This is my daughter......

Rocking out to U2. In her pajamas. With fairy wings on. Man, I love this kid. 

Happy New Year!

Hello friends, and happy new year!

I'm quite embarrassed over what little attention this blog has received in recent months. But, I gotta tell ya, this has been one of the busiest seasons of our lives! It seems the older our kids get, the more complicated things become. Our awesome kids, Jeff's work, and the fact that I returned to school has made for an exciting, but busy, semester.

There are many times when I think,"I should totally blog about that!" But, I don't.

I want to thank all of you who continue to be so sweet about sending us Christmas cards even when it is not returned. I soooo want to! We love catching up on your families and seeing how children have grown and reading about how your lives are changing. We feel blessed beyond words to have so many amazing friends from every place we've ever lived.

Some of you who sent cards have also been to see us this year! Our house has been joyfully full and we have loved seeing so many old friends. Colorado, apparently, is quite the vacation destination, and we totally understand why. This place is awesome and we love living here. The house we ended up buying happens to have an apartment in the basement and we prayed that God would allow us to use it. We think He's given us some great opportunities to do so! If you are a friend that  hasn't been here (or if you have been here), know that our home is open to you anytime!

Our living room on Christmas Eve. 

Our kids are growing like crazy and changing fast. Sam is 11 now. What?!?! He is quick to remind us that he is a "pre- teen." One day I was the coolest mom ever, and the next, not so much. Sam adores his Daddy and Jeff can do no wrong. I'm OK with this because I think his dad is pretty cool, too. Sam recently wrote a paper for school about his hero. It was all about Jeff. It's one we will save forever. Sam is a thinker and asks hard questions. There's been some very deep questions lately- questions Jeff and I do not feel we are qualified to answer. Perhaps, Sam will turn those questions into songs since he is now in his very own band- "Mustash Cash Stash." They performed in the school talent show. They were amazing. To me.

The one and only "Mustache Cash Stash"

Silas still has big blue eyes that take up half his face and we still get comments from teachers and authority figures about how hard it is to discipline him when his eyes fill up with tears. I get it. Silas has a heart for people and is drawn to those who are hurting. He is a faithful, loyal friend. He is also, what we refer to, as our "random child." He says the most random, hilarious things that leave us in stitches. We've been having to have many talks with the boys about girls and how are bodies work and all that. We came across a poster with a girl in a bikini that was advertising a car or something like that. Always looking for teachable moments, I asked the boys why they thought that girl was dressed that way and had that look on her face. Silas looked at me with a "duh, mom" look on his face and said,"Because she hands out trophies, of course!" Needless to say, Silas will probably never live that one down.

Sam and Silas- Man, they look so grown up to me!

Selah- oh, my Selah. My heart swells when I think about this girl, not flesh of my flesh, but who is my heart. The joy she brings to us can't be described. I am forever indebted and grateful to her birth parents who allowed us to parent her. She is exquisitely beautiful. She is thoughtful, witty, and, most importantly- artistic. The girl is rarely seen without a pen and paper in hand. I have dozens of notes from Selah telling me how much she loves me. We have hundreds of drawings and paintings laying around the house, each one showing more and more detail. For Christmas this year, her gift was an art room- a big closet under the stairs that we transformed into a creative space for Selah to do what she does most often- art. She, also, makes us laugh with her quick responses. The other day, we sat around the table talking about childhood memories and Jeff mentioned how much he used to hate going to the fabric store with his mother as a child. Selah piped up and said, "Because it smells like old lady."

       

Selah and her art room, her big Christmas gift that she LOVES!

   

     Selah and her Daddy who she LOVES!

And mama LOVES, also!

I suppose the biggest thing going on in my life is my return to college to become a nurse. For so many years, I have told myself I was not smart enough. But, I am proving to myself otherwise. College is so different as an adult and I appreciate the opportunity to learn so much more than I did when I was younger. I love what I am learning and really look forward to being a real nurse some day. I continue to love being a mama and am so proud of each of my kids and love the honor of being Jeff's wife. I have been blessed, once again, with some amazing friendships- from our church and also in our neighborhood.

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 My very favorite Christmas gift from a preteen who I didn't think liked me anymore.

It's hard to condense our year into a few paragraphs and I fear I have already written too much! If you have made it this far, bless you. Thank you for being our friends and loving us and our kids over the years. As I look on our "Christmas card wall" and see faces of friends old and new, I am reminded of how truly blessed we are.

We were close.

I've never blogged about 9/11. It is still raw.

We lived 2 miles from the Pentagon, in a tiny apartment that we loved. We didn't love it as much that day.

We smelled the smoke. We heard the sirens. We saw the rescue personnel.

In the parking lot of our little apartment complex was the closest Red Cross Headquarters.

I took brownies. I didn't know what else to do. So, I baked. I delivered them with baby Sam on my back. I cried. The dirty, tired firemen cried. And, they made me feel like I had contributed something although I know it was nothing.

I have not watched any of the 9/11 movies. I have read none of the books. It is still raw.

Jeff and I sat around the table long after dinner was over this evening and cried.

