Busy time of the year!

The month started out with playgroup at our house. It is at our house about once every 4 months. Let’s just say that it is sometimes controlled chaos, with up to 8 toddlers running wild! We are all happy that we are still getting together twice a month, and plan to continue way into the future.

Christmas is really the only other thing to blog about. (Read about Christmas Eve day on my previous post.) Christmas eve we went to my Aunt’s house in west Seattle. That has become our tradition in the last several years. This was with my parents and sister. We had a good visit. Aunt Corinne always makes such a good roast for Christmas Eve dinner, and she doesn’t even eat it because she is a vegetarian! Shaun got an Adventure Bible from them. He always wants to read it too, along with his other bible and other books. He is really getting into reading and he expects it before bedtime each night. He is starting to sit longer and listen to books, depending on his mood, yay!

Christmas day was a long one, but fun. Our tradition since we have been married is to go over to my parents house for brunch, then open presents with them and my sister, then my cousin’s family comes over and we open presents with them, then my mom’s cousin’s family comes over for dinner. This year my aunt & uncle were not there because they are traveling all over Europe and beyond for a year, so it was kind of different, but they still sent presents for Shaun! Here are just a few of the items Shaun got. No child in this family is spoiled, are they?

Little People Town
"Choo Choo" train race track

Matchbox cars
Sesame Street House

Pooh Laptop

IVF update: We plan to start the 2 cycle process in mid January as long as everything is a go. This month we have been working on getting ready for it, like getting blood work and various tests done. They need to make sure we haven’t contracted any diseases like hepatitis or HIV (like we would….) since they last checked and make sure my hormones are in the normal ranges, etc. We could have started the cycle this month, but we didn’t want to feel stressed and overwhelmed, so we decided to take it slowly. Plus, looking ahead on the calendar, if I were to get pregnant, it would have put the due date right smack dab with our 2 birthdays. That wouldn’t be so bad, but it gave us a sign that we shouldn’t rush.

Happy New Year! I can’t believe we are almost in 2010! It just seems like a couple years ago we were all worrying about the Y2K thing. That was 10 years ago now! Time sure flies!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Today is Christmas Eve! I took today off, (get tomorrow off), and am also taking Monday off to make it a 5 day weekend and mini vacation. We are starting the tradition this year of making Christmas Eve day a family day together. This year we started off by braving the stores! We left the house at 8am and got back at about 10am. It was already getting crowded! We quickly went to Target, Walmart & Fred Meyer for some last minute purchases, a return, and some food for tomorrow.

Next, we started a new tradition; Shaun and I baked a birthday cake for Jesus! Shaun loved to help; he got a big grin on his face when he was helping to stir. He also really liked licking the spoon when we were done. He wasn't sure how to do it at first, but once he got a taste, he said, "Yummy!"

Next, we had lunch and put Shaun down for an early nap at noon since we will be leaving at about 3 to go to our Christmas Eve get together at my Aunt's in west Seattle.

Now, I am doing this post and wrapping the last minute presents while Bill is cooking bacon for our brunch tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Opposite Christmas Carols!

Want to play a fun game? What is the real Christmas carol? Name the real Christmas carols below! Don't peak, but the answers follow.

1. Noisy Day
2. Sally the Green Foot Hamster
3. What Adult Was That?
4. Disregard, The Unofficial Angels Speak
5. Down On the Ground Floor
6. Go Away All Skeptical
7. Tinkerbell is Leaving the City
8. Satan Work Us Sad Ladies
9. Running In the Summer Wasteland
10. Sunny the Warmgirl
11. Grief From the Stars
12. Scrub the Floors With Buckets of Ammonia
13. It Went In a Noon Fog
14. Oh, The Big City of Los Angeles
15. Here Out of Bed
16. Grouchy Young Demon Scrooge
17. Oh Wicked Day
18. Peanuts Chilling in a Closed Freezer
19. The Last Easter
20. Car Ride
21. You Three Queens of Washington Were
22. Moron, It’s Hot Inside
23. Do Not Rain, Do Not Rain, Do Not Rain
24. The Month of Flag Day






Answers:

1. Silent Night
2. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
3. What Child is This?
4. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
5. Up On the House Top
6. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
7. Santa Clause Is Coming to Town
8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
9. Walking In A Winter Wonderland
10. Frosty the Snowman
11. Joy To the World
12. Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly
13. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
14. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
15. Away In A Manger
16. Jolly Old St. Nick
17. Oh Holy Night
18. Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire
19. The First Noel
20. Sleigh Ride
21. We Three Kings of Orient Are
22. Baby, It’s Cold Outside
23. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
24. The 12 Days of Christmas

Santa Visit 2009!

Well, as you can see, Shaun did not like sitting on Santa's lap very well! We went and visited Santa at Alderwood Mall today. I got away from work and met them there. Shaun was fine up until we sat him on his lap. He enjoys looking at Santa in books, movies, pictures and even in person, as long as he doesn't get put on his lap! He even said, "Santa" in an upbeat way when he saw me scan the picture into the computer. Oh well. People tell me that the screaming ones are always the funnest to look back at in the future.

Hope the holiday season is treating you kindly!

Vegas baby!

The news this month is that we survived our travels to and from Vegas! We had a good time. The weather was nice (by our standards it felt like spring), but the locals would tell you it was cold. Highs were in the 60s, lows in the 40s. “Cold” was written across the 5 day forecast while we were there! I guess hot and cold are all relative, especially when they are 100+ for a lot of the summer.

