Are we there yet??!

I've been asking myself this question quite a bit lately; however, it has now transformed into "Aren't we there yet??" At my appointment this past week, my doctor sweetly suggested we induce on Oct. 30th --that is the day he is on-call. what? "Well, what about Oct.27th...pleeeease??" I explained all the reasons I should be induced sooner than later--but to no avail. rats! When I informed Adam about the 30th, he timidly asked me if I wanted him to call Dr. Reisman about inducing this week instead. No, my dear, this is another good lesson for me on patience... In the meantime, we have been busy. Our dear friends, Todd and Jen Hilbig and family came to visit last week from Utah. Todd served a mission with Adam in Germany and later the four of us became fast friends during our BYU days. We spent the day with them at Disneyland and then they spent the rest of the weekend with us making wonderful memories. We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, which is always fun and festive. We have so many pumpkins around our home...I love it! We're still trying to decide on costumes for everyone. Everyone changes their minds on a daily basis. I usually end up scrambing around on Halloween afternoon, trying to cook up a princess wand, a princess cape, a bunny rabbit tail, a witch outfit, etc. Adam may have to come to the rescue this year (or maybe even Grandma Thunell--she arrived out from Utah this morning to help when the baby arrives. She is super creative, thankfully, and can possibly become our costume designer this year! Hooray for Grandma!). This week, Annie's soccer team was informed that they made it to the playoffs! She was bubbling with excitement! We got out her team picture and she explained to me how much they've improved throughout the season. We went through every teammate, "She is such a great goalie, she is such a great forward, she is awesome at defense, she is such a good forward, etc." It was cute. When I was tucking her in that night, she looked up at me (with a thoughtful look on her face) and asked, "What does playoffs mean anyway?...will we get a medal or a trophy?" I giggled about that the rest of the night...

"The Best Day!"

Tonight as we were loading into bed, Savannah sighed and said, "This was the best day." As I was thinking back on the days events, nothing seemed to happen out of the ordinary...laundry, sloppy-joes, homework, baths, looking for the right Halloween costume, reading, prayers...hmmm. Our children are so wise. As I've mentioned before (I seem to have this epiphany on a daily basis...it must be what I constantly need), life is just, well...awesome. Thank you, Savannah, for the reminder.

As part of our days lately, we are up to our ears and eyeballs with this Proposition 8 campaign. This is the important issue which states that marriage is defined by the union of a man and a woman...period. I have to admit, I love a good cause (something I inherited from my politically active mom!)and this is most definitely a good and huge cause. Adam and I have been calling and going door-to-door to help educate voters on this issue. Amazingly, we have received some very positive feedback. However, we have also noticed some negative. Some of our friends in our neighborhood have had their Prop 8 signs taken out of their yards or written on, etc. Just today, in fact, our friends, the Hartmans had their sign taken out of their yard. Their house is right next to the front gate. Later today, I glanced over at their yard, and I belly-laughed at what I saw (I just had to show you a picture). Anyways, keep this in your prayers.

My children must not get enough of eachother during the day because this has been their sleeping arrangement as of late. We have 3 other empty beds, but they all end up sleeping together...so funny. I figure, as long as they are all sleeping through the entire night and are getting plenty of rest...great! All's well that ends well...

The last is just another picture of the kiddies enjoying the fall night, eating some pears. They loved eating outside, so after they finished the pears, I brought up some carrots, broccoli, apples...as much good food as possible. Am I tricky or what?!

(By the way, I won't be induced next week, but the following week...Oct. 27th). Hope your week is happy...the very "best!"

Fall is in the air!

Admittedly, California is uncharacteristically warm for this time of year, and there are no fall leaves changing colors or cuddly sweaters being worn; however, it still is sunny and beautiful (and did I mention a little warm?) Yea...it's fall! We have been busy doing our favorite "fall" things...picking apples up in Santa Ynez (a beautiful little town north of Santa Barbara), eating the apples (mmm...delicious! We got Golden Delicious this year. What luck!), going to our high school football game (which was a blast! We shelled peanuts and cheered!), putting up our pumpkin decorations, and getting ready for our little baby girl to arrive (my good friends threw a wonderful shower for me at the park...which was so sweet and perfect! You know they are true friends when they still want to throw a shower for your 6th baby!!). I've been nesting like crazy! Every time I finish another project, I think, "Ok, now she can come."--and then I think of something else. We will most likely be inducing the week of October 20th. I feel and look like a beached whale, a boat, a side of a barn...whichever you prefer...just large. Everyone around here is anticipating her arrival; however, we're still stuck on names. We do this every time. For Family Home Evening, everyone was contributing to "the list." We came up with some pretty good ones (minus Joseph's Claw and Blue), but nothing is decided...we'll see. General Conference was, of course, fabulous! We enjoyed every minute of this past weekend! I can't believe another weekend is already upon us...my, my. Hope your weekend is full of wonderful things!

