The Fish

Well, we have had a few of you ask about new fish. We bought some new fish and de-chlorinated the water. Everything worked out beautifully. Unfortunately, we have since lost both fish. One of them lasted 4 days and the other lasted 6. We have no idea what’s going on, but have decided to take a hiatus from raising fish. The kids have asked for a dog and I really don't think we have a good enough track record.

The Worst Family Home Evening Ever

Just before the holidays, Joshua asked if we could get some fish for Landon. Jeff told him we would get them after Christmas since we were going to be gone for a few weeks. We decided that FHE this week would be buying some fish and stopping for some ice cream. We purchased some fish, had some ice cream next to the pet store and headed home with the new tank to get them set up. After arriving home, we set up the tank and prepared the fish for the transfer from their travel bag to the tank. We did the transfer and headed upstairs for showers. The kids got ready for bed and we said family prayers. Joshua wanted to head downstairs to say good night to the fish, but Jeff said no and sent him to bed. Jeff, Johnathan, Landon and I came back downstairs to hang out before bedtime for Johnathan and Landon. We wanted to post what we saw as we came down the stairs.

Yes, the fish were dead. The time from which we put them in the tank till we came back down after showers was about 40 minutes. I could not believe it. We killed 2 fish in about 40 minutes. Joshua is our sensitive one. I started to stress about what we would tell him in the morning. Johnathan, who has become a very funny kid, said I know what to tell him. He said, "Joshua, the fish decided to sleep in today." It was so funny but sad for our goldfish. We realized that we did not de-clorinate the water which is why they died. The kids are lucky we have not hurt them over the years.

Christmas 2008

I know its late but I wanted to post a few pictures from our Christmas Holiday. We spent Christmas at home in Texas until about 7:45 am, at which time the kids and I left for the airport to go to North Carolina. Jeff had to stay home until the following Tuesday because he was on-call. The plane ride with the Landonado was not fun. There was this lady on my flight that had enough guts to say to me..."Maybe next time you will think twice about flying by yourself." Landon was not loud, he just wanted to get down and walk the isle and I constantly had to fight him to stay in my lap. A little odd for Christmas Day. As I rushed from one flight to another, I decided to quickly grab a few lunchables for the kids and a sub for myself at a counter on the way to the next flight, which had already finished boarding. I allowed the kids to start eating once the plane was in the air and they were anxiously waiting for a drink as the drink cart came down the isle. Not only were they offering drinks, they were offering sub sandwiches for FREE. What airline does that? I was so mad. I spent $18 at the little counter for 2 lunchables without drinks as well as a turkey sandwich. What a rip off!! We had a great time in North Carolina with my father, my mother and step-father, my sisters and their families. I sure was glad though that Jeff traveled home with me.

Christmas in Texas.

Our Christmas Tree



The Boys



Landon on his new bike



I know the picture is blurry but it was a rare occasion.



Dad and Landon


Christmas in North Carolina



The tree's always so much better at home



Joshua with Grandpa Fish



The boys got Air Soft guns from Grandpa Tools



Landon with his aunt Michelle

Be Careful What You Ask For !!

Nobody said having children would be easy. There are many people in the world who struggle to have children. We were one of them. As we sit back and look at Johnathan and Joshua, we are so grateful they are in our lives. They bring such joy to our family. I could not imagine them not in our lives. Then a few years ago we got this bright idea to go to the infertility doctor in search of closure. To our surprise things were a lot different than they were back in the mid 90's. We were so excited to find out that we were pregnant with Landon, also known now as Landonado. Boy did he change our life. He has brought new life to our home. It has been wonderful. We then moved to Texas and again got the bright idea to look into an infertility doctor. I seemed to have forgotten all of the punishment my body would have to take in order to make my dreams come true. As the first needle came towards my abdomen all the memories came flooding back. Here is an idea of what my life has been like for the past 8 weeks.



As you go through all these shots you pray that all of the punishment will result in another child. We were grateful for our little bundle of joy when he entered the world 18 months ago. We were looking forward to another one of those bundles of joy. Well, you need to be careful what you ask for. Heavenly Father felt it would be better to not just send one...he thought it would be fun to send two. Yep...you guessed. TWINS!!! We are very excited but also nervous about what our future brings. We will go from 3 to 5 kids in less than a year. Not only do we need to buy double everything, we will most likely need to buy a new car. What a blessing this will be and we look forward to our new life with 5 kids. We do have 5 more embryos frozen. Can someone say reality show?

Halloween

I know it is a little late to be posting our Halloween activities, but I figured I should since I took the pictures. The kids did not want to go to the trunk-or-treat at church, so we decided to just trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. Not long before leaving, the boys received a call from some friends that wanted them to come to their neighborhood. They of course wanted to do that since they would be out alone as a group without adults. Living in Temple Texas affords the kids a little more freedom then south Florida. They had a great time running through the neighborhood just as a group of boys. Jeff and I stayed home passing out candy to those in our neighborhood. Landon went to a few doors and then was over the costume. It was a nice night for all. Here are a few pictures of the kids just before leaving for the night. As you can see, the brotherly love between Johnathan and Joshua still is going strong.

Carving Night

Monday night before Halloween we carved pumpkins for family home evening. The kids had a great time cutting the pumpkins by themselves for the first time. Johnathan typically does not do well with gross things so I was afraid he might loose his dinner. Luckily for all of us, he was able to keep it in. Landon had a fun time just getting in the boys way.

Landon At Play

Landon loves to do what Joshua is doing. Right now, Joshua is playing soccer for the city so he is constantly kicking a soccer ball around our house. Landon decided to try and copy what Joshua was doing. He seriously can this all day long. It gets tiring, but it could be worse. He could want to play with barbies or something. Hope you enjoy.