Block party mania.

We are getting ready for the neighborhood block party tomorrow. I'm a little nervous....tonight's mission - filling 100 water balloons.

I also have to do a "shout out" to Kelley S. for donating some of her artwork for the raffle. Thank you!

p.s. -We lost our camera battery charger!!!! Adam's going out to buy a new one today. I still have to post photos one of my latest projects. STAMPING BABY ONESIES!!! I don't scrapbook (at all) but this was a must for my friend's new baby. Thanks to Jen H. they came out pretty good.

Once we get this camera working again we'll be back on track.

Up all night

Throwing up all night...excuse me for taking ANOTHER sick day. Is anyone else sick??

I almost forgot to mention Adam's new calling in the young men's presidency. He went to mutual last night and seemed to have had a good ol' time. I had to cry a little bit when he left primary. I'll miss him!!

One more thing I need to mention - John's last day of preschool is today. He'll start the summer semester in one more week.

Don't forget to watch the puppy mill show. I know I will...since I'm not going anywhere with this hairdo.

Puppy Mill Show

I invite you all to watch Oprah's puppy mill show on May 29th. It should be showing at the usual 3:oopm time.

Puppy mills are places where dogs are bred and kept in (often times) unthinkable living conditions.

Some of us have recently adopted new pets. Others will be adopting one some day. It is my earnest hope that we will all be dedicated to adopting animals from local shelters or rescues rather than through breeders or pet stores.

Take a drive down to Maricopa Country animal shelter. I think it will change your mind about breeders or pet stores. There are rows and rows of dogs on concrete floors sharing cages with other dogs because there is no room. Hundreds and hundreds of them...right now. And that's just one shelter.

We can make a difference.

Adam's first post.

I talked to a friend, Rob, from my mission today. He uses funny words like raisin spot and buzzard meat. We used to do skits and he'd yell at me for picking my socks (they would have lint on them).

Cute shoes

I found these dang cute shoes at Kohl's today. Some may say they're ugly but I'm wearin' em! They were only $20. I wore white Keds on my wedding day.

Memorial Day Parade

We had a sweet parade in our good old hometown for Memorial Day. Ella plugged her ears the whole time and tried to hide from the clowns. (I wanted to hide from them too) John was fixated on getting the candy. Now, candy is illegal in our house - but we actually broke down and let the kids have a couple of pieces. It turned out to be a great morning.

Mingus Mountain

We went camping on Mingus Mountain a few weeks ago. This was our view.

Of course, we took the bus.

We went for a hike with the kids. They handled 2 miles no problem!

Watch out for those giant agaves though!

Adam made John and Ella a swing. Now THIS is how our family enjoys life.

Is that 1,000 ft. drop behind them??? Yes it is.

Adam living the dream.

Taking advantage of our "little kitchen". Check out the passanger seat behind him. It turns around!

Blog Blog Blog

Ok I'm finally catching onto the blog thing. It's taken a couple of weeks.

Now there's something called blog stalking and I'm sure many of you have witnessed my blog stalking lately. As I've been trying to get all the friends and family linked, it probably appears that I've come to your blog maybe 10 times? Don't worry, I'm either getting cute ideas or trying to link things.

AND doing a little stalking.
hehe

Anya's Dentist Visit

I had a small cavity this week when I got a cleaning. I went to get it filled yesterday. Our dentist is great and worked quickly. When I woke up this morning, though, I couldn't open my jaw all the way and my ear is aching. I read online that the novocaine injection probably bruised a vein.

I'm sure it will get better soon...until then I'll complain to Adam. He's so great when I complain. He just looks sweetly at me and says, "Sorry Babe."

I told him I was going to take a sick day. That means pj's all day and movies. It's wicked cold out right now, it's Friday and I don't have to drive the kids anywhere. Yay!

This is going to be the best sick day ever!

Wild Weather

Ok, it was somewhere around 110 degrees the other day. Today it's in the 70's with a chance of rain. We've had some wild weather this week! I have to say every time there's a cloud in the sky I run to see if it's going to rain.

The rain is quite exciting here in Arizona.

I remember my first summer here. It was monsoon season and I had only been living here a couple of weeks. I met my friend Mandie and when it started raining (like torrential rain) she was so excited. I wasn't able to share the excitement as much because I had just come from springtime in Massachusetts. The last thing I wanted to see was rain.

After that monsoon storm left there was a dusty smell in the air. It wasn't something I was familiar with. Usually in Mass. it would smell like soggy grass. Not here in the desert. It smells like wet dust.

Now as the years have gone by I admit my "blood has thinned out". That's what the Arizona natives say when someone has finally acclimated to the heat.

