END MY ETERNAL SUFFERING

MEOW IMMA CAT HEHEHEHE

Stop Hounding Me!!!

Not that I am that popular but I have had a few people comment that I really need to update my blog. So I have now done it. New pictures of the kids and everything. There has been a few things that have happened over the last couple of months. So here is the breakdown with some pictures.
September - this month was pretty much consumed with my back and the up and coming surgery which I had on the 22nd. I really don't have any pictures since I was not willing to have my backside photographed. Let's just say that my "crack" has been extended by a couple of inches. No more low rise jeans for me. And I thought I would spare you the photo of my leg hair that had ample time to grow over the 6 weeks. Quite impressive. My Mom was able to come down for 2 1/2 weeks and take care of me and I can't imagine what it would have been like if she hadn't come. She has a few good years of usefulness left in her. The weekend before the surgery we went to an apple orchard in Julian, Ca. A small orchard and not worth the price but it was fun and got some cute pics.

October - still in recovery but again Walt stepped up and was able to do a few things with the kids. They had fun picking out pumpkins and other weekend outings. Since Halloween was on Sunday we didn't get much into the spirit. But we still managed to get enough candy to get me in trouble. Especially since a majority of it was chocolate candy and not the sugary kind.


November - we were able to go to Sarah's for Thanksgiving and had a great time. Good food and good people. I was able to do my Black Friday shopping online, the husbands and kids hiked up rocks, while us women folk averted our eyes convinced at least one of the sixteen kids present was going to fall. But good job Dads for keeping them all safe. We then went bowling and had a blast. Although, didn't think it through and realized after I paid that I couldn't do it. So it was granny bowling for me. Van was able to beat my score along with pretty much all the other kids.


December - started off on a sad note. My 90 yr old grandpa died the week before Thanksgiving. But thankfully I was able to fly up to Seattle for his funeral. His quality of life had been poor for the last year so his passing was a good thing and expected. I was able to spend a few days with my family and enjoy the wonderful service. All but one of my siblings was able to make it and I got to see the Pruitt side of the family who I don't see often but love dearly. I along with Samantha and Adam stayed with Seth and Kathy for the weekend in their tiny apartment. But had a great time. Seth had arranged for his annual Gingerbread House competition to be held that Sunday night. And since all three of us were still going to be there, we joined in. I will first point out our 2 handicaps of not having as much thought and prep time as everyone else and that I made all the frosting during the competition, we came in second place. Now, I am not a sore loser by any means, but the talk of the group there was they liked ours best. But the judges were really impressed with the "Back to the Future" theme house, so that one won. We had lots of fun.

So that brings us up to date. Christmas cards should be going out tomorrow and just getting ready for another trip to AZ for Christmas with the Sharp family. I hope the Holiday finds you all well.

So Much To Tell!

It has been a long time since I last posted and many things have happened. The main reason for my absence is our camera took a trip through the washing machine and we have been without a camera. And what is a post without pictures. We are all a year older (Walt turns 36 on the 4th), a few pounds heavier, and hopefully a lot wiser. The school year ended on the 8th of June and surprisingly the summer is flying by. Most in part to the stress and preparation of my families reunion that my brother Nate and I were in charge of and is the main reason I am posting now. We are still enjoying San Diego, especially the weather.
I finally sat down and found a new list of doctors and dentists so we can all be checked out finally get Ian's eyes checked. And now my boy has glasses. He is adorable with them on and now I hope the next school year goes a little better. They should help his confidence. I found a chiropractor for my back that has been getting bad again. I am so sick of this and I am thinking of exploring some other options to stop the pain. Not sure which ones yet but I will keep you posted. Every one else is fit and growing big and strong.
I have quit working to try and become a better and more involved Mom. Between my back and work I was missing out on a lot of things and unable to help them. I am excited for this summer and the next school year.
Like I mentioned above, I was in charge of this year's Perrins Family Reunion. We chose to go to Yellowstone and found some homes we rented in Island Park, Id. Which is about 30 miles to the park. We had a great week and had lots of fun.
The theme was survivor and we had 7 teams of about 9 or 10 people. We did challenges throughout the week and had lots of fun. Especially for me since I got to sit out and watch. Here are some of the highlights from our trip to the Upper and Lower Canyon Falls with My sister Lanith and some of her kids.

