This was a very atypical Christmas for us this year, but still enjoyable nonetheless.

It started the week before Christmas, when I started feeling achey all over.  Friday morning I woke up feeling absolutely miserable and had a fever.  I spent the entire day in the La-Z-Boy or my bed.  Luckily, Kyle only had a half-day of work (from home), so he was a huge help with the kids.  Skyler also started feeling miserable and had diarrhea.  He had thrown up a couple days prior, but I thought it was an isolated incident.  I was wrong.  Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday Skyler and Andon both were quite sick.  Andon acted mostly normal, except for the diarrhea.  Skyler was miserable and weak, lying around, barely speaking.  Sunday night my mind told me to take him to the ER for dehydration.  I was scared.  But after a priesthood blessing and much prayer, I felt calm and like we could give it one more night.  Monday he started improving finally and his diarrhea and vomiting finally stopped. 

We had planned to join my local family (Alva Barney's and Clark's) at Jana and Scott's house for Christmas Eve festivities.  Sunday night Kyle took the turkey and potatoes that I was supposed to make to Jana.  We decided we'd better not risk spreading this yucky sickness.  We stayed home instead and Alva & Wendy dropped off a plate of leftovers on their way home.  It was the first "real" meal we had eaten since the week before since I was still feeling really weak and recovering.

So on Christmas Eve, we opened our pj pants I made for everyone (while I was in Denver in October), acted out our own little nativity, put out cookies for Santa, and went to bed.  We also made an attempt to play the musical chimes I made at Super Saturday.  By this time Kylene had started feeling yucky as well.
 

We didn't get much sleep Christmas Eve.  Between helping a screaming Andon, sick Kylene and Skyler, and trying to contain Spencer's excitement, I was up a lot.  Spencer got in bed with us at 3:00 a.m., and asked me every 15 minutes or so (until I told him NO more!) if it was time to get up yet.  I told him to watch the clock until 7:00 a.m. before he asked me again.

Christmas present opening consisted of a jumping around Spencer, handing presents out to everyone, and a laying down Skyler and Kylene.  Kylene was on the floor in my lap.  It was all very pathetic looking, I must admit.  At least they could open their own presents, right?

The kids and daddy were super excited about the new electric train.  (It has wonderful nostalgia for Kyle.)  Kylene spent most of Christmas day laying around feeling miserable and Skyler took turns between laying around and getting up and playing.  His energy was starting to come back, thankfully.  Poor Spencer was beside himself with excitement about his new toys and not enough siblings to play them with!

So, like I said, an unusual Christmas, but still nice.  I was grateful we were able to lay low and be together as a family.  I was grateful there was no school and work to miss.  I was grateful Kyle was here to help so much.  But I do wish we had missed the sickness altogether.
Kylene is still fighting the fever on day 5.  Skyler, Andon and I are pretty well back to normal.  Kyle got a mild cold and Spencer is still going strong!  This is one of the worst cold/flu bugs I have ever experienced.  I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  It's actually been going around our ward for over a month now.  I thought we had missed it but apparently not.  Oh, well!

Merry Christmas everyone!

For several years, we have wanted to see Vancouver Stake's Nativity, but we usually attend the Salem Nativity.  This year, we headed north and had a yummy dinner at Kyle's parent's house boat (on the Columbia River, right near the Portland Airport), then headed over to the Nativity.  Beautiful!


Another evening we decided to head back to our favorite Christmas spots in Salem: Santa's house, Keizer lights and the Salem/Keizer Festival of Lights Parade.

Here we are waiting to see Santa.  I loved the little carolers the same size as Andon.  He was in awe.

We love this Santa!  We have seen him the last six years or so.  The bottom right was when he was asking Kyle what he wanted for Christmas.  He said, "It's been a long time since you asked me for that toy train."  The crazy thing was, we had just bought an electric train for our kids and Kyle was so excited, remembering the electric train he had as a boy.  He must be the REAL Santa!

Here are a few shots from the Christmas Parade.

It was fun to go "home" and see some of our favorite things.

 

Happy birthday to the love of my life!  Kyle celebrated his birthday on November 26th.  (I know, I'm behind and yes, there are a million other things I should be doing right now instead of blogging, but here I am.) 

I think he had a good day.  The kids definitely had fun planning and preparing everything for his party.  They were going crazy trying to make more signs, presents, and gifts for him before he got home from work.  He chose waffles for dinner and carrot cake for dessert.  Yes, we got our full sugar dose for the day.

