Cold!

Wow
If only Dad wasn't such a heat box... and if only I wasn't such an icebox... IM SO COLD right now
he has it on like 65 because he dies of heat.. My hands are like Ice ha ha.
The point to this post is me saying Thank you to everyone through the past month for all of your love, help, and definite support Thanks Guys!
Love Mandi

Smiley Ava giving Grandma Wright a great big smile! Grandpa Roach had to fly out to California to teach her to smile. As you can see it paid off!

Christmas Eve

Here is a picture of the kids all dressed up for Christmas Eve. They were so good and cute!! The next picture is of Madelynn and Nathan opening presents. I love Madelynn's picture because she looks sooo serious. I never thought she would have fun opening presents but she definately did. She really wanted to just eat the wrapping paper. Nathan went in and out of wanting to open presents.

Mandy turns 15 today!

Happy Birthday brat!

A Very Nice Christmas

We had one of our nicest Christmas's ever. Mandy and I decorated a tree which was not fun to put together, and the next day we celebrated her birthday. She's driver's ed age. Wow is she getting old!

Juliana Sings

This is my niece Juliana singing Silent Night... in Spanish. So cute!

Had a nice day at the new homestead. Jason, Jennee and the kids came down which was great. Later, Amanda and I had visits from Bill and Kay Roach, who came bearing gifts. Bless their hearts! Mandy and I went to Aunt Margie's and she gave us a tree, and a very nice vacuum. Then later John and Grandma Roach stopped by. Mandy and I decorated a tree, and if I could get my swine camera to work, I'd have a pic to show. As it is I'll have to send it over the phone.

Mandy fixes Flickr!!!

Now you can read Mandy's Flickr page in English and everything! She somehow had changed it to German. So put away your German-English dictionary and understand what's going on! Ha.

Trained chimps

I love this video thing!! Here is a video of Madelynn playing the system. Yeah, she already knows how it works.

Nathans Angry face

After seeing that video that Jon sent, I had to send a video of Nathan doing the angry face. I may be a little prejudice but I think Nathans is way more evil!

All Messed Up

Well, I'm really screwed up now. I stayed up for 25 hours straight yesterday, but that was all I coud manage. I finally crashed at around 6:30pm, and I woke up this morning at 3:15am. Fan-freakin-tastic. I'm hoping to take a little nap this afternoon so I can go to bed and wake up at a reasonable time tonight.

Oh, and in case you haven't seen my posts the last few days on my other blog, here's a couple photos that may put you in a Christmas mood:

Woo-Hoo!

I'm officially on vacation! We got off work tonight at 3:12, and I'm off tomorrow as well. I'm so relieved and really looking forward to having a nice long rest. Too bad I won't be resting much today. I plan on staying up all day on a steady diet of coffee and Mountain Dew, so I can try to flip my sleeping schedule to something a little more manageable. Jennee, are you going to be home today? I thought I'd stop by today and get that stuff from you. Give me a call sis!

Is everyone surviving the Christmas rush? Dad should be getting internet again today so he will be adding things again soon.

Jason's & Stephanie's Baby Girl

I think she looks like her mom

It's A Girl!

Horray! We had the 20 week ultrasound today, and fortunately for us, the baby decided to cooperate. We got some great looks at her various "parts", and this fantastic "4D" shot of her face. Steph says she looks like me, but I can't really see it yet. Everything looks great, and she is exactly where she should be at this age. It was pretty amazing to be able to see her spine, ribs, organs, fingers and toes. I really wish that we could do an ultrasound every month-- it's my favorite part by far. We've decided on Violet for her first name, but we haven't yet picked her middle name yet. I guess it's a good thing we're having a girl, because we had absolutely no idea for a name of a boy.

Look at me...I am a big girl!!

Here is a picture of Madelynn who is starting to sit up. In all fairness, right after I took this picture she fell over on to perfectly placed pillows. It is just amazing to me how fast they grow. I was looking at pictures theother day of this summerwhen Kathie was home and both of the kids look completely different. She is starting now to really want to be touching and feeling everything (she is currently pawing at the keyboard). Nathan is super frustrated because he can't talk and he thinks we are the dumb ones for not understanding him. Anyone speak toddler? I think it would solve a ton of issues we are having with him!!! Hope you all are doing well today.

Ice Show

I noticed the ice covered bushes, with the light shining thru them, and the ice covered trees. It's one of God's masterpieces. Tomorrow I'm taking my digital camera to work.

Winter Weather

We all hate days like this. It's cold, wet, gray, and the roads are treacherous. These crappy winter mornings are incredibly persuasive to those of us who would rather stay in bed. I feel the same way as everyone else on days like this. However, driving home from work this morning, I was slapped in the face with something that I would not normally have noticed. In the tension of poor driving conditions and my desire to get home, I nearly missed the incredible beauty of the trees with their blanket of ice and snow. It's the simple things like this that we overlook it in our haste to live our lives. Take a sec and enjoy it now, because in a couple of days it won't look like that anymore. That's the beauty of it-- its fragility and its temporary nature make it precious. I try to remember to keep my eyes open. I guess I'm doing an okay job.

