When Life Gives You Lemons....

.... you are supposed to make lemonade.  But with out some "sugar" the lemonade is still as sour as the lemons. 

It has been a rough couple of weeks.  Trying to look at the positive things lately has been hard.  Every time I turn around I find out more bad news.  In the hopes that looking at the positive in my life it will make me feel better.  Or you can also say, I want to look at the 'sugar' in my life to make the lemonade taste as yummy as I have always remembered it. 

Sugar (close to home):

I am blessed with a hard working husband.  He loves me and wants to do everything for our family to make our dreams come true.  I love the connection he has with the kids and the bond they share.  I am blessed to spend eternity with him.  I miss him when he is gone and love to him more than I can say!!!

I am blessed with four monkeys that make me laugh, cry and smile every day/hour.  They are forgiving and love me regardless of my flaws and weaknesses.  I am proud of their accomplishments and progress in school, home and church.  I love them all!!!

The other day Otis fell asleep in my arms.  I don't ever get to do this and I enjoyed every second he was in my arms.  I wanted to kiss his soft little cheeks the entire time and nozzle up to him and breath in his yumminess. 

I am really blessed to have a loving husband and four stinkers!  Its hard to be upbeat when life is hard at times.  My 'worries' change my attitude and its not fair to Dave or the kids.  Its hard to change my attitude and just have fun and spend time doing the things I know I want and need to do.  The kids have been watching too much TV, just so I can deal with the 'lemons' that have been sent my way. 

I don't like to be a Debbie Downer, as I feel like I am usually a Happy Heidi (i just made that up, I have no idea if there's such a person :))  Talking through my 'lemons' always helps, but its not always the best solution to the problems. 

Truth is, that I am extremely blessed and I need to remember to look at all the good in my life.  It will make the 'lemons' into a delicious 'lemonade'.  I am looking forward to the sweet lemonade life has to offer me and my family.  I just need to be patient and count all the grains of 'sugar' i have been so richly blessed with. 

New Year, New Year's Resolutions, New Shoes

Its almost February and I haven't posted about our New Year's Resolutions. 

We enjoy setting goals and we have been doing great so far! 

Otis' goal is to sleep through the night.   That's all we are going to get him to work on :)  He has finally regulated his BMs and that is wonderful gift to all of us!  He just out grew his issues, like Mylo did :)

Milli's goals are to sit nicely while eating, learn to ride a bike (weather permitting) and go to Primary by herself.  She has achieved the last goal.  She has been doing so well, she even volunteered to say the prayer!!!  WOOHOOO MIlli!!!

Mylo's goals are to be more kind (by not pushing), try to sleep longer (he is our early bird!), learn to ride a bike (he has a hard time.  I think he is scared to fall), learn to do an "S" curve on a snow/skate board, say prayers in the morning.

Leah's goals are to control her reactions, nail down her "S" curve and listen to at least one talk during sacrament (baby steps :))

Dave's goals are to leave Skullcandy work at work, attend the temple at least once every quarter and decrease in weight by 10%

My goals are to control my yelling (yes, I yell at my kids sometimes and I dont' like it.  I am not perfect!), pray more fervently and decrease in weight by 10%

Family goals are to be better listeners, take naps after sleepovers (they are horrible after sleepovers!) and read our scriptures daily.  We have been doing SO good with these!  We have loved to 'check in' on each other weekly.  

To achieve one of my goals Dave got me a pair of Vibram Five Finger Shoes...

I have really like them!  I have only ran with them twice, but have been working out with them all the time.  I am looking forward to running with them as that was my biggest reason for wanting them.  I had some soreness after the first couple of workouts/runs but I feel that they are strenghtheing my muscles, slow but sure! 

I am looking forward to this year and the good it will bring to all of us.  Though some times things might be hard, they will always be worth it!