Max Turns 8!

Max turned 8 back on the 11th and for all you Mormons out there, you know what this means. Max was excited to get baptized and decided that he wanted to do it in Arizona. So last Friday we headed back to Mesa so we could be there for the Stake designated day for baptism. Max and Kayla, a friend from the ward, were the only 2 from our ward with January birthdays. We had slips of paper for people to write their testimonies on and give to them. I am putting them in a scrapbook that Max can have for always and to remember this day. It was a great day. With help from friends and family, we had a dinner after wards at Nate and Carrie's. The food was delicious and it was great to visit with them all. We went to our old ward the next day to welcome Max to the ward, even though, he will only be a member of that ward for a week or so. And it also gave Walt a chance to say goodbye to people he didn't get to say goodbye too. We then headed back to CA that afternoon.

I was a quick weekend but very nice. I can't believe that he is already 8. Time went slowly for so long, but now it is speeding up. This makes me happy as well as sad. As Walt says, "Well, we have one who made it to the age of accountability. Just 2 more and we are off the hook. " Can't wait.

The NOT So Little Thing That Made My Day!

I know it is too early to brag but I am going to do it anyway. But at least it isn't about myself.

As many of you know, I have been a major slacker when it comes to potty training Van. I started training Max and Ian when they turned 2, but since Van just turned 3 on Saturday, you can say that I am a little behind. I have used the excuse of moving as to why I haven't done it but the truth of the matter is I just haven't set aside the time and dedication to doing it. I have made little attempts in the last few months and in fact have gotten him to go, as he calls it, Yuckies (#2) in the toilet a couple of times but never pee. I had made it a goal to start once we got moved but the flu has been going around our family since we moved into our new place and Van's tummy has been suffering in a way that might make it difficult for him to control when he can make it to the bathroom. ( Wasn't that delicately put)

He is now doing better and I noticed that I was running low on pull-ups. In fact, I was down to one and trying to convince Van to wear underwear so I would have the one for night time. I thought I had him convinced until he sneaked and took off his pants and slipped the pull-up on instead when I wasn't looking. I then made the bold statement that I wasn't buying him anymore diapers and he was going to have to wear underwear to bed. Now, I am known to make threats that are so drastic that I really don't want to follow through on. Since most of the time, I am the one to suffer. And it looks like I did it again. But I am happy to say that I did follow through and put Van to bed in underwear. The results are:

HE WOKE UP DRY!!!

I was so happy that I didn't have to clean up a mess this morning but I did try to get him to go this morning before he had an accident. He said NO. So I was thinking to myself that I had this one victory to hold on too and hope that he wouldn't pee in his pants. Then about 10 minutes ago, I was on the computer, when I hear him yell out that he went pee. I jumped up thinking I will have wet clothes and a puddle on the floor to clean up. But Wonders of Wonders, he is sitting on the potty and has gone pee pee for the first time. My cup runneth over! I am even more impressed because he was wearing footy pajamas so he had to take it all off.

I know this is not the end and my child is magically potty trained but I was thinking this might be a great posting for his 3rd birthday that I missed. I love my Van. He is such a sweet boy who loves me. We are best buds and I am grateful for the time we have together. On Saturday, we went to the beach as a family for his birthday. Here are a few pictures of the present and past.

The water was freezing but Max and Ian didn't seem to notice. Van even took a dip, but that wasn't intentional.

I Don't Know What Has Come Over Me!!!

