Justin turns 19

His last year with "teen" in his age. Finishing his first semester of college and still dealing with his pain. This has been a hard year for sure. I can only pray that he stays strong until things get better for him medically. My birthday wish for you son is that you can look past this disease and see the person you are within. To know this pain is temporary and that better days are to come. I love you.

Misa's Dinner party....

We had so much fun for Misa's 15th! Awesome, yummy food, fun games and little family competition! We should really have more dinner parties like that more often. Not to mention my baby girl is now 15. Enrolled in driving school and ready to go. She conquered H1N1
and is working through mountains of make up work sometime really soon we can work on driving!!

Right now.....

Outside my window...Some wonderful rain, many colorful leaves falling all over. My absolute favorite time of the year!

I am thinking...about my kids a lot right now, Mattias and Marisa are getting a lot better however Justin is still struggling with pain in his legs and joints.

I am thankful for...a lot has happened this month and I'm thankful it didn't all happen at once. .

From the kitchen...Sour cream enchiladas....mmmmmmmmmm.

I am wearing...a black hooded sweatshirt, jeans and slippers.

I am going... to sleep a full 8 hours tonight. Hopefully

I am reading....nothing, with all that has been going on my attention span is very short.

I am hoping...to do a lot of scrapping soon.

I am hearing...All the kids in the kitchen, carving pumpkins, singing and laughing. It is good for the soul.

One of my favorite things...My craft room full of potentials......

A few plans for the rest of the week...work, parent/teacher conference, The Dog Spot, carving more pumpkins, scrapping, Dr. appointments, laundry and blah, blah, blah.

A picture to share...

Dasher Jones and Dinner parties....

Last Saturday morning I heard Dash get up and go outside. A minute or so later I heard him Scream....I jumped out of bed and ran out on the back deck screaming for him. I heard a lot of movement in the bushes on the ground, I kept screaming for Dash and then I heard at least 3 animals run out in the backyard. I ran inside to get a jacket and shoes and heard Dash scratching at the front door. I ran down and let him in and he came in and ran up stairs. I thought for a second he was ok and then I saw blood come from his neck! I grabbed a towel wrapped him up and a yelled for Marce. He threw shoes on and we ran out the door. Thank God we live less than 10 minutes from the Vet Hospital. The nurse took Dash back right away and we were left in the waiting room pacing and crying. It turns out the wounds around his neck were the least of our problems, Dash had a huge hernia from the attack his intestines were outside of his muscle lining and only held in by his skin! He needed emergency surgery or he would die. We were terrified and heartbroken. Not to mention it was going to be $2700.00 minimum. With Nanci's help we were able to come to an agreement with the Dr. and she took him into surgery. We were devastated for our poor little puppy. The surgery went well he had many puncture wounds and scratches around his neck and down his back. His hernia was the worst of it and part of his intestines were too badly injured and they had to remove part of them. They put drain tubes in his neck to help with drainage. When we went back to see him that afternoon he was pretty drugged up and beaten up, I could not believe how bad he was. He was black and blue and swollen around his neck and on his belly so bad we all just cried and cried. They kept him until Sunday night and then let us take him home. We have been nursing him back to health this last week and I am so happy to say that it looks like he is making a full recovery! I can not believe how Strong our little dog is! Now I have gone from spoon feeding him and carrying him everywhere to keeping him from jumping all over and playing fetch. I am thanking God for saving Dash!

On a lighter and happier note...Marisa is turning 15 on Tuesday and we had a wonderful dinner party for her birthday on Saturday night. It was a great night and I have some great pictures...but too tired to post them tonight. But pretty excited to post them soon! Need to get to bed now, tomorrow is the Mitochondrial specialist appointment that we have been waiting months for!!!!!

What's your number????

Jared's # is 19. It feels so weird with Him and Wytia away at school, but I'm so happy for them!

The Dare for the week.......Dare 148 it's all about the numbers, favorite numbers, lucky numbers, combination of numbers how do they influence you? Mine was so easy its Him and Me + Him, Him and Her = 5 happy us.

