How I found her

I had another Origami Owl party tonight so I was out of the house from 6:30 until almost 11.  Came home to find HD in the dining room probably trying to get his fill of Facebook before Sunday and asked him where Haylee was -she needed to take her meds and I knew if I wasn't home no one else would have reminded her. The child went two weeks without taking her meds this summer because I was at girls camp and youth conference. --anywho, he has no idea where anyone is and hasn't seen Haylee in a couple of hours.  She is in good hands when I am gone lol- I found her asleep on the couch like this 

She fell asleep reading her scriptures.  :) these are moments that make a mom happy!  

Body Breakdown and a messenger.

Well Sierra made it one week.  She isn't coming home or anything crazy like that but she is in more pain than she has ever been before.  Her body is rebelling agains this new college life and the physical requirements of walking all over.  She texted me at 8:58am but the text didn't come through to my phone until 10:30am so weird but whatever here is the text:

Sierra:  This morning I woke up and I had the worst pain I think I have ever had in my life.  My knee feels like someone smashed it with a baseball bat.  My shoulders feel the same except those feel like they have been shot as well.  My hips hurt just like everything else.  But i'm ok, know why?

Me:  I just got this text!
     
Me:  Why are you ok?
       
Me:  Text me back ASAP I am dying over here!  I love u kid!

Sierra:  Ok, Sorry I was in class i'm not physically ok at all.  But this morning when I was walking to class, this guy passed me and he turned and said: "Don't worry, all is well." And then just turned around and kept walking.

Me:  Wow that is awesome.

I truly believe that this was a message for Sierra from a Father in Heaven who loves her and is aware of her struggles.  People are sent to us at times in our lives when we need them.  Occasionally just with a simple message.  It comes in all different forms.  How blessed we are. I am so thankful that Sierra is at a religious school where the spirit is felt in abundance and the students can be tools for our Heavenly Father.
I will be forever grateful to this messenger who listened to a prompting and told Sierra not to worry, that all would be well.

Bravery

This girl got her ears pierced today!  We were at the mall to buy church shoes and when we walked by Claire's she said "can I get my ears pierced again?" She had them pierced when she was 5 but we had a lot of issues with them so we ended up taking them out and letting them grow over.  It was a little comical to watch her freaking out beforehand. There was another little girl probably about 7 who was thinking of getting her ears pierced and her mom thought it would be  a great idea to watch Haylee get hers done. Well Haylee climbed in the chair and then grabbed my entire arm and pulled it to her. The nice Claire's girl marked her ears and then got the guns. Haylee was not turning her head to the side and she was practically climbing over the side of the chair. The poor little girl watching her started to cry and they had to walk away. Poor kiddo. Anywho, after getting Haylee to focus on me and look right in my eyes the lady pierced the first ear. Yay!  After realizing she was indeed going to live through this procedure, which she had chosen to have mind you, she calmed down and the other ear was easy peasy.  Afterward we talked about anxiety levels and how she overcame her fears. Big win for her.  :) in other news Sierra auditioned for the choir at svu and found out tonight that she MADE IT!! yahoo!!  So proud of her!!  College is going so well!!  

Time marches on

****Important side note: checked the blog from the computer today and I don't know why the pictures aren't showing the whole thing... I will work on figuring it out until then just click on the pic to see the whole thing!  :) ****

Wow, it seems to be such a long time between each blog post. I am going to try blogging from my phone. My friend Lana blogs every day.  It is inspiring!

Obviously a lot has happened since February a speed recap: April 17 HD got his mission call! He will be serving in the brazil Manaus mission. He reports september 11th which is in 11

Days.  Can't believe it. May we got a diagnosis for Sierra she has a genetic tissue disorder called ehlers danlos syndrome. EDS for short. Her appointment was nothing short of a miracle. End of may she graduated!! With honors!  It was a very hot but beautiful day. I cried during the exact same part as when HD graduated: when they walked in during pomp and circumstance. Such am emotional moment. June girls camp. Total blast! Seriously we had such a great time. Memorable moment: Met a new friend named Jacque we hit it off and she was so much fun night four we figured out she grew up around the corner from my mom!  She is only 2 years younger than my mom they had known each other their whole lives.  Craziness! Also getting 5 hours or less of sleep every night and yet not being tired. not even kidding you, testimony strengthened about being sustained in a calling.

 July we went to Missouri for a week. Could not have packed in more fun!  So great to spend time with our nieces and nephews. Most memorable moment: the fab five singing bad to the bone while we played 'instruments' during the family talent show. Believe it or not that was Joe's idea!

 Later in July we went to palmyra New York for youth conference.  What a wonderful trip. I don't know that I can even name a most memorable moment...probably standing in the same space where Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith. The spirit was so strong.  Also hearing the kids testimonies Friday night and then Sunday at church.  Amazing.  

This is the sacred grove.  So beautiful. 

The Palmyra Temple. Our youth performed 750 ordinances that day. 

August: Sierra and HD were gone for a week then we tried to relax a bit before school started.  Haylee is in 6th grade this year.  It was a teeny bit sad to just have her in the first day of school pictures. 