As I have said many times, I don't like to cook and don't do it very often. If I do choose to dabble in the kitchen, it is to make something easy and with as little mess as possible. So I keep asking myself, why at one of the most busiest times in my life, with working pretty much full time from home, taking care of 3 active little boys on my own since Walt is gone, and getting ready for an out of state move and a massive garage sale, would I choose to make Calzones from scratch. Yes, you heard me. From scratch. You might think no big deal but I might have failed to mention that I have never, ever, made any kind of dough in my life other than cookies. I have never bought yeast, kneaded dough or rolled it out. Sure I have helped my Mom when I was younger but I always managed to get out of this part or she had her Bosch to do the mixing and kneading. My only regret is that this moment of insanity occurred when Walt was not home to benefit or witness the miracle. And I have to say that it was no big deal and it sparked a little domestically in me. I topped the night off with baking cookies and moping my floors. I really surprised my myself and this might be a turning point in my life to start cooking more. Now the only think left is for me to start enjoying eating more and I might actually do it. Here are a few pictures to document the occasion. Like Danielle, I have an amateur photographer, so I can't show you the picture of me working the dough but you can see the finished product.


I made about 4 calzones but this one was the only one that looked good. They all tasted good so that is what counts.

And here are the cookies. Nothing special but worth a photo.

Come Sail Away, Come Sail Away With Me!

As many of you heard, over and over again, Walt and I were able to get a away for a week on a cruise to the Caribbean. We had talked with my sister Sarah and brother Nathan about how we could celebrate all of our 10 year wedding anniversaries since we were all married with a year of each other. Life happened and postponed the trip earlier this year. But the stars aligned and the chance came again this month and we all took it. We even picked a couple other travelers when my parents and oldest sister Lanith and her husband Steve asked if they could come. The more the merrier. So "hold on to your hats" for a few posts detailing this trip.

We flew out of Phoenix at noon on Saturday the 15th and arrived at about 9pm in Miami. Thankfully, with all of my Dad's travelling, we were able to use his points for the hotel room, which we shared with Nate and Carrie that night. We ordered pizza and wings and went to bed pretty late. Check in for the ship started at noon, so we caught the shuttle and headed down to the harbour. They have a few check points and had to stand in a few lines.


Standing in line for our boarding passes. We are excited.

This is my sister Lanith and Steve. They were ahead of us and walking onto the ship. They are the newlyweds of this trip. The love is still there.





Sarah found a better way to wait our turn. Good book.

Once we were on board the only thing to do was eat and explore the ship. Our rooms were not ready, headed for the Garden Cafe on Deck 12. We found some tables by the pool and out of the sun. After lunch, they announced that the rooms were ready. We all went to our rooms and had some time to get settled before we set sail.

I was really nervous about the room since we had an inside cabin and I don't like small, cramped spaces. I was impressed by the size and width of the room and we were very comfortable.

Here is the bathroom with the shower right to the left when you step up. It was roomy and the shower was bigger than I anticipated.



There was plenty of closet and storage space and they even had a safe in the closet for all our our important stuff.



The front door is right there on the right and they had pushed the beds together to make the one bed. I don't remember asking for that. I was kind of looking forward to having a bed to my self. Just kidding. The best part of the room is that when the lights went out it was dark and the sun didn't wake you up.



We then went on top to watch us sail out of port, then we had to meet to go over emergency procedures.



Looking out the port into the open sea. We sat out here until we hit open water and enjoyed the breeze and to watch the land fade away



Our safety group included Nate, Carrie and my parents. We had to demonstrate that we were capable of putting on our life jackets. We were pros.

Our first dinner was at Tsar's and we enjoyed spending all our our dinners together as a family.



We also enjoyed watching the sunsets every night. I have never seen a sunset like this. It was amazing to be able to actually see the sun disappear from the horizon without buildings getting in the way. Beautiful.



That night we went to the Stardust Theatre and saw a comedian named Bud Andersen. He was a little slow to start off but he was hysterical. It was a short show but he was scheduled to preform Monday night. He closed with an imitation of a large chested woman and how her many activities impact the movement of her chest. He did this by squatting on a chair and pulled a large shirt over his knees. I found it very funny because I experience many of the same things with my chest. Mine isn't that big but having kids has definitely had a negative impact on them. We ended the night with a dip in the hot tub and off then off to bed.

Stay tuned for more fun filled days.