In Getting ready for the grand opening for The Dog Spot we had a fun little photo shoot at Debbies with all our dogs. Its funny the things you say when you are shooting dogs, things like "Jake can you please put your toung back in your mouth" and "Can you please not lick yourself right now!" The best was when Dash realized that there were cows across the street and decided it would be loads of fun to chase 5 cows around in circles....good times. No matter what I'm doing with my crazy sisters there is always lots of laughter. I love it.

We have a little cold going around our house right now so we have had a lazy Saturday and it is lovely to just relax and get some scrapping done. I ordered a mini kit from one of my Fav. scrapbookers last night so I'm anxiously awaiting to get my hands on it!!! Until then I am still working on our Puerto Rico trip and doing some Halloween minis and getting ready for 25 Days of Christmas (only 3 months to go:) and today I want to do dare 148, whats your number combo.

T minus 24 days until Marisa starts driving school!!! We are planning a dinner party for her birthday and now I'm trying to work some games in between the different courses. Moriah did a test run for the dessert and it was delish. Molten Choc. lava cake with raspberry sauce! Going to be a fun one!

Justin auditioned and is now part of the Jazz band for his college! We are very happy for him! What a great start for him!

weak

This weeks Dare was weakness...what are your weaknesses. Wow do I have a lot! Not to proud to say but at least I know what they are:) so lets see....

-Scrapbooking supplies by the truck load

-Coffee

- Sweaters

- Boots

- Free gift time at the Clinique counter

- Shopping in Seattle

- Fresh cut flowers

- Desinger hand bags

- My Family

- Warm & Cozy body wash & lotion (Victoria Secrets)

- Anthropologie

- Going Hiking

and many more. Things I just can't say no to!

A New Start....

One Senior, One Junior, One Sophomore and One 4th Grader.....week one down and things are going good. Lots of homework, soccer games and practices. I can't believe how smoothly we have fallen into a routine. These kids are so cool, so easy, so much fun!! The older kids are loving their brand new, state of the art school and Mattias is enjoying his first year with a male teacher and his co-teacher Theo (his dog:) We are now looking forward to the upcoming Holidays (even started deocorating..shh..don't tell anyone)

Still kind of emotional from 9/11 but have been feeling extra grateful for all I have! Been scrapping a lot lately and can't wait to post some stuff. The Dog Spot is moving along nicely, we will be doing a photo shoot this weekend with all our dogs for a little something I'm working on for opening day, November 1st!!!!

T minus 29 days until my daughter turns 15 and gets to start driving(with us of course). That is a little nutty I think! And in 24 hours Justin will be home, what is with my kids the travelers...I love it!

Savoring Our Summer Memories.....

So much happened this summer and I just don't want to forget any of it. Our summer was full of sunshine, family time, laughter, tears, some really good times and a couple of really bad times.

Recap:

In June we had Marce, Justin, Jared and Wytia's graduations. My Mom and Dad were here which always makes me happy. We had Marce, My Moms, and Dashes birthdays. Marisa went on her own little vacation down to Cali, had a great time with her cousins! Mattias started his first summer of summer camp(did not really make him happy:) Marce and I went away for our lovely 3 day getaway!!

In July We had our Utah family and more family up from California and a wonderful 4Th of July at Debbie and Bill's. I had all three of my God Children here together:) We had Paramore and No Doubt. We had our Anniversary 16 years of marriage!! Justin put together a Jazz band and played on the main stage at Tour De Terrace. The Twins and Josh came back to finish their summer here.

In August we had the big float down the river and fun times after the big spill of 2009 that is. My kids and Marce had the Warpped Tour that they are still smiling from. We had Justin's Diagnosis given to us which has really thrown us and given us a lot of tears and times of grief.

We had a wonderful family vacation to San Fransisco and So Cal. I reunited with my High School Friends. We celebrated with my parents on 50 years of love. That was a wonderful night. Nanci got here facility to open The Dog Spot!!

What I didn't mention was all the little get together's, hanging out at home together, Sunday dinners, the record heat we had, the BBQ's, the hikes, the waterfalls, the coffee shop gigs, now thinking back the list goes on and on. I'm still sifting through all the pictures I took. Savoring, just savoring our summer memories......