Winter is FINALLY Here (I'm not pleased with its arrival)

We woke up on Saturday to SNOW!!!!!!  Seriously, I was not happy about it, because of the house, this BETTER not slow us down this week.  If it does, then Mother Nature better watch out!!! (jk, I love Mother Nature and I am grateful for her and her 'moods').

The kids LOVED it!  After a few hours of begging me to go play outside I let them.  I haven't let them play outside much because I can't watch them.  Our apt is around the corner from the parking lot and I don't feel safe letting them play there. But one of my goals this year is to be more of a "yes" mom (more on that on another post).

Snowball "fight"

They played on this parking strip right in front of our apt for a while.  

They tried to pile enough snow to make a snowman, but quickly realized it was too much work.  I love how Mylo is trying to get the snow to the right area, heheeehe. 

Then they moved over to the parking lot, where they found a fort-like pile of snow and played there for an hour or so.  Otis joined in the fun for a bit... 

 

 

 

Otis kept his hat on.  SO CUTE!!!! 

 

When they got cold, they rushed inside for some hot cocoa.  

Isn't that the best part of playing in the snow?

It was worth the work getting these monkeys in their snow gear.  They played for a long time and were so happy.  Plus, this is what being a kid is all about.  I'm glad I can see them enjoy life in simple ways.

Mellow Mylo

This kid has become a little more vocal lately.  I think he is finally figuring out how to be as "loud" as his siblings.  He has for sure been the easiest of our kids. He is kind and polite and mellow.  He is so mellow that he is borderline lazy :)

He is a very smart kid!  He can spell like a champ and is a great reader.  School is so easy for him he doesn't even try, which has become a bit of a challenge since he gets bored and goofs around.  He has some great friends and together they are a lot of fun.

Here's a sampling of our sweet, funny, mellow boy...

Dave got him this mask while on one of his trips.  eheheee, makes me giggle! 

Crazy face

Sweet as pie

HANDSOME!  look at that face!!!!!! 

Mellow, go with the flow kid, even when getting his cavities (yes, plural!) filled.

 

Did I mention he lost a top toof, finally!  We yanked it out the other night and he was SO happy. 

 

I cried, He didn't.  Dave laughed at me, for crying.  I cried because his "baby" smile is no longer!  Makes me sad to see my kids smile change.  Now he will get huge teeth that will probably be all messed up and his baby face will become a big boy face, im not ready for that!  

Now he is Mellow, Toofless Mylo! 

A Winter Beanie for Otis

Carmen also made this darling beanie for Oti.  It goes down to his neck and covers his chin.  Its pretty dang cute.  He doesn't love to wear it but we were able snap a picture... HE IS SO CUTE!!!!

Thank again, Carmen!

New Year's (and Some Random Pics)

 

(this picture was not taken on New Year's Eve. I love the kids playing in their backyard :))

New Year's Eve was spent at The Pearce Home.  But we first had a fun visit with Carmen.  She came over to spend some time with us and we drove up to the lot and filled her head with all sorts of house stuff, that is super fun and interesting to us but maybe not so much for her :).  She was a good sport and was excited for us.

Otis took a special interest in Carmen, as most of the nieces and nephews do.  He quickly went up to her and mostly, just wanted her.  It was cute and Im sure Carmen loved every minute of it.

After our little visit with Carmen we headed to see our friends the Nakaya's for like two seconds.  The holidays were so busy that time to see them was super limited.  But I am glad we saw them just the same :)  THEN, we headed to The Pearce's for dinner and some fun looking at old, OLD pics of the Trevino family.  [(a little random here) Dave has taken on the task of scanning ALL of the pics Al has EVER taken.  He and Leah started with the slides.  There are some PRICELESS pics in there.  Leah is doing some "genealogy" (which would make Karen SO proud) and earning a little cash while doing it]. We then just hung out and chit chatted.

I was grumpy and frankly not feeling well.  I didn't enjoy the night as I normally do.  Truth is the changes that have occurred in the last 3+ yrs have been VERY hard and this is the reason for my grumpiness.  Life is not the same and although I try to make the best of it, sometimes I get down and it affects my "mood."  I hope it didn't ruin anyone's night.  We took off shortly after 10 and got the kiddos in bed early.