Flu Flu go away!!

It may be a good thing that we are moving soon. After spending a week and a half stuck in my house, I am ready to leave. Last Monday night I felt really achy and decided I needed to go to bed early to try and keep whatever illness I was getting from coming. 3 days later, I was able to get out of bed and function at a limited level. Yes, I became a victim of the swine flu. Not the official diagnosis but based on others experiences with it, I conclude that is what I had.
Sadly, that was Walt's last week home before he started his new job but happily he was still home to take care of things. As a Mom, I usually get sick but I am still able to find enough energy to preform the basic functions to keep the family together. With this flu, I couldn't move and was in a lot of pain. Walt was able to get most of the items on his list done but not everything. He may have been to busy trying all he could so he didn't end up getting sick for his first day of work. That wouldn't make a very good first impression. For the most part, he succeeded with a slight fever and some coughing, but he didn't miss any work.
Max was next victim, with the school calling me Thursday morning to come and get him. He had a low grade fever and a headache. Luckily that was all that happened with him and he was back to his usual self that weekend. Van also had a low fever for a day but has recovered. I was beginning to think that Ian was the carrier of this nasty flu, but Monday night he started running a fever. I sure hope this is the end. He will be going to school tomorrow and other then the coughing and a few runny noses we are all on the mend. I did venture out briefly for a Walmart trip, and was exhausted after. That has been the hardest to get over. I have little energy and can't wait for it to come back.
I am glad that we have been hit with it now rather than latter. I am shocked that we didn't all get sick during the week of the cruise. That would have really sucked. I hope all of you are doing well or recovering quickly from what ever ails you.

California, here we come

Let me just say how grateful that our prayers have been answered and so quickly. But seriously, California? I sure hope Heavenly Father knows what he is doing, because it scares me. Walt has gotten a job, so we are San Diego bound.

Here is the plan. He is to start working on Nov 2ND. He will live in their company housing while looking for a place for us to rent. He is able to still go the on the cruise, so that is exciting. He will hopefully find a place to move into in December. They will pay for relocation, so we will have them pack and move our things once school is out for Christmas break. We will go to Sarah's for Christmas then drive over to our new house and get some what settled for the kids to start school in January. We plan on renting our house here out, with Nathan managing it for us. So if you know anyone wanting to rent a great house starting in the beginning of the new year, let us know.

Because November is packed with the cruise, Thanksgiving and his sister coming down for a visit, he will be coming home on the weekends. But I don't see why he needs to come back in December until Christmas. It will be hectic but I know I can handle it. I remember moving a lot when I was younger and newly married and I didn't mind it so much. Having kids makes it more stressful. I now have to worry about schools and making sure the neighborhood is good. I have know idea about this area but we have some contacts that I hope will be reliable in helping us find a good place to raise our kids.

Plus the money. It is so much more expensive there I know I will have sticker shock. I will have to plan a monthly trip back to Arizona for shopping. Or I can just become flighty and not care about how much money I am spending. But overall I am really excited about this change. I don't mind change very much and I know that is what we are suppose to do and the lord will provide. I can handle anything knowing that this is what we are suppose to do. This thought gets me through motherhood and marriage everyday. Ha Ha Ha! But I am sad to leave my friends and family that I have here. But I am counting on the fact that I will be living in a great place that everyone loves so I can see them often. Don't forget I will be living close to the beach and Sea World

Ian, Ian, Ian. What to do?