I'm wearing a sweater right now on this 70+ degree day. The pools are too chilly until I can get in the like bathtubs. I even remember to put flip flops on if I have to walk on the concrete at night time in the summer (so I won't burn my feet).

And every time I see a cloud in the sky I run to check the weather in hope for that wet dust smell. I have to admit - it used to be a pain...Now it is a sign of hope.

Glad To Be Home

We went to the pediatrician today. John and Ella had their checkups. We've been looking for a pediatrician closer to home. Thanks to our friend Mandie we got this appointment in one day. This new doctor wasn't able to give us answers for a lot of John's food intolerance but I think she'll be great for routine exams and sick visits.
It was an interesting afternoon. The kids were "starving" and climbing all over Adam and me while we were talking with the doctor.
It took us almost an hour to get there because we got lost. John and Ella were done being quiet. We also had our usual insurance battle...you know - the "You don't have coverage anymore" statement. Of course the insurance company has received our payments...who knows what they're doing. I'll handle that tomorrow...for the millionth time.
Well, doctors and insurance weren't my topics today.
It was a hectic 3 hours. Fortunately, Adam was there. But the storm is over now.
It's so nice to be home.
There's a quiet buzz in our house and the spirit is flowing again. We have the smell of dinner cooking and a doorbell ring from our home teacher increases the spirit too. Our house is a little messy but we're together.
President Monson said in conference, "Our homes are to be more than sanctuaries; they should also be places where God’s Spirit can dwell, where the storm stops at the door, where love reigns and peace dwells."
I think we all came in the door glad to be home. That alone has made it a fantastic day.

Dogs - A love hate relationship

This is one of our dogs, Bessie. We still have Binky too (he mostly sleeps all day long - in his geriatric condition) We adopted Bessie from the Humane Society two years ago. She is a border collie mixed with some psychotic creature in the wild.

Now most people know border collies to be very high energy. This is not the case for Bessie. "High energy" doesn't even come close to describing this dog. I wanted a running dog...I got a monster. Isn't that always the case?

I take Bessie on bike rides and we go running if the weather is cold. She has no breaking point. She will always outrun me unless I'm driving the car. Once she ran along beside us driving and we clocked her at 29 mph. That's hauling.

We have to put her on the treadmill because I cannot keep up with her. She loves it. She goes and goes. Sometimes I forget she's on the treadmill and I'll come back an hour and a half later. I stop the treadmill and she starts jumping all over me.

Did I mention she nips and has territorial issues?

But there's one thing about Bessie I do love...she knows me. She knows when I'm upset or stressed. She bumps me with her nose if I'm overwhelmed. She'll sit forever if I want to cuddle her. She lets the kids jump all over her too.

That makes her worth it.

Friday Night Fun

Here's a Friday night for us. It's really loud in our house and some people get hurt from being wild...but we have fun!!! Adam and I made rice cookies (since John's on special food), organic chili and broccoli salad. We dragged each other around on the floor in a blanket. We have some tile in our house so that was a blast. Adam and I got a turn too!! Weee! Life is just too great.

Personal Revelation

Other than a beautiful day, I've had another opportunity to feel joy this morning! The children have gone about their usually Friday morning routine. I have had the opportunity to read from our church Ensign magazine and the Book of Mormon.

After reading through a talk from the Ensign I was able to thumb through the photos from conference weekend. Conference is a satellite broadcast for all members around the world to watch and listen to leaders of the church. I love reading the uplifting messages. I also love reading any uplifting literature...some LDS and some not.

I loved this story about the prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (p.198 of Teaching of the Presidents of the Church - Joseph Smith).

Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church, reported: “I will refer to a certain meeting I attended in the town of Kirtland in my early days. At that meeting some remarks were made … with regard to the living oracles and with regard to the written word of God. … A leading man in the Church got up and talked upon the subject, and said: ‘You have got the word of God before you here in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants; you have the written word of God, and you who give revelations should give revelations according to those books, as what is written in those books is the word of God. We should confine ourselves to them.’

“When he concluded, Brother Joseph turned to Brother Brigham Young and said, ‘Brother Brigham, I want you to take the stand and tell us your views with regard to the living oracles and the written word of God.’ Brother Brigham took the stand, and he took the Bible, and laid it down; he took the Book of Mormon, and laid it down; and he took the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and laid it down before him, and he said: ‘There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of God from the beginning of the world, almost, to our day. And now,’ said he, ‘when compared with the [living] oracles those books are nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and generation. I would rather have the living oracles than all the writing in the books.’ That was the course he pursued. When he was through, Brother Joseph said to the congregation: ‘Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth.’ ”

Brigham Young, the second President of the Church, recalled: “Many years ago the Prophet Joseph observed that if the people would have received the revelations he had in his possession and wisely acted upon them, as the Lord would dictate, they might in their power to do and understand have been many years ahead of what they then were.”