We managed to haul all of our luggage to the check counter. You should have seen us, it was comical! I was pulling a big suitcase, had a backpack on my back and was carrying Shaun. Bill was pulling a big suitcase, wearing Shaun’s backpack & DVD player and pushing the stroller that had the play yard (crib) sitting in it with the car seat laying over the top of it! We concocted this scenario at home and figured we could manage the distance we had to go. We put the play yard in the stroller because it is easier to carry Shaun than the play yard because it is so heavy. We checked the two suitcases and the play yard, so after we checked them in, we just had the backpacks, DVD player, car seat and stroller for Shaun to sit in; much easier!

The plane ride there went fine. Shaun did okay, he could have been better, but also could have been much worse, so I was satisfied. We kept him busy reading books, playing with the doodle pad, snacking on crackers, and finally watching an Elmo DVD. He kept kicking the seat in front of him though. At least the lady was nice about it. We laid his chair back and took off his shoes, so it was not so bad, but he could still kind of reach and kept messing with the tray table because he could unhook it with his foot. The flight was about 2 hours and Shaun was ready to get out of his seat by the time we were there. Yes, we got him his own seat because there was no way that we would be able to keep him sitting on our laps! My busy boy would have been much fussier, I think out of his seat because he would want to go. The extra money was definitely worth it.

Ready to go on the plane!

We spent some good time with family and saw some sights too. We went to the aquarium at the Mandalay Bay, saw the lions at the MGM Grand, went to Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden (dolphins, lions, tigers, etc), and went to Circus Circus to see the trapeze show and ride the carousal. We stayed with Bill’s dad and step mom so saw them everyday and also had a dinner gathering with Bill’s aunt Diane, cousin Becky and daughter Megan. We also went over and saw Bill’s Grandparents on his mom’s side and went out to a buffet with them and his uncle Duane. We were glad to see everybody and I’m sure they were glad to see us and meet Shaun!

Grandpa & Step Grandma!
Shaun's Great Grandparents & Great Uncle Duane
Lions at the MGM Grand

The trip back was unexpectedly extended by about 5 hours. We arrived at the airport at 1pm, 2 hours before our plane was supposed to take off at 3. They started boarding the plane for the early people, including us with a child. However, after we had Shaun all strapped in I noticed that no one else was getting on the plane. Then they announced over the loudspeaker that the plane’s windshield had just cracked and so we needed to all get off until they knew what the status was. The plane was unusable that day because the fixing process for a plane’s windshield takes at least 24 hours or so. We went on standby for 2 flights, didn’t make them though. Luckily our flight was still going to be able to leave that day because there is a plane that comes in and stays overnight at Vegas, so they could use that plane to take us to Seattle. However, that plane wasn’t schedule to arrive until 7:44pm, so the earliest we would leave would be 8:30pm! And, that is what happened. I’m just glad that we were able to leave and didn’t have to stay overnight.

So for the extra 5 hours: we stayed around the gate area until we knew what was happening and until about 6pm when we found out that we didn’t make it on either of the earlier flights. Then, Bill had scoped out a play area not too far away that we let Shaun run around in for a while, then went and ate dinner, then went back to the play area. Shaun finally fell asleep about 15 minutes before we boarded. Then, he was wide awake after we were on the plane. However he was much calmer because he was sleepy, so we didn’t really even have to get out any toys or distractions, just a couple crackers and water. He did fall asleep for the last half hour of the plane ride though. That was at about 10pm; way past his bedtime and with no regular nap.

Bill then decided to try and carry Shaun in his car seat down to baggage claim so he could sleep longer; all 26 pounds of Shaun + car seat weight held out at an odd angle. He made it with a few stops along the way and Shaun stayed asleep until we had to get him out so we could load everything back up to take to the shuttle, to take us to our car. We finally walked in our door at home at 12:45am! We had left Bill’s dad’s house at noon. One long day! I stayed home that next day to catch up on sleep and do some chores like grocery shopping, picking up Abby, and laundry, but then it was back to reality on Thursday.

On our infertility note: We have pretty much decided to go ahead and try one last time and do a full round of in vitro fertilization again. My Grandma left me a little bit of money, and I’m sure she would be happy that we would use it in this way. We haven’t gone back to the clinic yet but have been in contact with them. We will be starting the process in either December or January, and it takes 2 months. I will post an IVF update on the blog whenever there is something to say. Thanks for your prayers ahead of time!

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and Happy Holidays! I consider it officially the holiday season starting the day after Thanksgiving. That is when I start to get in the holiday spirit and don’t mind listening to Christmas music and seeing Christmas decorations in stores and on people’s houses. Remember the reason for the season: Jesus’ birthday!

To Gift Card or Not to Gift Card?......That is the Question!

Gift Cards Are Useful; Give Me Cash
By NEAL TEMPLIN, Wall Street Journal
NOVEMBER 19, 2009, 12:07 A.M. ET

Suppose someone invented a gift card so versatile it could be used almost anywhere to buy almost anything.

This gift card would be good forever and would be accepted in many foreign countries. It would be available in multiple denominations and sold in multiple locations. You could bend it in half—or even leave it in the pocket of your trunks when you went for a swim—and it would still work fine.