Technology Rocks

I am emailing a post from my phone to my blog!!!! So Cool!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

I love my husband who always has the cool hook ups!!!!!

My Friends

So much fun catching up with these lovely ladies! The two nights was not enough and I can't wait to hang with them again. I hope they can make a trip up to Washington soon!

The Berry Farm

This was a great day for all of us. Mattias' plan was to ride the Boomarang ride and he did it, had a funnel cake and got his dragon airbrush tattoo. Lots of fun! This was Donavin's first time to an amusement park and he loved every minute. The word for this day was "more". After every ride it was "more", so cute! His favorite was the airplane. Our favorite was watching them have fun. That night at Nana and Papa's I was reunited with my high school friends. Just like old times. I can't wait to post some pictures with my friend!

What a great time!

It always amazes me how many things we can fit in a week! Marce got the serious hook up at Warped Tour and took Marisa, Justin and Josh. They had the best time, VIP passes and was actually on stage for a couple of shows. They came home full of great stories! The very next morning we hit the road and arrived in San Francisco just in time to check into our beautiful hotel and go out to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Cha Cha Cha. Only the best Puerto Rican/Cuban food! The next morning Marce and I got up early to grab some coffee and explore the city. I love San Francisco. We then were lucky enough to spend the day with Hopey. It was wonderful to hear what she has been doing and how she is CHANGING the world! I'm so proud of her. We met her partner Peggy and we all just fell in love with her. Two really amazing people making this country a better place, so awesome!

We saw just about everything we could in San Fran, it was so much fun!

There's My Love:)

Triple digit temperatures + Us =

This is what you call a Puerto Rican slip n slide!
It was fun to watch them slide down the hill

Although they crashed enough to make me not want to try!

Justin

We got the diagnosis on Justin, it is Mitochondrial Myopathy. It is a pretty rare and complicated disease. I feel like I have been in a fog since the Dr. told us, this was so much easier when it was me. It seems like it is all me and Marce talk about right now, our new reality. Reading about the disease is my new past time. We are heartbroken. Our son is this big, strong beautiful young man and we are devastated that he has to go through any of this. Watching him grow up into this man right in front of our eyes has been such a gift, I just wish I can take this from him and say "go on mejio, I will do this for you. The Dr appointments, the tests, the physical therapy, the pain, take the medications, all of it" But I can't. All I can do is stand next to him and hold his hand and tell him how much I love him. It just doesn't feel enough. We will encourage him to stay strong, enjoy every opportunity that comes his way. Live a great life right now! Don't wait for anything! Keep making that amazing music that you do so well. Keep your great sense of humor. Keep working to reach your goals! Keep inspiring the people around you. This disease will not stop you! It does not define you! You will always be the wonderful person you are now. And we will always love you!

Hello Monday....

We had one of those great weekends. Friday we went downtown to the bite of Seattle. Have I mentioned how much I love Seattle. Saturday was a very relaxing day for me and the kids, hanging out at home, bike rides, BBQ, I even got to make a run to the LSS to pick up some more stash....:) Marce on the other hand decided to go and build a shed....craziness. And then there was Sunday......oh Sunday!

There was Paramore....there was No Doubt. There was all of my most favorite songs in the world right now and I was right down in front with all the other crazies, in the pit! Jumping, screaming, dancing and singing my heart out as loud as I could and totally off key....but I didn't care! I was having a great time with Marce and Marisa and my new friends.....Haley and Miss Gwen.There was Gwen, she was wonderful and inspiring and put on the best show! Marce took all the pictures which I so appreciated! I got great pictures all while I was having such a great time, singing both sets:)

There was my husband and my daughter with me. There was laughter and really loud music and thousands of other people enjoying it with us. Marisa had such a great time which just made it all that much better. Truly a night to remember for a long time!

16 Years!

"Life isn't about finding yourself.......Life is about creating yourself!" - author unknown -

Since we were practically children when we got married, we had a whole lot of growing and creating to do. So to him.....thank you for giving me and continuing to give me the freedom, security, support and love that I needed in my ever evolving creative process.

A week in the life of....