To look at the above picture of Ian you probably wouldn't guess that such a cute little boy would be a problem child that I can't figure out. I am just not sure what is going on inside that cute little head of his. And I know that most of the problem lies with me and my impatience in dealing with him. He can throw a tantrum like none other. I should have anticipated this because he was the one baby that wouldn't cry himself to sleep. I don't have any problem letting my kids cry themselves to sleep but that boy would go for hours and not stop. He will get something stuck in his head and he will not let it go. Tonight may be a turning point but we will have to see.
Every night we have the same routine for bedtime. After family prayer the boys get a drink and off to bed. However, Ian will come out numerous times for more water. We have really tried to cut this back and we have to 2 drinks. But lately the talking and playing after lights out has gotten out of hand and will go on for about an hour. During this time he is coming out for drinks, because talking and playing makes him thirsty. So we are fed up. I will leave out the yelling part, but I decided to have a chat with him. So I sat there and tried to reason with him for a good 10 minutes. I know their ability for reason is not quite developed but I at least expect him to listen. His only response after us talking was that he was thirsty. He couldn't even tell me what I had said. So after a little more discussion he made me a promise.
I would get him a drink if he promised that this will never happen again. From now on it is drink, bed and sleep. No more drinks and no temper tantrum. What do you think? Will he keep his promise? I am not holding my breath but I think it might not be as severe. I will take any suggestions or criticisms on how to handle the situation. I sometimes think that I am missing something and maybe there is a real problem here, but he behaves at school. So he obviously knows what good behavior and bad behavior.Which I would rather deal with this at home then have the teachers dealing with this. I even tried to get him to tell me what he does when he doesn't get his way at school and why he doesn't freak out. No answer. I do love this kid and he is the first one with a please and thank you. But this Jekyll and Hyde bit is frustrating.

What a lovely place to live!!

We moved into our house about 7 years ago. We have spent lots of time and money but finally have things the way we like them. We would like some more space but we have worked with what we have. I have always thought that change would be good and I wouldn't be to upset if we had to move.
Now that that is a very likely possibility, I don't want to move. I like my house, I like our ward, I like the school my boys go to, but most of all I love the people that I call my friends. I belong to 3 groups of women in our ward. One group, we do a little preschool, so I only have to host once a month. One group is for babysitting on Saturday's, so we can have a date night with the hubby. Again, once a month, I babysit all the kids. And the last group is taking turns watching kids while the others go to the temple. My temple attendance has been seriously lacking for the last few years, so I am very grateful for this. Especially with so much uncertainty and other trials that are occurring, I feel like crying all the time. I so enjoy the peace I get from going and look forward to that time.
I just have to say how much I appreciate all the wonderful friendships that I have made and I truly hope that they will last even if we have to move. I also love my family so much and I can't believe how lucky I am to have a family as awesome as mine. And I am doubly blessed to have and even extended family that I do. I drug my feet for along time on this blogging thing, but it is a highlight of my day to login and see the postings of the Perrins family. Never a dull moment. I would love to see more of you guys. I think Walt applied to jobs in all of the 50 states except Utah. Sorry!!
Sorry this is so sappy, but it is not intended as a farewell and there is no new news on the job searching front. I just don't express my gratitude very often and thought it was about time. Love to all of you who read this.

MP3 and Me

I have finally done it and gotten a MP3 player. I am slowly joining the 21st century. Now that they are cheap I was willing to spend the money. Here is the story.
I don't like to exercise, especially walking or running. Extreme hatred would better describe my feelings but I need to do something. With my back, I am limited on the activities that I can do so I try to do what I can. With the weather being so hot both morning and night and that I didn't renew my gym membership, I have been lazy all summer and definitely feeling the effects. Two nights ago I really got fed up with feeling awful and declared to Walt that I wanted to start walking again. But I get bored which causes me to come home after about 10 minutes. Plus I need to know when I can stop. So I wanted to listen to something while I walk. For instance, if I listened to the whole Wicked soundtrack, I would be getting some good exercise. I then declared for him to make it happen.
He sweetly said OK, honey. So, yesterday he bought me a MP3, which I have just successfully uploaded my music. I have to pat myself on the back because I did it myself and actually figured it out. I am so excited to start walking at nights. I do not function in the morning. I am so excited that they are so small. I remember walking with walkmans and diskmans that were so bulky. I wonder why they call them ipods? They should have called them imans. Get it?

I'm A Mormon Now!!