Wait a minute. Somebody already invented that go-anywhere gift card. It's called cash.

Cash has huge advantages over gift cards. There's been a big flap over gift-card fees with Congress eventually stepping in to limit them. And a sizable chunk of gift-card value—estimates range between 5% and 10%—never gets fully redeemed. These aren't issues that come with cash.

So why have gift cards grown in popularity when we already have something better sitting in our wallets? The answer is a combination of consumer psychology and opportunistic retailers and card issuers. Consumers see giving cash as crass, and retailers have taken advantage of that to push gift cards.

Roughly $95 billion worth of gift cards will be sold in the U.S. this year, up about 10% from the previous year, according to Mercator Advisory Group, a market-research firm. The two main types are "closed loop" cards, which are store gift cards issued by a variety of retailers, and "open loop" cards, preloaded debit cards from the likes of Visa or American Express.

Each has its pluses and minuses. The preloaded debit cards can be used anywhere. But you have to pay a fee, typically $3 to $7, to buy them. Card makers have also charged monthly dormancy fees if you don't use them up by a certain date. However, a new federal law limits these fees beginning in August 2010, and American Express just announced it was dumping them entirely.

Most store cards don't have fees anymore. They have a different problem. You're committed to use the card at a designated store. If you're really hankering for a new sweater, owning a Barnes & Noble gift card won't do you any good. Sales of these gift cards have been flat. And a new National Retail Federation survey finds that shoppers expect to spend a bit less on holiday gift cards this year.

Given their limitations, I figured that economists and other academics would see gift cards as wasteful. I figured wrong.

They see gift-giving as an inefficient transfer of wealth and say that gift cards actually make the whole system work better. "Having the choice of gift cards ... is a value-preserving choice," meaning it's less-wasteful than an unwanted gift, says Wharton School economist Joel Waldfogel, author of "Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays."

Well, there's no contesting that gift-giving is inefficient. How many gifts are basically a waste of money? A lot. Either the recipient hates them or they're the wrong size.

A gift card is particularly popular when the giver doesn't know the recipient well enough to pick out a gift. My wife, Clarissa, uses them for buying presents for teachers. "It's easy," she says. "You just give them a gift card to a book store."

Of course, Clarissa didn't stop there. She said it takes "gall to criticize gift cards when you are not even the one that takes care of the gift-giving."

OK, I can understand it would seem crass to give cash to your kid's teacher. But how about giving cash to your kid? That doesn't seem crass.

It turns out that many gift-card purchasers still want some control over the present.

"The problem with the cash is not with the recipients—the recipients like to get cash," says Dan Horne, a marketing professor at Providence College who has studied gift cards. "The problem is that givers don't like to give you cash, and then have you buy gas for the car, or beer or cigarettes."

The gift-card industry knows it has built-in demand for its products, but it's not sitting pat. You can now buy gift cards that play songs. Gift cards with tiny flashlights. Gift cards that feature pictures of family members. There are even ringtone gift cards so that people can download different tones for their cellphones.

"When you get a gift card, you're not just buying an inert piece of plastic" anymore, says Tim Sloane of Mercator, the market-research firm.

Blackhawk Network, which maintains those gift-card racks you see in places like drugstores, says it and retailers keep changing the "skins," or outsides, of cards to keep them trendy and relevant for whatever occasion.

"If they're giving a gift for a wedding, they want a wedding on it," explains Teri Llach, Blackhawk's group vice president.

The full-court press to popularize gift cards has worked. When the National Retail Federation polls shoppers on their favorite holiday present, gift cards were No. 1 again. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed wanted to receive one.

Well, I'm still not sure what I'll get Clarissa for Christmas this year. But it won't be a gift card.


From me, Suzanne ~ In Washington, gift cards to specific stores cannot have expiration dates or fees for dominancy, etc.

A moment captured....

at the pumpkin patch..... Thanks Molly!

And, I thought the background on the blog was getting a little boring; we are in November, so.....

Fall is here!

Shaun is sitting up to the table in a booster seat now! I can’t believe he is getting so big. I still put him in the high chair for breakfast, but for the most part he is eating dinner with us at the table. Also, Shaun is starting into the copying stage; both in words and actions. It is so cute when he watches the Wiggles. He tries to do all the actions and dancing that they are doing on the show. Shaun will also repeat words after you say them, even if you are not meaning for him to say it! We have to be very careful now what we say (not that we say bad words, but some words sound bad coming out of a toddler’s mouth) and what is on the television! Regarding our infertility journey; we have decided to wait a couple months, but are still keeping our options open.

Big boy!

3rd annual apple sauce party!
The three of us girls and the 2 little boys got together for the 3rd annual applesauce making party on the 10th. We had enough apples from our trees to make one batch and then Renae brought enough apples to make 2 more batches. So we each went home with 4 tupperwares full of applesauce! Shaun has been loving it! Shaun was playing baby while we were there too. He saw Antonio on his mat when we first got there. Then, a little while later when Antonio was elsewhere, Shaun went and laid on Antonio’s mat! He did that quite a bit.

Finished product!

Antonio likes it, so it must be fun!

Finished swim for the season
We finished our Saturday fall swim lessons. I decided not to sign up for the second session that would be Nov-Dec because it is kind of hard to get motivated to go swimming when it is so rainy (or worse) outside. We will start up again in April twice a week. He was having a great time at the last class. He loved to jump in and kick all around. One more season of tiny tots and then he is in the preschool swim class without mom, yay!