This has to be my all time favorite quote from a TV show or movie. Of course it was on Dexter:)

Deb to Dexter: "What the f@*# is scrapbooking?"

Dexter in his matter of fact way of speaking: "The tradition of putting photos and memorabilia into a family keepsake albums, along with relevant journaling"


I laughed and laughed and laughed! I love it! Maybe you just had to be there.....or be a scrapbooker:)

Last year I did Alie Edwards "a week in the life of" and here are a couple of pages from my finished album. This was a really fun project and the whole family joined in with me. It was such a great reminder to document your life and celebrate the everyday!
Putting these on my blog just made me want a 12x12 scanner even more!!!!! I will add the rest of the mini later when I have more time to play.

I started my week of documenting on a Monday, which worked out to be a very typical Monday. Your suppose to do a regular, typical week of you life to show your everyday stuff. I did find that I love my everyday and find comfort in my everyday rituals. I am so very blessed that everyday I have, I spend with my favorite people in the world!!! Lucky me. Cant wait to post the rest of this album!!!!

Mattias cracked me up last night!

Mattias: "Mom I think I want to be a lawyer when I grow up, they make good money on the legal fees that they charge. Do you think I should be a lawyer for Barnes and Noble or Starbucks?"

Me: "Why are you thinking of only those two companies?"

Mattias: "Well I really like Barnes and Noble and I'm GOING to like Starbucks one day and I can bring you home a coffee every night"

It cracks me up that he sees how much I love coffee and he figures that its in his future as well. I also love that my happiness is helping him decide what career choice to make....yeah I know he's 9. When he is really making career choices I will be at the bottom of his concerns....I'm OK with that! I will enjoy him while I have him:)

4th of July ~ 2009

Boy Debbie and Bill know how to throw a PARTY! The weather was great, the food was great, the company was the best! Spending the day with all my favorite people made me feel like a very lucky girl!!!!!!!!

Crab feast! Yummy!

So nice having our family here visiting. This was the first time I had all of my God Children together in one place and I didn't get a freaking picture!!!!! What kind of scrap booker am I???

Papa enjoying some sweets and watching the volleyball game

Steph giving Misa a ride:) How sweet

"No fire here, Please" We tried to sit in the no firework zone, didn't work out so well.

Mattias enjoying some sparklers

Brings me back to my childhood..hanging with my cousins

"this is our fate, I'm yours!!" Every time I think about our little sing a long I just smile and smile! Like Nana said "Jonathan and Kristine, thank you for giving us Donavin!"

This morning.....

The house was full, busy and happy. I'm so happy to have our family here! Marce, Justin and Steve went for a very early round of golf and I slept in. Monica cooked up a monster batch of Menudo and the house had a lovely comfort food scent

The girls munching and being silly

My kitchen has turned in a Mexican cuisine restaurant

The master chef at work. Can't wait to eat!

Marce helping Papa with the laptop

The kids playing a game. I love morinings like this, talking, coffee, just being at home, just relaxing , just being us.

Got the fireworks and we are ready to pack up and go to Debbie and Bills for the big bash. All I need is a little tranquilizer to get me through the night(the fireworks make me nervous...I'm getting so old)

Us and the City

Lets see....Monica, Alberto, Leilani, Stephanie, Lil Alberto, Steve, Lisa, Tess, Jace and Zach are all up here this weekend for a 4th of July visit. I love when family comes up for a visit! We love to show off our beautiful city:)

I love to get flowers whenever we go to the Market, Marisa liked these ones.
Stopping for a drink and some food. It was hot...hot for us at whopping 85 degrees. Yuck!

Very patriotic

Note to self:

Don't forget to......Rest
Nuture your relationship

Soak in the beauty around you

Nurture yourself

enjoy the little things

Let your mind wander

and Breathe

3 Days.....

Just us. Just him and me for 3 blissfully lovely days. It was just what we needed:) A Road trip with really loud music and me singing my heart out.... a tribute to MJ. Marce made us a CD with some of his best stuff. We were actually very busy: bike rides, hiking, golf, lots of talking, reading, waterfalls, Marce's Birthday:)....we did it all.