She is super cute.  So thankful for her in our family. Otherwise I would have an empty nest!  And this mom is NOT ready for that. That brings us to this last week. Sierra left us.  Thursday the 29th we drive her down to SVU.  Her room is amazing she was so excited, we went to Walmart to get some last minute things helped her get set up a bit and said our goodbyes. It was so, so hard.  I think it is definitely a time for moms to reflect and mourn a little bit the passing of a phase. I am no longer her everyday mom.  I will always be her mom and she will always need me in some way.  But our everyday face to face interaction is done. And no matter how much I know it is time and it is. I know she is as ready as she can be it is still sad.  I was much more worried about Sierra  than I was about HD. Her body is so taxed and just not as strong as her peers and I worry and wonder how she will handle her physical challenges. She is also an introvert and I worried about her reaching out, putting herself out there. But good news she has not called me once!  I have heard from her via text each day and I told her to "call if she had a minute but if she didn't no worries"

Well she hasn't called.  Which is a good thing!  It means she is having fun and reaching out and being busy!  Yay! She texted yesterday to say she auditioned for choir.  She loved the choir director so lots of prayers that she gets in.  I am so excited to watch her on this next part of her journey.  

Saying good bye to Haylee as we dropped Haylee off at school. She didn't come with us since she will be missing school to take HD to the airport. 

Virginia! This pic was a joke because this was like 20 miles from our house. :) 

Saying goodbye for a couple of years.  Sniff sniff.  

Sis by her desk.  So fun!!!  

And there you have it.  Not all the gaps filled in but there ya go.  I really like this blogging by phone!!  :) thanks Lana!!!!!  

Happenings

Life is insane.  I want to remember why I am not blogging.  So here are the reasons in no particular order and some of what we have been up to the last few months.

1. Thanksgiving in Wisconsin.  Gone for a week.  Had a grand time.

2.  HD came home for three weeks at Christmas. It was great.  Cried like a baby again when he left.

3.  HD is working on his mission papers. H.O.L.Y. C.O.W

4.  Discovered Haylee has "generalized anxiety disorder" -which means she gets more freaked out than most people over certain things and random things that are surprising.  Storms, elevators, ordering food, change....she started seeing a therapist in November and is doing so much better.  Weekly appointments in her schedule have become bi-weekly because she is doing so well.

5.  Sierra has been seeing a few new doctors which has lead to a slew of appointments each week.  We suspect she has a connective tissue disorder so genetic testing is in the works.  People with hyper mobility -super flexible- tend to have bad hearts so we are getting that checked out as well.  She is seeing  a pain management doc as well as a new orthopedic surgeon.  This trial is endless.  We have been talking a lot about not only enduring it but enduring it well as a lot of the time these last few weeks either she or I feels like we are on our last bit of strength to endure.  These dozens and dozens of appointments -no kidding she has SIX just this week - have got to be leading us somewhere right? Big deep breath.  We will survive this.

6.  Joe is having an endoscopy tomorrow.  No big deal he has a hiatal hernia they are going to take a closer look at because it is giving him some problems. So between him, Haylee and Sierra I have 8 doctors appointments on my schedule just this week alone.

7.  I was recently called to be the 2nd counselor in the Stake Young women's presidency.  How NUTS is that?!?  It is seriously nuts.  It's a ton of work but it has been fun.  I have had a great time attending other wards during ward conferences and New Beginnings programs this month and camp planning is coming along. We also put on a formal dinner/dance for the 16 and 17 year old YM and YW, it was a 16 hour day but it turned out AMAZING.  It is insane but I love the girls.

8.  Sierra graduates in about 90 days, HD will be leaving on his mission shortly after that.

9.  I am throwing -with help- two baby showers in the next two weeks, plus going to Southern Virginia University one weekend to check out the campus and heading to Bristol, Tennessee to take Haylee to a NASCAR race one weekend, and helping prepare the PAG (Joe's squadron) Easter Egg Roll.  All if this happens in the month of March.

So there you have it.  So much going on.  We are remembering to count our blessings, breathe, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Hopefully I can post some pics soon.  Until then.  Take care friends!

Fall/Halloween

Lots of busy things happening this fall.  Here are a few of our pics and happenings in no particular order.  :)

The hubs and I one day after he got home from work.  He never lets me take pics while he is in uniform but I made him take this one.  :)

 We went to see WICKED!  It was AMAZING.  More on that in a future post.

 Maryland is a BEAUTIFUL place to live in the fall.  There are trees everywhere.  These are some of my favorites on base. 

The President flying over Haylee's soccer practice.  Pretty cool. 

My fave trees again. 

a few of our cute fall decorations

Haylee's witch potion for Halloween night 

flowers from my hubby - love that guy 

Haylee ready for the fall festival on base.  LOVED her costume this year!

Haylee and her BFF Mia 

the costume contest 

2nd and 1st place respectively 

Before trick or treating

With the neighbor kids 

Cutest witch with her cutest pumpkin

We went to a birthday/costume party -this is us with our besties, we went as the fab five US womens olympic gymnastics team :)  

Sierra before a church dance  

pretty cute bumblebee!

more fall colors

Haylee playing soccer

she LOVES it!

watching the game

the look I get when I ask her to look at me so I can take a pic :) 

the fab five doing what they do lol  

My kid is awesome!

We had a boat for 4 summers.  Haylee refused to wakeboard.  It scared her.  Last summer we sold our boat.  We went out with friends at the end of the summer season and Haylee decided to give it a shot!  She didi great considering it was her first time on a board.  All she needs is a little more confidence!