I think Dave and I watched a movie that night and that was really nice :)

Some Randoms:

Carmen made Leah and I sweaters!  Carmen is a fantastic knitter and we LOVE it when we get something from her.

Leah wore her sweater EVERY day for an entire week.  She even wanted to sleep in it!  I had wanted to take a picture on Sunday, because we both wearing our sweaters with our boots... We were super cute ;), but she was starving when we got home that we missed the opportunity.  Still, WE LOVE OUR sweaters!!!! Thanks again, Carmen.  XOXO


Leah and Dave scanned TONS of slides over the winter break.  They worked side by side and Leah loved it. The pics carry great memories and we have enjoyed seeing Dave and his siblings as well as Grandpa and Grandma when they were all so young.  I will post some of my favorites on another post. 

This has also been Dave's "office" since we moved her last June.  It makes for a very messy kitchen/family room, but it is nice to have him so close :)

Leah, Mylo, Milli and I went to watch Esteban and Marcos play some indoor soccer.  It was fun to cheer them on and although they lost, I enjoyed watching them play together.  They are both great athletes :)  

(this post took me forever, to post! UGH!!! Glad I am done with it :))

To Boise with Carmen and Sarah

Right before Christmas we found out that one of Karen's best friend's husband was not doing well at all.  I met Carol and Ed when Dave and I first got married.  They visited often and I always enjoyed visiting with them at Trevino's.  A few years after Dave and I got married Ed got a heart transplant.  I visited them at the hospital.  A few months after that I received in the mail a little box with a paper weight heart in it as well as a Thank You card for our "support" during this time in their life.  I was touched by their kind words and really I hadn't done much other than visit once or twice.


Ed had to come to Salt Lake often to get check ups and see how his body was reacting to his new heart.  It was always a treat to have them in town.  We would go visit and just chit chat.  Although this was not something out of the ordinary for me to do when Karen was still with us, our visits with Carol and Ed formed a friendship that was natural.


After Karen's passing, Carol and I remained close.  We would talk on the phone and exchange emails.  We cried often on the phone as we reminisced of our dear Karen, but we also caught up on each others life, my kids and Ed's condition.  When Ed passed I knew I would be going to Boise to just "be" there for Carol. 


Sarah (who has also been close to Carol), Carmen and I took the overnight trip to Boise, just a few days after Christmas.  Although the circumstances where sad, we still managed to have a good time.  We laughed and cried and we talked, a lot.  Ten hours in the car provides a lot of talking time :)


On our way to Boise, we stopped to visit one of Sarah's college friends and then we dinned at Cafe Rio, YUMMY! 

 (Sarah, Carmen and I)

 Carmen and Sarah at the cemetery.  It was a rainy day and cold!

After the cemetery we went to the luncheon.  Picture above, Me, Carol, Sarah and Carmen. 

It was a surprise to me that Carol asked me to read a paragraph that Ed had written and share a few thoughts during the service.  Below is what Ed wrote for the 20th Anniversary for the Utah Transplant Program: 

“We continue to be amazed at the number of doctors, nurses, therapists, and other professionals and support staff that are involved in this miraculous transplant process.  We will always be grateful to my donor and the donor’s family for their generous gift that made my transplant possible.  We thank all of you for your expertise, dedication, and compassion.  You truly are a great team and we congratulate you for 20 years of working together to extend my life and the lives all transplant recipients.”

I was honored that Carol would asked me to share some words at Ed's Funeral Service.  You never know how your little actions kindness and friendship impact someone's life.  It was my honor to have known Ed and have the friendship that I have with Carol. 

I am also grateful and reminded of the Plan of Salvation.  I find SO much comfort in it and knowing we WILL see our loved ones again.  I just hope that I can live a life that will allow me (and my family) to be with them again.