Pumpkin patch
We went with Shaun’s toddler class to a pumpkin patch. I took a couple hours off work and joined them. Shaun loved to look at all the animals, including ducks, goats, pigs and a kitty. He also loved the tractor ride out to the pumpkins, and picking out a pumpkin (although he calls them apples); kind of cute. Everything round is either a ball or an apple. He seems to have them in the right category though as far as maybe being edible or not.

Halloween
We had a dress up playgroup again this year. All of Shaun’s buddies are pretty cute. Some of the others liked Shaun’s outfit, because Elmo came to the party! We also went to Grandma’s work , who was having a Halloween event for kids. Grandma liked showing him off to her coworkers that were there too with their kids or grandkids.

Does somebody like Elmo?

An attempt at getting a group photo.....

Sounders first season: playoffs!
We have been Sounders (soccer) fans this whole first season. We haven’t missed a game; however we have watched most of them on our DVR and not live. The regular season came to an end on 10/24, and they made it to the playoffs!! It is the first time that an expansion team has done that in 11 years. Pretty cool. The first playoff game was on the 29th. It ended in a 0-0 tie. The second game is on November 5th. It is not who wins the games, but who scores the most goals between the 2 games. So we’ll see how the 2nd game goes! The team with the most goals scored is the winner of that round. We’ve got our fingers crossed! And, the final is in Seattle no matter who plays in it.

Planning trip to Vegas in 11 days!
We are planning Shaun’s first airplane trip, to Vegas on November 11th! Our first thought was to go the week between Christmas & New Year’s, but the airfare is so much cheaper before the holidays. One more little person sure adds a bunch more logistics to traveling. We are going to visit some of Bill’s family: Dad, step mom, Grandparents on mom’s side, plus maybe some more aunts, uncles and cousins. Shaun has not met any of this family yet, so I think everyone will be glad to meet! We will be there for a week. We are looking forward to going back to summer weather as Bill’s dad says it’s usually about 70-80 degrees in November! We will report back next month on how the travels went! Wish us luck!

Free H1N1 vaccination clinics in Snohomish County this Saturday, 10/31 for priority groups!

http://www.flucentralwa.mystateusa.com/

There were clinics last Saturday and they gave out approximately 5,000 out of 17,000 vaccines available, so they are doing it again this Saturday. They said we will be given documentation so it can be taken to the doc office and to get the second dose in a month (because Shaun is under 9).

Priority Groups:
Pregnant women
Health care workers and emergency workers
Caregivers of infants younger than 6 months old
School teachers and professional childcare providers
All people ages 6 months to 24 years
People ages 25 to 64 years with medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease (check website for complete list)

More Flu prevention advice

I received some more flu prevention advice that I thought I would pass along. Here is an email forward that I received today:

Prevent Swine Flu - Good Advice
Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W) India.

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to not come into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good way to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (Tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Keep in mind that the target population is the younger crowd, so pass this on to your kids and grandkids.

Faith

This has been a month of sad and faithful times. The first week of this month was quite rough. First was the news of my Grandma passing on Sunday (8/30). After I got word that she passed, I knew that the week would either turn around at the end or get even sadder. Well, it got sadder. It got sadder because we attempted to get pregnant again by transferring our 2 frozen embryos. We spent the last 2 months getting ready for the transfer without telling anyone. Wednesday, 9/2 I went in for the first blood test. I passed, with an HCG level of 33 (5+ is considered positive). Then the levels need to double 2 times every 48 hours. So, Friday I went in again, and got the call at work about noon that the level was down to 12, which meant a negative result. We have been spending time in prayer and in His Word, to feel hope and encouragement. I have also found it comforting to really listen and read some of the song lyrics that I hear everyday (like the Voice of Truth lyrics I posted earlier). We know that God has a plan for us, we just don’t know what it is right at the moment. Is it to try again with IVF, wait and see, and/or just be a one-child family? We know whatever it is; it is His plan for our family. Please pray for us; that God would show it to us. I’ll keep you blog readers informed of any updates, so you can keep praying. We truly don’t know how we would be handling this if we didn’t have our faith in Jesus! I can’t imagine.

We had Grandma Nairn’s memorial on the 17th. It was an all around a positive time, even though the actual passing of Grandma was sad. There was a reception after the service, just like at Grandpa’s where everyone could mingle. It was nice to see such a great turnout. Grandma was truly loved! The immediate family gathered at my parent’s house after the service to spend some time together. It was neat to see Shaun and Antonio together, the next generation! The girls of the family also got together on Saturday to have some girl time. That was truly fun! The boys (including Shaun) went to see the airplanes at Paine field and then went back to our house to watch that good Husky-USC game.

We decided at kind of the last minute to go to the Casting Crowns concert on the 26th. It was awesome!!!! I had been hearing the advertisements on the radio for quite some time and thought it would be fun to go, but we didn’t end up doing anything about it until 3 days before. We got some pretty good seats in the side front section at Overlake. Casting Crowns has some very good songs with lyrics that I really need right now, like Voice of Truth, Praise You in This Storm, etc. I have put a bunch of their songs on the playlist, so scroll to the bottom to see if you are hearing them right now. Matt Redman opened for Casting Crowns. He was really good too. He has written a BUNCH of worship songs that he and others sing, which I didn’t realize, like Blessed Be Your Name and The Heart of Worship, just to name 2. He also has a good one that he sang called, You Never Let Go (I have also included it on the playlist). He described at the concert writing this song with his wife after their 4th miscarriage in a row. Definitely a song I need right now, even though our problem isn’t with miscarriages. I love the part of concerts where you get to hear the background of a song. It brings a whole new meaning to them.