And, we did all we know to do besides bake brownies. We remembered.

Quick Update

Bad, bad blogger, I know.

Our house is a bit crazy right now. Here are a few things going on around here:
-We have our first Lo family broken bone(s)! Sam broke his hand on Sunday and a visit to the hand surgeon is happening today. (We are blessed that one of our neighbors is a hand surgeon and hooked us up!) I wish it were a great story, but, alas, it is not and I will let Sam tell in his own words.

-Today is my birthday! Guess how I get to celebrate? Why, by taking Sam to the hand surgeon, of course!

-I got a new tattoo to commemorate being halfway to 70. I'll share a pic and the story later. (I'm sorry, Teri. I had some time and just decided to get er done.)

-For the first time since we lived in Canada and our kids attended the best schools ever, I feel very at peace with the schools and teachers our kids are going to/ getting. Thank you, Lord!

-We have the best kids ever. I can not express enough how proud of them I am, in spite of how much we screw up as parents!

-I have the best husband ever. Seriously,I do.

-I am now a college student. Since all of the kids will now be in school full days for the first time in 11 years, I made the decision to finish school. Hopefully, in a few years I will be Erin, BSN, RN. We'll see how it goes.

-Our dear friend, Curtis, from Calgary, came to see us this past weekend. It was a blessed time. How we love that man and his wife, Bernice, who we missed dearly.

-We are coming up on our five year 'Gotcha Day' with Selah. Really?!?!? Has it been that long? Has it been that short?!?!? That girl is so much a part of our lives we can not imagine/ remember life before her.


There is much more that I know I am forgetting, but I mostly wanted you to know we are alive and well, in spite of a few broken bones.

Stinky Cheese

Tonight, the boys are sleeping huddled together in Selah's double bed. Why? This afternoon, they made the unfortunate (purposeful) mistake of putting a piece of stinky cheese between her sheets. (Her room reeks.) Selah is resting comfortably in the boy's non-stinky room.

We are officially "the worst parents ever."

Crossfit and Marriage

At the trailhead of Mount Sherman- before the climb

Jeff and I climbed a "14-er" (translation: a mountain that is 14,000 feet +) on Monday. Just the two of us. Jeff was kind enough to inform me that one year ago he would not have asked me to do that with him because he knew I never would have been able to do it. Not this year.  I am one sleek, muscle packed mama.

Why, you ask? What has changed in me this last year? The answer would be: Crossfit. It is a ridiculously hard, amazing, gratifying, intense way to work out. If you've never heard of it and are looking to better yourself, I beg you, look into it. It will change you.

It changed me. I realized that the key to working hard has a lot to do with my mind. In the middle of a WOD (workout of the day), my muscles can be aching, my heart pounding, my stomach threatening to give up it's contents, and, somehow, if I just keep focused and stay the course, I can finish.

It reminds me a lot of marriage, actually. Jeff and I struggle sometimes. It's really not that bad. But, we have rocky patches now and then. Sometimes, in the middle of a bad time, my head aches, my heart pounds, my stomach churns and threatens to give up it's contents, and I wonder why we got married in the first place. But, somehow, if we keep focused and stay the course, we get through it.

When I'm finished with a WOD and think about what I've just accomplished, it is pretty gratifying. I've started to see the results in my body. My muscle tone has increased, I can lift more weight, and I feel better than I have maybe in my whole life.

When Jeff and I get through a hard time and I think about what we've accomplished, it's pretty gratifying. We see how our hearts are changed. Our character builds, our integrity grows, and it feels good that we stuck with it.

That mountain we climbed on Monday, it wasn't just a physical mountain. It was a bit spiritual for us. You see, we've been having one of those hard times. Nothing major, but we just had a big valley to walk through. And, then we had a big mountain to climb.

At the top of Mount Sherman

Because of Crossfit, I was able to climb it. I loved every moment. I loved hearing my heart pound and breathing the thin air. I loved that the climb was slow, but steady. I loved the conversation (between catching our breath) on the way up and, then, the way down.

I love Crossfit. I love that it gave me the stamina to climb a mountain that I didn't just want to climb, but I needed to climb. With Jeff.

Mostly, I love Jeff. I love being married to him. And I love that we got to climb a 14-er together. I'm sure it won't be the last metaphorical 14-er and I sure hope it's not the last physical one, either.

Pray for rain....lots of it.

For the second time in the last ten years, my home town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, is being evacuated due to a major fire. Last time around hundreds of homes burned to the ground, many just two blocks away from the house I grew up in.
Here is an e-mail I received from some sweet friends who are presently evacuating:
We have been through this before, and the good thing about it is it really puts the proper things in focus front and center-- God and our family.  We are at peace and trusting God. He is so good, and is caring for us.  We are taking with us the 6 "P's --people, pets, prescriptions, papers, pictures, and personal computers. And most importantly, the PEACE of God and PRAYER.
Jeff and I thought we might someday retire in LA. That is how much we love this town. 
I seriously love you, friends in Los Alamos!!!! Praying for rain and lots of it.