This gave me greater motivation not only to listen to the counsel of our loving prophet today but also to allow personal revelation to flow through me more. Hey, at least I'll be able to say I'm following my own heart.
-Anya

Community

I've taken on a "block party" project this spring with a woman in our neighborhood. This woman organized the block party solo last year and over 1,000 people attended. We anticipate more people this year. We've been collecting sponsors and donations from local businesses. The block party has been a real uplifting experience for me. I've enjoyed meeting new people in our community and working towards a great cause.

The block party will promote a neighborhood watch program with the police department. We are "block captains" on our street and we have seen remarkable benefits from the neighborhood watch program.

The Barry and Kotila family came together and decided to become sponsors for our block party to promote autism awareness as well. We'll be having a booth at the event. We've been in contact with local organizations that support autism research and we hope to spread a lot of information to a large amount of people.

I stand amazed at how many people have a desire to serve their community. People are stepping up to the plate and offering assistance in so many ways. Of course, there have been a few "Grinches" who haven't made it easy but I know our efforts are being blessed.

-Anya

John loves his Montessori preschool! Here he is able to choose the work he would like to do and learn from his own exploration. Some people don't like the Montessori philosophy but for our family it works. Now it IS costing us an arm and a leg but it's well worth it. He is learning so much and we hope he will be well prepared for kindergarten.

Unlike most mainstream preschools, Montessori provides a prepared environment for the childre. From the minute they enter the classroom (or "children's house") they get right to work. Everything in the children's house is made small and easy for them to reach. They are able to work at their own pace and encouraged to learn about new materials frequently.

John is learning to read (which can be a very challenging experience for parents and teachers of children on the autism spectrum). However, because John gets to pick his work each day, he's much more interested in the concept of reading. It's not forced. He does not memorize letters based on how they look or sound, but also how they feel...using things like moveable alphabets.

Yay for Montessori!

Newest addition.

"Kermit", "The Green Machine", "The Hippy Van", "HouseCar"...the names go on. We bought this 1979 VW Westfalia Bus as a family project. Let me tell you, it has been so much fun! It's all original. It also only has 80k mile on it!!!

Now some people think this was the dumbest thing we've ever done and others are madly jealous. As far as we're concerned, it's our family vacation. We took it camping up near Mingus mountain. WOW. This bus hauls. We were laughing so much! It wouldn't start up one morning so we opened the fan belt casing and shook it. Something fell out then it started again!

Adam is already restoring the body. We hope to make everything brand new and take a trip to the Jerome bus convention. Maybe we'll get the prize for "most original".

We expect to make many fun memories. I can't believe how easy it is to drive. We've already been offered $100 to put it in a music video. HAHA

Good morning world!

I was thinking about our morning routine and wondering if it's like any of yours. John comes wandering down the hall and climbs into bed with us almost every morning. Ella usually is the last one awake. She strolls in with her hair all messy. Here's an older photo of what morning hair is like.

We get breakfast (many times John has arranged the table with "breakfast all ready"). I go right to my scriptures and read away.

This morning I came across the Book of Mormon story, Ammon and King Lamoni. King Ammon was teaching King Lamoni about God and the plan we have on earth. It reads King Lamoni's "unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light and glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness- yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul".

I try to achieve this joy every morning. Before getting dressed or helping the kids get ready, I look to prayer and scriptures to achieve the joy that King Lamoni felt because of his faith.

Now, HOW do I get to this point before starting my day if everything is going wrong from the minute I get out of bed?? Most days I have to ask myself this question. My mind returns to the scripture again, "unbelief was being cast away from his mind".

Was it God casting it away for him? I don't believe so. I believe it was Lamoni who needed to cast these thoughts away. Isn't this what free agency is all about?

SO the question is, "What unbelief do I need to cast out of my mind today?" And the answer is...all of it.

I had to put one more on today.

Here's John and Ella at Nana's house for Easter.

Flashback

We looked through old photos of the kids tonight. It was so fun! Can you tell who is who? I wish we had more videos of Ella though. As we looked through videos of John when he was a baby we were able to see all the autism symptoms so clearly. If anyone has doubts about autism, you should see these videos! John has made so many improvements - he's really starting to have conversations with us!

Ella is a trooper! There was a video of her rolling around on the floor with John before she was able to walk. She learns so much from him. She's learning so much about patience and long suffering. I hope one day she will grow to have so much compassion for people with disorders like autism.

Hope you like these photos!