We love our dad and would be lost without him!  I love how much our kids adore him.  He has been traveling more for work lately and as a result, one of the kids will often pray that they are thankful daddy can eat dinner with us.  It's so cute because he still is here most of the time, but they sure do miss him when he is gone.  He is such a wonderful companion and incredible support and strength to me.  He does the dishes practially every night, and that is just the beginning.  Love you, babe!
 

Our Thanksgiving fun began on Tuesday evening when the Barney kids arrived.  Alva and Wendy and their youngest, Kyler, were on a "get away" together in Texas and we were lucky enough to get to watch the five oldest kids for three days and three nights.  We had a ball having them here, and there truly was never a dull moment.  Mikayla and Rebekah were a huge help and the other kids pitched in whenever asked.  They kept my children thoroughly entertained the entire time.  Besides the increased amounts of food and dishes to keep up with, I'd say Kyle & I weathered having nine children pretty well.  (Although I must admit, I don't think I'm ready to have nine kids myself!)

On Thanksgiving day, Logan, Shayla and Ansley joined us for the afternoon and we all had a wonderful time.  Here's a picture when we were nearly done eating, since I forgot to take one at the beginning of the feast!

The top left picture (below) is the beautiful vegetable "turkey" creation Bekah and Mikayla created.  It was yummy and fun to look at:).

 

Here is Kylene on the day of her baptism and confirmation as a member of The Church: Saturday, November 24, 2012.
 

Kylene's baptism was beautiful.  There was such a wonderful spirit present.  She looked radiant all dressed in white and was nervously excited.

We were so thankful so many family and friends came to support her on her special day.  Here she is with her good friend from Salem, Rachel.  The bottom left is with Joan Caldwell, a darling elderly friend in our ward that Kylene has really grown to love.  The bottom right is with Tutu and Grandpa.

And here are all 32 of our family members who were able to come!  We love you all!

Kylene's program was done mostly by family.  Tutu played the piano; Aunt Jana led the music; Auntie Shayla and Auntie Maile each gave a wonderful talk.  Rebekah (cousin) and Uncle Scott gave prayers and Grandpa McCune and Uncle Alva were the witnesses.  Daddy baptized and confirmed her.  Brother Jensen (one of our Ward Missionaries) conducted and Brother Taylor from the Bishopric welcomed her to the ward and bore a beautiful testimony.

Following the baptism we had all the family over for dinner.  Kylene requested fondue, so we had cheese fondue with ham and chicken and lots of bread and veggies for dinner, then a yummy chocolate with all kinds of treats and fruit for dessert.  There was so much food!  But, based on these pictures below, I think it's safe to say everyone enjoyed it.  (Especially Skyler!)  The picture of Kylene, Stephanie and Alaina is showing us all how "stuffed" they were after eating.

 

That night after everyone had gone home and we put the kids to bed, I reflected on the day.  I felt overwhelming gratitude for the Gospel and the pure joy it brings into my life.  I felt such gratitude for the gift of family and the joy my children bring to me.  I was so grateful for Kylene's choice to be baptized and the wonderful spirit there.  I felt immense gratitude to my Savior, Jesus Christ, who makes all of it possible.  I went to be tired, but so full of joy and love.

Kylene turned eight years old on November 18th!  Happy Birthday to our beautiful, sweet daughter.  She was looking forward to this day for a long time and I don't think anything about turning eight disappointed.  Her birthday seemd to last several days: her birthday party, her actual birthday, her baptism, then going shopping to spend some of her birthday money.  She has been one happy girl this month!

Saturday, November 17th, she had her birthday party.  She decided she wanted to go to Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center.  We told her if she chose to go there, she could only take two friends because of how expensive it is.  She chose her dear friend from Salem, Rachel, and her dear friend in Wilsonville, Lidya.  Kyle was the "fun dad" who took them.  They had a ball in the rope climbing/play area, on the Frog Hopper and doing tons of arcade games.  They came back afterward for cake, ice cream, and present opening.

Her birthday was on Sunday this year.  Perfect for her request of breakfast in bed.  She wanted sherbet to "cleanse her palate", but all we had was mint chocolate chip, so she settled for that:).  She also requested her favorite: French Toast.  Then it was present opening time, complete with a photo scavenger hunt to open her gift from Grandma and Grandpa Barney.  Kyle & I gave her her first set of scriptures.  For dinner that night she requested hot dogs.  I wasn't too thrilled about hot dogs, but my dad, always looking on the bright side, said she just wanted to make things easy for me.  The kids didn't complain at all the entire meal, so that was definitely a treat for me, too!