I am so happy that you and Mandi have a place to live. As most of you know, I am lacking in the voice department right now. I don't feel to bad but am incapable of singing christmas carols....so sad...bah humbag!! I am on some super ineffective antibiotics right now. Love you all! May your days be Merry and bright and not filled with phlegm and snot(is that how that goes?)!!!

Jason's technical genius

thanks again bud. It worked!

Holy Relocation Batman!

It's official. I've got a new address and everything! It's 412 1/2 W. Prairie, Kirkland. Guess I'll have to find out the zip...thanks to all of you for your help! I love and appreciate you all! Mandy's going to come live with me, and get a ride to Dekalb with me in the morning so she can finish out her freshman year. Whooooooooopeeeeeeeeee! Love Dad

Apartment

Yay! Dad got an apartment!! Apparently it is a 2 bedroom in Kirkland that he says is really nice. Today I gave him the money from all of us. Jason did you already give him yours or should have I given him that too??

Video of Eva

Hey, Kathie has posted some videos on YouTube, and in case she doesn't know how to put them here, I thought I'd do it for her!

Sickness

The sickness is spreading like wildfire in our household. Now everyone is sick except Madelynn. I sure hope she doesn't get it. She may be ginormous compared to what she was but she is still little and it totally freaks me out when they get sick. I think the antibiotics helped Nathan. I think he must have had an ear infection because now he is back to sleeping through the night again. I wish I could sleep.....

SICK!!

I think I'm dying.  I've been deathly ill for 3 or 4 days now, with no signs of improvement.  I alled my doctor today, and he seems to think it's just a virus.  Guess I won't be going to see him after all.  It's kind of refreshing to have a doctor that's honest/ethical enough to not see every patient for every little thing.  

Oh, and I have my job interview tomorrow.  That should be fun.  I'm staying home from work tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to stay awake all night and into the morning.  My interview is at 9am.  

Jon

Talked to Jon today too. He sounds like the rest of the family right now.....sick:( Even the flu travels to the desert apparently! Hope everyone starts feeling better soon.

Phone Call

I just had a nice conversation with Jon! Unfortunately, as you're all aware of the latest developments in our family, the subject matter wasn't the greatest. It was good to talk to him. Guess it was convenient that I stayed home from work tonight after all....

Oh, and Kathie, he's good for what we talked about.

Thankyou

Hey guys i wanted to thank you all for all your help and support throughout everything thats been going on. Things are getting more tough as the days ware on but it will get easier
Thanks Again

Job Inetrview!

I have a job interview for Tuesday morning!  It's through a staffing service (boo!), but the company seems good.  It's for a CNC operator job, and they send you to classes so you can become certified in operation and programming.  Cross your fingers!

Added Links

Hey guys, I've added links to our respective Flickr sites, and as people start joining- there's only 3 of us now- I'll add theirs too. Since I've deleted my MySpace profile, I can't see any of your pictures anymore! If there are any other links you'd like added, just let me know. Flickr has a really great tool called Flickr Uploadr that makes uploading your photos super easy. I use it daily, and it works great.

Jennee and Kathie, you guys are perfectly welcome to invite Jason and Josh to join us. Just give me their email if they're interested, and I'll send them an invite.

And now, two cats talking....


...and the translation:

Hi guys!

Hey Jason- I don't know how often I'll get a chance to post, but I'm game!

We've had a great time with dad. Unfortunately, he caught a bad cold on the plane & is sick, which worries me. Tomorrow we are going to do nothing all day (which for me means dishes, laundry, cleaning, more laundry) so that he can relax b/f his day of flying. He sure is much more fragile b/c of the cancer- it's hard to see! But his spirits are high & he did great considering what he's been through.

I'm feeding Ava right now, it's 12:30 a.m. It's COLD here- dad brought winter with him.

I'm not so intellectual right now- sleep deprivation will do that to you. My words do not come easily to me lately & I often find myself in the kitchen pantry or the bathroom going, "Now what the heck was I going to get out of here???" UHG! Pathetic.

But anyway, we took dad around Morro Bay, he went to Hearst Castle & saw the Elephant Seals, we drove to Ragged Point to see some of the cliffs, he got to see the Mission in San Luis Obispo & Farmer's Market. It has been a good trip! I hate to see him go.

Jason, just so you know, it is a very high probability that we could get you a job at Hearst Castle. Start REALLY thinking about it. Steph could be on Medical until your insurance kicks in, or you could come out here & start work while she stays w/ family? That's what Josh & I had to do when I was pregnant- it wasn't so bad- it was worth it b/c we were moving back here from Los Angeles. ANYWAY, start thinking about it- it's a chance of a lifetime.

Love & miss you all, Kath

Emails With Jon

I've been chatting back and forth with Jon the last couple of days. He seems to be doing well. He's said he'll be sending emails for me to post here until he can get home, so that should be cool.

First Post!

Well, here it is. I don't know if you guys are interested in doing this or not, but I just thought it would be great to have a webpage like this that we could all contribute to. I don't expect daily posts or anything, and I know Jon and Justin can't even use this software yet, but I think eventually it would be a great communiaction tool for us all to use. I don't know about you, but it's far easier for me to write my thoughts and feelings than it ever is to say them aloud.

At any rate, let me know what you guys think about this. I'll be sending you all invites to register for the site, and that should give you posting privledges. Let me know if you have any problems.