kids participate in another culture and religion. It was exciting to have something like this so close in our own backyard. I think it's important for them to understand and experience different people, cultures, and religions. We also got interviewd by a BYU reporter, so we may be in an article there. She probably was wondering who this crazy lady with 5 kids is and what she was doing there. We did get a lot of stares and many offers to help us, especially as I'm trying to carry the baby and stroller up the temple's flight of stairs and then traversing down the steep hill back to the parking lot in the dark. It was a lot of fun and it was a great experience for our family. I hope my kids learn to appreciate other people for who they are, despite our differences.

On the stairs at the front of the Hare Krishna Temple in Salem, UT.

Part of the temple.

Side view of the temple. It was lit up really pretty, but as it got darker my camera started to rebel.

This is Pedro. He could say "Bye, Bye" and something else in their religion. Some boys from the Hare Krishna religion came over and were telling us about the parrot and the llamas, they were very nice. There was also a smaller gray parrot in a cage next to Pedro, but the poor thing was largely ignored, or maybe lucky for him Pedro got all the attention.

Pedro showing us is pretty blue feathers. He kind of made me want to get another bird...almost, but then I remembered our psychotic pet bird "Crispy".

Ok, so it was dusk again, so you get some pictures of the llamas looking evil eyed and some spots as well. I really need a new camera.

The kids petting the llamas.

Addie petting the llamas. They kind of lost interest once they realized we didn't have food and the people with the carrots next to us left.

The boys that talked to us though had insisted that the llamas don't spit, unless they are scared or angry or something like that. We were fortunate not to have any spitting. They were very friendly and the kids were able to get really close and pet them.

Kids looking into the pond with the "Krishna" statue behind them. There were these huge fish in the pond, not sure what kind, they were orange and white and humongous. I couldn't get a very good picture of the fish because of the lighting and my stinky camera.

Elephant statue at the foot of the stairs of the temple.

The decorated, wooden cart that was driven around the temple that we followed behind.

Following the temple leader (I think), as he drove the cart around the temple.

The cart driver, maybe temple leader, not sure.

Bailey, and Cam following behind the cart.

Emery clapping along as we followed the cart.

Addie clapping along.

Kids up at the top of the temple.

Top of the temple.

Kids overlooking the balcony at the top of the temple. Addie dancing to the music being played. Again, everyone looking evil-eyed, my red eye editing couldn't even save this picture and a few others.

Inside the temple on the top floor. This is a picture I took from outside, since it was so crowded we could not get inside.

Another picture looking in from outside.

16 yr old dancer, she was very good, and her costume was exquisite.

Performers in traditional dress.

Lighting ceremony.

Weight Loss Update

So, I went to Zumba this morning which totally kicked my trash, but was awesome! I weighed myself when I got back. I am trying to weigh myself only once a week, and weighing myself first thing Monday morning can be daunting, especially since I tend to eat worse over the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised though. I am down 4 1/2 more pounds! Which means I have lost a total of 17 1/2 pounds since September-yippee!!! So, only 34 1/2 more pounds to go-yikes! I proudly survived Halloween, so now I just need to conquer Thanksgiving and Christmas :) .