 

I think it's safe to say Kylene is thrilled to be eight years old!  We love you, Kylene, and are so thankful you are a part of our family!

 

What is fall without a little leaf jumping?!
And with my parent's wonderful (huge) yard, we have had plenty of opportunity.  The kids loved the jumping in part but not so much the raking up part.  But, they were troopers and I think, all in all, they enjoyed it. 

I have to confess, Kyle has done 98% of the leaf clean-up duty.  I "made" the kids do it just so they could have the fun and memory.
 

 

 

Andon, of course, loved the opportunity to be outside but was completely uninterested in the leaves.  He ran to the play house any chance he got.  He'll be in heaven come next spring when he can really climb and play out there.

 

Way back in October, Skyler and Spencer both participated in a mini-soccer camp/class sponsored by the City of Wilsonville.  Skyler's class was right before Spencer's, so it worked out really well.  They both loved it and it was so darling watching them.


Love the tongue hanging out in the middle picture!

And here is what the family did while waiting and watching.  Daddy came to watch them the last week.

 

Now that the rain has definitely come to Oregon, looking at these pictures makes me nostalgic for the long, dry fall we had this year.  It was absolutely gorgeous and so dry for September and most of October.  It was remarkable.  We enjoyed it so much!

Here are a few pictures from our Fall fun this year: Pumpkin Patch, Carving Pumpkin, Ward Fall Festival, and Trick-or-Treating.

We tried out a new pumpkin patch this year.  It was actually a Llama/Alpaca farm that tries to earn some extra cash with the pumpkin patch and activities.  It was fun but expensive.  They had an old fire engine that they converted into a gigantic pumpkin shooter; that was pretty cool.  Also, it was fun to see some camels up close and personal.  The kids had fun.
 

The kids and Kyle enjoyed the ward festival and trunk-or-treat.  I stayed home to nurse back my MIA voice from my cold. 
Kyle's parents and Shayla and Ansley came over for dinner and trick-or-treating on Halloween night.  (Poor Logan had class!)  Shayla, Ansley and I stayed home and answered the door for trick-or-treaters while Tutu, Grandpa, and Kyle had fun out in the action with the kids.  Kylene was a witch (Tutu saved the day with the face make-up!), Spencer was Annikan Skywalker, and Skyler a lion.  We had carving our pumpkings for Family Home Evening.

 

 

While living in Salem, our next door neighbor for several years, was Jill Shitamoto.  She graduated from law school and moved to California, but still owns (and rents) her home in Salem.  She came to check up on things last month, so called to see if she could stop by and see us.  We're so glad she did!  And the extra bonus: she just got engaged, so we got to meet her fiance', Craig.  (He is wonderful!)  We had a wonderful time visiting, laughing, and catching up.  The kids loved playing with them and eating the yummy donuts they brought.  Good times!
 

Kylene Noelani (Noelani means "Beautiful Girl from Heaven" in Hawaiian.)
We took these pictures before our ward's Primary Program.  Isn't she such a beautiful angel?!

 

 

 

 

 

Andon had a rough week.  (Besides just the bump you'll notice on his forehead in the pictures below.)  Friday he experienced his first second degree burns covering both palms of his hands. 

We were outside working and playing in the yard.  Right when I was cleaning up to go inside for his nap, he crawled over by the front door.  He seemed to be fine, so I ran to put away the yard debris can on the side of the house.  I heard screaming and knew something was wrong.  But it still took me several minutes to actually figure out he had been burned.  I thought he had fallen so was looking all over his face and head for blood/bumps, etc.  Finally I looked at one hand and the skin was all red and shriveled.  Apparently, he had placed his hands on the metal part at the base of the door (the threshold) which was hot from the sun!  I started running it under cool water but the skin was so distorted, I didn't know if that was the right thing.  He was still screaming and writhing in my arms in extreme pain. 