Matt Redman

Casting Crowns

Before we bought the tickets for the concert, we called my parents and asked if they wanted to take us up on their offer to have Shaun for an over-nighter. They said yes, so we got the tickets and Shaun and his first sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa’s!!! My baby is growing up!!!!!! Yikes. It was weird being home after the concert without Shaun there. They brought him to church with them the next morning, and had a glowing report!! He went right to sleep and slept until 7:45, which is good for his own bed! And they had a lot of fun playing too! They even want to do it again sometime soon!

Shaun is saying new words everyday. He is really starting to communicate with his words. It is so exciting and fun to hear a new word pop out every day! His latest words are apple, bible, uh oh, and pig.

And, today is my birthday!!!! Hurray, even though I’m another year older. And, tomorrow is Bill’s birthday!!!

Oh, and the results of the swine flu vaccine poll was: 60% yes and 40% no, with 5 total votes.

Swine flu shot?

I am taking a poll to see how many parents plan on getting their child a swin flu shot. The poll closes in 2 weeks at 5pm on 9/30. Post a comment if you wish to explain why you chose yes or no. I'll post the results then!

People 6 months to 24 years are strongly encouraged to get one.

There are 5 key things to do to prevent swine flu/regular flu:
1. Get a swine flu shot if in a high risk category and a regular flu shot.
2. Eat yogurt (probiotics)
3. Wash hands a lot and use sanitizers
4. Take your vitamins (including vitamin D)
5. Keep your hands off your face

I am curious to see how many parents plan on getting their kids vaccinated. This would be in addition to the regular flu shot. Tell your friends and have them vote too.

The poll is on the right just below our family picture. Thanks!

The Week's top Christian songs!

I have been having fun playing around with my song list on playlist.com. That is why you are hearing music as you are reading this! Right now I have included the top Christian songs of the week - in order (with the addition of Voice of Truth to go along with my previous blog). You can see the list at the bottom of the blog. Feel free to click on any song to hear it. I was not able to include the entire top 20 because some songs were not included in the playlist database, but I got 12 of the top 20! Enjoy!

If you haven't read/listened to Voice of Truth yet, it is the last song listed on the playlist, so just scroll down and click on it.

The missing songs are:
#5 Born Again by Third Day
#7 Wait & See by Brandon Heath
#8 The Motions by Matthew West
#11 Speaking Louder Than Before by Jeremy Camp
#14 City on Our Knees by Toby Mac
#16 The Words I Would Say by Sidewalk Prophets
#18 He Is by Mark Schultz
#20 Sing, Sing, Sing by Chris Tomlin

Grandma Nairn's obituray is in the Seattle Times & Everett Herald today

Maude Margaret Kelley Nairn
March 9, 1919–Aug. 30, 2009

Maude was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 9, 1919 the daughter of Elizabeth and Arthur Kelley. She grew up in Westfield, New Jersey and went on to attend Duke University where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and graduated with a degree in Spanish. She then moved back to New Jersey and commuted into New York City where she worked for AT&T. When World War II began, she participated in several USO activities, including attending dances. It was at one of these dances that she met and was swept off her feet by a young soldier from Washington. They corresponded while he was in Europe and when he returned they became engaged. Maude moved to the west coast and married Neil on June 27, 1946 in Everett, WA. They were married for 61 years.

When newly married, Maude worked for Pacific Northwest Bell in Seattle, WA. After taking time off to raise her two daughters she went to work for the Seattle Public Schools as a school secretary, primarily at View Ridge Elementary. She retired in 1978 after 18 years of service. Maude and Neil traveled extensively, including trips to Europe, Africa, South America, and Australia, as well as areas of the United States. They spent many wonderful weekends at their beloved cabin on Lake Cavanaugh. She also loved to read, knit and play bridge in addition to participating in various volunteer activities through out her life. She was a long time member of University Presbyterian Church.

Maude was preceded in death by her husband Neil.
She is survived by her brother, Robert Kelley, of Virginia; her daughters, Barbara (Bruce) Kennedy and Elizabeth (Jon) Schneidler; her granddaughters, Jessica Albright Rodriguez, Suzanne Kennedy Hunter, and Renae Kennedy; and her great-grandsons, Shaun Hunter and Antonio Rodriguez. She also leaves numerous nieces and nephews and many friends from the old neighborhood in Lake City and the new neighborhood at Chateau Pacific. She is dearly loved and deeply missed.

A memorial service to celebrate Maude's life will be held at 2:00 p.m., on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at Acacia Funeral Home Chapel, 14951 Bothell Way NE, Seattle. A reception will follow.
A gift in Maude's name may be made to the American Cancer Society, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation or a charity of your choice.

Voice of Truth

I have been listening to and reading these lyrics because we are Facing the Giants....again. You should hear the song playing too as you read it.

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Busy month!

Bill working
Bill did another 4 days of his “2 week” duty at the base in Everett. He continued helping do research and interviews. His trip to Wyoming was cancelled, but he still went to Montana. He got to see some old friends too!