I think now I am able to claim to be a real member of the LDS church. I have food storage under my bed. But since I still have a box spring and not sleeping directly on the cans, I am not sure. I will have to let you readers decide. I would have preferred the food going in the garage, but with this heat, no way. I had always thought that we had a lot of food storage, but when under the bed still has room, I think we need more. I guess it also would have been a great time to write down what and how much we have of everything, but I didn't. We actually have more food but it could still fit in the closet without be to disruptive.
We had put shelves in our master closet a long while ago to keep our food storage. It got to the point where there was little room for our clothes and you couldn't open the door all the way. I was also thinking that if we by chance have to move, we should probably start putting the house in sell able condition. So that will be occupying me for the next little while. Going room to room touching up paint, and putting the finishing touches on unfinished projects. It also gives me the chance to throw things out. I love that.
I should probably slow down a bit otherwise Shanell will have nothing to help me with. We decided last year to help each other organize our homes. Since that didn't happen, we rededicated ourselves to this year. We started in her house and have accomplished a lot. She has even allowed me to rearrange furniture. I have inherited this gene from my mother. It isn't truly clean and organized unless furniture has been moved. I think I need help most in the decorating department. Shanell has the creative mind where I am lacking. It is a great partnership.

The Happiest Day in this Mother's Life is.......

The first day of the school year. I know this may make me sound cruel, but after 2 1/2 months of being stuck in the house because of the heat with 2 fighting boys, I was more than happy to see them off. But my boys love and thrive at school. They need to have a break from me and I am so lucky that they can go to a good school with teachers that I know love them. Max is now in 2nd grade and Ian is now a 1st grader. I can't believe it. I won't say time has flown by because it hasn't but every once in awhile when they are talking to me I wonder I came to have kids that are old enough to go to school and read and write. After all, I am only 23 years old. Shocking!!



But in getting rid of 2 all day, I have gained one. As most of you know, Walt was laid off of his job this week. So now I have both him and Van during the day. But since he can take pretty much care of himself and is not asking me to get him food and drink, I think I will survive. It wasn't a complete shock that he was laid off but it is still not a comforting thought that we don't have a job. He had starting looking around at jobs weeks ago and contemplating a new direction so who knows what will happen. Luckily, his job was still offering severance packages so we have some time before the money runs out. And I still have my job. So we are good.

Random Cuteness!

Anyone that talks to me about my kids know how I feel about Van. He will give us so much trouble when he gets older since he get away with a lot since he is so cute. So here are just some pictures of his cuteness.




A story to explain these next photos. Father's Day weekend our young women were at girls camp, and my good friend Shanell had to go. I agreed to watch her girls on Saturday since her husband Dale has to work. I took all the kids to the in-laws to swim. The Gambell girls are the ages of my boys, with the exception of Sophia, since I don't have a 4th child. Eliza is the youngest and I couldn't find any clothes to change her into after swimming, so Van and Eliza were both wearing just their diapers when they fell asleep on the way home. Since the older kids were still playing, I decided to put the 2 little ones to sleep in my bed so they wouldn't be woken up. I am not sure how inappropriate this is but I thought it was cute. I did think it was best to cover Eliza with her blanket.(Since they were both without a shirt)

Another one bites the dust!!

OK, so do you remember when I was commenting on the fact that after 7 years of boys, I was surprised that I had only one instance of staples/stitches? Well, I spoke too soon and now Ian has been injured.

Last Thursday, Walt made an appointment to speak with the Bishop, but since his car was sporting a radiator crack he took my car. His keys have a pocket knife on them and Ian decided to play with it. Well Surprise, Surprise he cut his finger. I was pretty nasty and since it happened at about 8pm, the Urgent Cares were closed and so it was off to the ER. I guess bleeding children are not a priority at the hospital anymore, so we had to wait a long time. It gave me a chance to catch up on all the latest news of Michael Jackson's death, which I didn't know about until we got there. He had to get 7 stitches and he did awesome. He barely made a sound when they had to numb his finger. But as always, they bounce right back and keep smiling. It is just now a battle to keep him from swimming on our hot days.

HAPPY 6TH, IAN!!!

So, Ian turnded 6 yesterday and since I haven't blogged in a long time I thought this was a good reason to to do one.