Creation & Compassion

This past Saturday night, I (like many of you)completely feasted at the Relief Society General Broadcast meeting. The evening began at our Stake Center, where the sisters in our stake assembled over 900 hygiene kits to be sent off to Salt Lake. There was such a feeling of sisterhood, love, and service. I looked around and relished in the moment. There were smiling sisters, talking, laughing, making quilts, stuffing zip-lock bags...it was fabulous. We ate a delicious meal with homemade rolls. (Why do my entries always feature food?). Then, we enjoyed listening to the General Relief Society Presidency and President Uchtdorf. I love being reminded of my important membership in Relief Society. As Sister Beck quoted her sweet mother, "Relief Society will be your mother." I love our charge to look after the downtrodden (which we all fall into that category at one moment or another) and lift up the feeble knees. Also, I loved Pres. Uchtdorf's encouragement to find happiness as we use creativity and show compassion. I've never heard it quite like that, but it definitely gave me a new set of lenses to look through today. It certainly wet my whistle for General Conference this weekend!

I've made enough pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the last three weeks to last me a lifetime (notice how I said me...I, of course, have eaten most of them!). I keep wanting to "celebrate Fall"...I just can't help it. I love everything about Fall.

Savannah had a little set back last week with her ears. She had an infection flame up in one of her ears, but is going through a round of antibiotics, (and a little bit of vicadin). She seems to be doing better and is without the pain she experienced last week...poor thing.

While getting Joseph ready for church yesterday (which, by the way, thank you for all your advice about sacrament reverence--it was very welcomed!), and was trying to coax him into wearing a cute little fall sweater vest. After his protests, I exclaimed, "Joseph, do you know who you look like?!" (I was thinking, "daddy!") He promptly responded, with a grin, "a missimary!" (missionary!). smile.

Hope your week is full of sunshine!

Sorry...the pictures

I guess these pictures didn't make it onto the blog page. Sorry.

Tubes...revisited

Savannah survived another surgery yesterday...getting her second pair of tubes put into her ears. She is always so brave; however, after coming out of the anesthesia, she didn't say a word, but had big crocodile tears streaming down her face. She had a couple of days of some good R & R, she is on the mend, and will be back to school tomorrow. Thank heavens...really.

The other pictures were taken this past weekend at the church primary activity..."LDS Idol." Very clever and fun. Lots of the children performed a "talent" which ranged from piano performances, to a Sunbeam doing sommersaults across the stage. It was wonderful and everyone enjoyed themselves! Annie and Savannah showed off their hula-hooping skills to "Round round get around" by the Beach boys, Savannah played a piano piece, and Kate made us proud with her delicious peanut butter cookies!

By the way, has anyone found any good tips on keeping children 5 years and under quiet, much less reverent, during sacrament meeting on Sunday? I'm at a loss, after wrestling my children for a good hour, and knowing that straight jackets and duct tape are not options. HELP!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Feast!

As the saying goes, "It's either feast or famine!" Well, I'm afraid around these parts, there is no such thing as a famine! Somehow we manage to completely fill our schedule to the very brim...which most of the time is a good thing (that is, until we all collapse from sleep deprivation!). Just last week I was mentioning to Adam, "You know, maybe we need to pick up a new hobby: painting, woodworking, basketweaving, etc. Maybe we need to rediscover a new dimension of ourselves, to be a little more interesting? What do you think?" Adam's response, "Alexis, I don't think I have another dimension to discover right now. Every dimension is already taken." He's right.

Just this past weekend, Adam and I went to the temple Friday night(which, of course, is always a treat! especially when you can go with your husband!)! Saturday was filled with soccer games (which I'm really getting into! I think I'm probably the most vocal spectator...it's a blast!). We had our dear friends, the Masks, come and visit us from Arizona (which we always absolutely love!). We celebrated little Dallin's 6th birthday! Sunday night, we attended a fireside at the stake center featuring Sister Mariama Kallon from Sierra Leone, Africa. Her story is written up in the Liahona, August 2007 edition. You can read it online. And, if I were more computer saavy, I would be able to supply you with the link...oh well. Her story is amazing. I brought my two oldest with me and it made an impression on them. They wanted to go meet her afterwards. After listening to her story, you will agree, we are so blessed. My problems really aren't worth mentioning. It's very stirring, so if you get a chance, read it! (by the way, I need to put in a plug for the Sept. issue of the Ensign. It's incredible! Maybe all the articles stood out to me because I needed them. Nevertheless, it's wonderful.) Monday, we went to Disneyland for Savannah's birthday. We always have a fantastic time together there! Whew!

I was telling Adam, "as long as I can just stop and smell the roses, this feast of a schedule isn't so crazy to me." Those moments with the roses happens to be having a great conversation with someone I love, playing peek-a-boo with Austin in the rear view window of the car, watching Joseph do sommersaults across the family room floor, playing Barbies with Kate (eventhough, I usually just need to sit there holding the dolls, and she supplies all the dialogue), listening to the plot of Savannah's latest read, giggling with Annie about something funny someone said, and romancing my husband. If I can manage to stop and smell these roses, then, "Bring on the FEAST!"