Renae babysitting
Renae continued on to her 2nd week of watching Shaun while Bill worked. Thankfully it was cooler, so they were not roasting alive. The first week was in the 90s and 100s, the second week was mostly in the 70s!! Yay!

8 is Great!
We were able to go out to dinner, just the 2 of us on our 8th wedding anniversary, on August 4th. Renae was with us, and she volunteered to watch Shaun in the evening too so we could go out. What a good sister and Aunt!! Love you Renae!

Shaun is a year and a half, or18 months old!!! He went to the doctor for his well check up a couple weeks before in July. I forgot to post his stats last month, so here they are:
Height: 2' 11", 99 percentile
Weight: 24 pounds 10oz, 36 percentile
Head: 51cm, 99 percentile

First dentist visit
Shaun survived his first dentist visit! He laid on my lap while the dentist looked in his mouth at his teeth and brushed a toothbrush over them and also applied a fluoride gel. He cried a little bit, but before hand the lady said not to worry because a lot of little ones cry a lot. Plus, it made his mouth stay open, so the dentist could look in easily! He said his teeth look great. He has 16 out of 20 of them in various stages of coming in, pretty much right on track. He doesn't have to go back in for another year, and then he starts every 6 months like us. It is a nice children's dentist. A couple of my coworker's kids go there and they say they look forward to it, if you can believe that! :)

Shaun and Daddy started going back to story time at the library. This time it is the toddler story time instead of the baby story time. My boy is growing up! They read stories, sing songs and get a stamp on their hand (toddler’s at least!)

Sad news. My Grandma Nairn passed away on Sunday, August 30, 2009. She was 90 years old. She was diagnosed with cancer in about May or June and then since she got weaker, moved from her retirement home apartment to an adult family home under hospice care. We knew the end of her life on earth was coming sometime soon, but it is still a big shock when it actually happens, especially when it was even quicker than we thought. I’m just grateful, that she led a long and mostly healthy life! We last went to see her 4 days before she passed when Shaun and I gave her the collage. I’m glad she got to enjoy it for her last 4 days.
We also went and visited my Grandma Kennedy. I was going to post some of the good pictures I took of this visit, but something happened when I was downloading them off the camera and “poof” they were gone. I shed some tears over that one too (because you never know if there is going to be another chance), but we are just going to have to get back for another visit really soon to take some more! And, I will be copying pictures off the camera instead of “cutting” them to ensure they don’t get lost from now on!! Lesson learned!

DMV Renewers Beware

Got this message at work today. Washington residents beware if renewing your driver license online...

Overview
Reported suspicious third party DMV websites which may affect individual Washington residents.

What has happened?
The websites in question appear to be functioning as an intermediary for State DMV transactions and are collecting State DMV registration renewal information such as credit card information, first and last names, addresses, and driver license numbers from visitors. The website may prompt the recipient to provide excessive personal information such as social security number, bank account number or driver license number which may not be required for these transactions.

What should I do?
We recommend when doing business with DOL that you use their official site http://www.dol.wa.gov/ and if you have questions with any information they are requesting contact DOL directly http://www.dol.wa.gov/contact.html.

Collage for Grandma!

I printed a collage at Costco for my Grandma so she can enjoy seeing her Great Grandsons everyday! I will be delivering it to her framed soon! She has cancer and doesn't have too much time left with us.

Failing to remit taxes can hurt!

As many of you know, I am an auditor for the Washington State Department of Revenue. My fellow coworkers and I audit businesses to make sure they remit the sales tax they collect from you, among other taxes.

Well, one of my fellow coworker’s taxpayer is being criminally charged with multiple felonies for failing to remit $850,000 of sales tax and could face some prison time and fines, good job Ron! You don’t want the sales tax you are paying to be pocketed by the business, do you? (Normally audits don’t go criminal unless there is a lot of money involved and/or evidence that there is fraud, etc.) The case just went public this week, one article is below:

Marysville Drywaller Charged with Tax Fraud
by Mike Gowrylow, Lake Stevens Journal, KING 5, KIRO 7
August 18, 2009

Everett, Wash., Aug. 17, 2009 — The owner of Marysville-based Master’s Touch Drywall was charged today with stealing nearly all the sales tax he collected on jobs between 2003 and 2008.

Mark D. Standley, 53, was charged in Snohomish County Superior Court with multiple felony counts of first-degree theft, and filing false tax returns.

Standley is accused of reporting less than one half of one percent of more than $10 million in gross revenue he generated on drywall jobs between 2003 and 2008, and remitting to the state less than $3,000 of the nearly $855,000 in sales tax he collected from customers on those projects.

The charges were brought by the Financial Crimes Unit of the Attorney General’s Office at the request of the Washington State Department of Revenue.

An investigation initiated by the Department into the company’s business activities found that it had filed multiple tax returns indicating no business activity when in fact it had generated substantial income, possibly even more than the $10.1 million that has been identified so far.