I frantically tried calling the advice nurse but was on hold for forever.  While on hold, I called some family to ask for advice (thanks, Logan and Jana!) then rushed him to the doctor's office.  It's right next door to the hospital, so the whole way there I was wondering if I should go to the clinic or the ER.  I finally decided to go for the less expensive option.  He screamed the whole way and we made quite an entrance.  The receptionist casually asked if I had an appointment!  I had already been crying but totally lost it at this point.  "NO!  And he needs to see someone right now!" is basically what I told her.  They hurried me into a room and I kept running it under water waiting for the doctor.  They also gave him some Ibuprofen.  He told me they were second degree burns, that the pain would be basically gone in 1 to 1 1/2 hours and prescribed some ointment to keep infection out of it once it broke open. 

With Andon still screaming, we hurried home.  When I got home, I was still frantic and trying everything I could think of to get him to calm down.  That's when I discovered that his other hand was burned, too!  The doctor nor I had even thought to look!  I felt like the most horrible mother in the world.  I went over the edge again, and was bawling hysterically on the phone to Kyle.  He was 1 1/2 hours away at work but headed home.  I gave Andon some Tylenol this time, still trying to help the pain.  But he was still out of control and I knew he needed a blessing, so I called my visiting teacher's husband (whom I just happened to know was home that day watching her kids) and he gave me the name of some retired brothers in our ward.  I called one and he said he'd find another brother and be right over.  That was such a huge gift.  They blessed him that the calming influence of the Spirit would come upon him.  Within five minutes, he finally calmed down and was able to fall asleep for about two hours.  But I held him most of that time because his body was so upset, he kept shaking in his sleep.  And every time he did that, his hands would try to go to his face, so I held his arms down.  I had covered them with a sock at this point.

Anyway, we are much better now.  The first blister tore opened that night and really hurt him, the second one opened on Saturday, and we're still waiting for a third one to break.  The skin underneath is so pink and raw, but it seems to be beginning to heal. (It actually looks brighter red than in the picture above.  The pinkness near his fingers is also burn, but not quite as deep I guess.)  I worry about scaring and infection, but we're doing our best to keep it moist and clean.  We have the ointment, then gauze, then a sock with holes cut in it for his fingers.  His little "boxing gloves" are darling and without them he grabs at and removes the bandage, so they definitely help.  Besides treating it gently, he is pretty much back to normal: picking up things and trying to climb on and get into whatever he can get into.  He surely is one busy boy!

This is my favorite picture of our sweet Andon with his little gloves.

 

Andon had a happy first birthday on September 20th.  Since he's our fourth child, we kept it low key. (Sorry, Andon.  No huge extended family party like we did for your sister.)  After dinner, we opened his one present (from my parent's; I know, I'm pathetic), sang him happy birthday, and had cake.  Ta da!  I know, aren't we exciting?!  But he was very happy about it all and won't know (until he reads this post) that he missed out on a big "shin dig".

The top, left picture is of him opening a card from my parent's in Japan a few days before his birthday.  The rest are on his birthday.

He loved his cake.  He grabbed at it right away but then wasn't sure what to make of all the sticky icing.  He played with the texture of it for a few moments before Kyle stuck Andon's finger into his (Andon's) mouth so he could taste it.  From there on out, he had no qualms about what he was doing.  When Kyle would lean in close, Andon was only too willing to share; it was darling.

This last Thursday, Kyle's parent's came over for dinner and to bring Andon a gift.  We had a great time visiting with them and Andon loves his new little airplane/ball toy.  I was surprised at how easily he figured out the unwrapping part.  He will definitely be ready to go at Christmas this year!

We love you so much, Andon! 

 

Happy birthday to our sweet angel boy, Andon Joseph! 

Today is his special day and we don't think he could be any more special.  Andon is such a light and joy in our home.  He is the epitome of "awareness".  I am amazed at what he is able to show us he knows and understands.  He is "Mr. Busy" and hasn't stopped moving since he started crawling several months ago.  He started walking in August and when he is in a hurry, he can practically run across the room.  He is so fast!  He also has an incredible grip: it is hard to get something out of his hands that he doesn't want you to take away.  We love to get him giggling, we love to tickle his tummy, and we love to snuggle with him, which is almost always easy to get him to do.  Yesterday at the library story time, he walked over to a lady sitting a few feet behind me and sat himself in her lap and snuggled with her.  I was a little surprised; she just melted that he would do that.  He has a powerful, joy-filled spirit and I can't wait to see what this boy will do!

Here are a few photos taken of him in the last month that I thought were "too cute".
 

 

 

 

I think it's safe to say he had a happy day.  I'll blog pictures of his birthday cake mess and wrapping paper tearing joy later!

We love you, Andon!