Standley’s alleged thefts were so large and carefully planned that they constitute a major economic offense, according to the charging papers. If he is convicted of such aggravating circumstances, a judge could impose a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

The Shack

I strongly suggest that you read "The Shack" by William P. Young. I just finished reading it and highly recommend it! See the brief plot at the left in the image. I am also encouraging you to buy it because it is a Christian book about faith, because of the story behind the book, and that they want to turn it into a feature film in the future after they get enough revenue from sales of the book. Below I have included a summary of "The Story behind THE SHACK" included at the end of the book:

2004 left William P. Young almost destitute, having lost a home, vehicles and much of his stuff. God had to dismantle and rebuild his entire life from scratch. He hoped and prayed that 2005 would be better. He had a long commute on a train which allowed him to start working on a project that his wife had been pestering him about for 10 years. She said, "The way you think about things is a little unusual and it would be wonderful for the kids to have some of that in writing."

William did not set out to write a book, let alone have it published. He had written a few poems, songs and some family newsletters, but no books. His goal was to write something, trot down to Kinko's, print it and give it as a gift to his kids at Christmas. He started out writing something that he thought was too boring, so started over. He started over with what he did have, conversations between him and God, some that included family and friends. He became inspired. He would wake up and write things down before he forgot them. Finally he decided to type up his notes. He decided to turn his conversations with God into a story. He wanted his children to enjoy a story and through that medium to better understand their own dad and the God he is so in love with.

The story is fiction. However, the emotional pain with all its intensity and the process that tears into the character's heart and soul are very real. William has his shack, the place he had to go through to find healing. The conversations are very real and true. The actual particulars are fiction, but the depth of the pain is the same.

The pain, the loss, the grief, the process, the conversations, the questions, the anger, the longing, the secrets, the lies, the forgiveness - all real, all true. The story in particular is fiction, but then there is God who emerges so very real, unexpected and yet not unexpected, but surprising, and certainly he is true.

William finished the first part in mid August 2005. He sent it to a few friends. He was totally surprised. Somehow his little story was able to sneak past people's defenses and right into their hearts. That was part 1.

Part 2: He felt a prompting to email the manuscript to a man he knew, who was an author. He did not expect to hear back from him because he knew he was really busy (and it probably was not very good), but he informed him only a few days later that he could not print the pages fast enough. He was shocked.

There were areas that still needed work, so he started on his list of rewriting tasks. For the next 16 months, he and his new "teammates" wrote and rewrote chapters of The Shack, dropping about forty percent of the dialogue, augmenting the story line, and recrafting the conversations to eliminate misunderstandings.

Originally they tried to find a publisher, but each had their reason why The Shack was not a book they wanted, or they asked for substantive changes that they felt diminished the story. So, in May 2007, Windblown Media was born and The Shack was published as its first original title.

Part 3: That is where we are today. We each play an important role. As you read the story, they pray that God will touch your heart and open up places where you might be stuck, and help you see the way he loves you in richer and deeper tones and colors and sounds. They believe that this book is a gift to you.

Their dream is to sell enough copies of this book to open the door for a feature film that the world would want to see and that will present an accurate understanding of God's character and nature to a world that longs in the deepest places of their hearts for such a God.

Duty, Babies, Play Dates & HOT WEATHER!!!

Jury Duty
Bill had Jury duty the week after the 4th of July weekend. Monday through Wednesday he called and didn’t have to go in at all. Thursday morning he had to go in for just the morning. He got selected for a trial, but then the trial didn’t happen so he got to go home. Luckily Aunt Renae came up Wednesday evening and watched Shaun during Thursday morning. He got his big $18 check for "serving".

Babies
July has been all about newborn babies! I know 3 babies born this month! First, was my cousin, Jessica’s baby boy, Antonio! Born, July 11th, weighing a whopping 9 pounds 15 ounces!!! This is the 2nd member of Shaun’s generation in my family. We are all looking forward to the future when they can play and grow up together! So far it’s all about the boys (there were only girls in my generation)!!

Antonio on his birth day & Shaun (& Me)

Antonio Thomas; 8 days old

Next, was my friend Tanya from college. She had her 3rd boy in just over 3 years! Wyatt was born on July 19th. I see much craziness in her future!!!

Weston (18m), Wayne (3yrs) & Wyatt

Last, but not least, was Brooke, born to my long time friend, Serina. She was born on July 22, and is welcomed by big brother Spencer.

Brooke; 3 days old

Playdates
Spencer and Shaun also had 2 play dates this month. The first was before Brooke was born. Spencer is 6 months older than Shaun. The boys had a good time playing in the sprinkler and sand box in their backyard. The second play date was when we went to meet Brooke. I think Spencer still doesn’t realize that he has a little sister and how gentle he needs to be around her, but what can you expect from an almost 2 year old?

Golf, croquet, lawn bowling...???

MMMmmm Oreos..!!!

Navy duty
Bill has done part of his Navy “2 week” duty this month. He worked in the Legal office on the Everett base, Monday-Thursday this past week. He got to do some interviewing and research for the defense on a case coming up. Aunt Renae has been staying with us to watch Shaun during the day! They have been out to parks and visiting Great Grandma this week. Today, Friday Bill left for Spokane to do his weekend duty. He is actually going to be doing 3 “weekend duties” in August because he had to take over 2 trips from his coworkers for various reasons and do his own that he was already scheduled for. But, hopefully it gives him some “brownie points” with the officers for being willing to do so many weekends in a row! He skipped his July weekend knowing that these extra weekends were coming up. The 2nd two weekends he travels to Wyoming and Montana. I think he will be tuckered out after all this duty!

HOT
This is not news to all of you here in western Washington, but it has been HOT this past week, reaching 103 officially at Seatac!!!!! That is an all time record for the Seattle area. They have been recording temps since about 1890! This would not be so bad, but we do not have AC, so our house got up to 95 in the evening, and was still at 85 in the morning. Let’s just say we are melting……. Wednesday night we went to the mall to be in a place with AC and we happened upon a new shipment of air conditioners at Sears. There was a line forming for when the truck came, so we decided to get in line; we were in air conditioning anyway! To sum it up, we got a portable air conditioner after waiting in line for about 3 hours!!! It was well worth the wait and the few hundred dollars it cost. At least now our bedroom area is not sweltering when we are trying to sleep. Wednesday was the hottest at 103, with it being in the 90s and upper 80s since. Mid week next week it is even supposed to be in the 70s!!! I can’t wait!!!!

Graduation, baby showers, and gathering with friends!

We had some fun in June. I'll let the pictures do the "talking" with some captions...

Play group pool party in the heat!

The boys (Shaun, Dad & Grandpa) went and watched some old German planes fly.

Baby Showers!

My friend, Serina, for her baby girl; due about 7/25

My one and only cousin Jessica, for her baby boy; due about 7/19

Visiting Great Grandma Nairn at her new adult family home. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer and got too weak to stay at her apartment anymore.

Before Bill's graduation ceremony

Video of Bill receiving his "diploma"

Gathering with Kristen, Jill and our 5 kiddos (college friends) who I don't see all that often. We last got together almost 2 years ago and there were only 2 kiddos (well 3 if you count Shaun in my tummy!)

Our 5 kiddos

Jill with her 2, Tyler (2.5) & Ashleigh (1)

Kristen with her 2, Eli (3.5) & Aden (almost 1!)

Swimming & First trip to the zoo!

Swimming
We started swimming lessons this month! The first day Shaun cried a lot and got really cold. So, the next time we put him in a swim shirt too and he did much better. We sing songs, play and have fun getting used to the water. I go in the water with him on Tuesdays and Bill on Thursdays.

No more bottles!
We are officially done with bottles! I decided to one day just start giving Shaun milk in a new sippy cup at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he does great! He has used a sippy cup to drink water for awhile now, but not milk. He just recently had a month or so where he refused to hold the cup himself. So, I decided to get a different style of sippy cup and never hold it for him. He caught back on really fast! He is also down to one nap a day now. He usually gets up sometime between 6-8am, takes a 2-3 hour nap at about 1pm and then goes to bed at 8pm.

Bill to Portland & San Antonio
Bill travelled out of state twice this month. First was for the unit’s first “Mobex” of the season. Starting in May and going through August or September, one officer and one LN travel to a city in the Northwest region that has requested legal help with wills, etc for their unit. Portland was the first city on Bill’s list. Then, 2 weeks later, they had their annual LN conference, this year held in San Antonio, TX. He reported it was boring like usual, but fun in the social aspect. He gets to see other LNs from around the country. It was an extended 4 day weekend, one extra day for travel and one extra day for the conference. I enjoyed the extra time with Shaun, but also still working when he was sleeping. Bill’s next Mobex’s are to Spokane and Helena, MT, both in August. His Alaska Mobex for June was cancelled. He will get to take June off because he worked twice in May.

Mom’s Day
My 2nd Mommy’s day was great! I thank God everyday for the privilege of being a mom! I got some beautiful flowers a couple days before hand. Then on the day, I got 3 cards: one from Shaun, one from Abby, and one from Bill. I also got a new crockpot. A few months ago I had started using a hand me down crockpot that has been sitting in our cupboard for several years because I wanted to make some new meals. I have enjoyed using it, so Bill got me a more modern one!

Starting lake travels
We started our weekly trips to the lake on Memorial Day weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend. I don’t think we have had a Memorial Day weekend like that in years!

Zoo!
We took Shaun to the zoo for the first time on Memorial Day. Shaun loved it! He said a lot of “ooohs” while looking at all the animals. We got there not long after they opened, which was a good thing because it got pretty crowded by the time we left about 2pm. Shaun was barely hanging on because he was past due for a nap. He made it home without following asleep, and then slept until almost 5:30. I went in to wake him up to make sure that he would sleep that night.

Easter & the Ocean

The two happenings this month were Easter and our annual trip to the ocean. We had a nice time celebrating Easter. Shaun was dressed up in his first tie!!! I think he was so handsome! He also said his first word: puppy! Everything is puppy, puppy, puppy!

Our trip to the ocean was fun. The weather was okay, not the best as it has ever been, but it only sprinkled for a tiny bit on one day. It was bright and sunny on Friday, but really windy, so cold. We were all bundled up on the beach. Saturday was cloudy and windy, but Sunday was not very windy at all, the warmest day. Shaun loved toddling on the beach and playing in the sand. He loved looking up at the kites. All of the dogs and kites really fascinated him. Shaun even slept pretty good in his play yard (travel bed). We were kind of nervous about how sleeping and naps would go, but I think it could have been a lot worse. Friday, he slept for about 2 hours on the drive there. It was a bit early for nap, but it worked and he wasn’t even ready for bed early. He slept really good both nights, sleeping until at least 6am. That is not quite as good as at home, but I will take it!

It’s official, Bill has his degree. He got it in the mail this past weekend:

Swingin’ at the park video:

More pictures linked at the right under April 2009.

Next month we are starting swim lessons!!!