Who is looking?

I know we are all guilty of it. At least once. Maybe more. Sometimes the urge to "blog-stock" is irresistible. There are so many other reasons as well: boredom, genuine interest/concern, clever ideas, posts or recipes. The list goes on and on.

If you are a reputable person who intends no ill will and you blog stock The Davis Details, it doesn't bother me. I mean of course who doesn't want to have their posts overflowing with comments as reinforcement to their heartfelt gibber jabber. I'd be lying if I said I didn't glow with joy when my post hits double-digit comments status-which is rare. But if you wish to remain anonymous, that is okay, too.

What is killing me are the visits from other countries. My curiosity is at an all time high and I wonder; who are you nameless stockers? I know your country but I don't know you. How did you stumble upon The Davis Details? Was it intentional or did you find me though a search gone wrong?

These are the countries that have visited me lately. (My Widget is a very good tracker.)
Australia
Germany
United Arab Emirates
The United Kingdom
India
Greece
Algeria
France
Italy
Sweden
Wouldn't you be curious to know what countries are looking at your blog?

Miracle

I can't even believe that I am about to type these words. I feel like at any moment I will wake up and find that the phone call I just answered was only a dream.

Miracles do happen.
God exists and is aware of us and all of our situations.
God allows us to go through trials to grow and stretch and think and evaluate our priorities.
Trials can be stumbling blocks that ruin our lives or stepping stones that lead us to a new level of life.

Kai met with his doctor today.
She said it looks like his brain reset itself. It looks 99% better that the last MRI.
The blood vessels are beautiful.
The only thing she can see in his brain is a slight scar from Kai's seizures.

His brain is fine and the doctor has no idea as to why.

I know why though and so do you.
Because God hears and answers prayers.

Thank you to all of you who prayed and fasted and put Kai's name in the temple. Thank you to all of you who supported us in so many different ways through this difficult time.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

New Info

Kai had two additional MRI's added to hi schedule tomorrow.
Agenda:
Sleep deprived EEG
Blood Work
3 MRI's

We are hoping that he can arrange to have the EEG and MRI's dictated by Friday because so far the plan is for them to have their follow up appt on Monday- this looks like it will take awhile.

This is baby Charlie- he is our good news for the day!

Update three

Kai finally got his insurance and the Mayo clinic to work together- unfortunately the soonest he can begin testing is tomorrow.

That means two days in AZ doing nothing but waiting. Frustrating for the wife in NV. But at least things are getting done.

Tomorrow's agenda:
EEG
Blood work
MRI

Just so you know, even though Kai's condition is quite serious he feels just fine and is in good spirits as well as good hands. To look at him you'd never know he had a problem.

I am okay, too. Through all of this I have learned not to speculate or guess at causes because we don't know until we know. I have also learned to save my worry for when it can actually do some good- if worry can ever do any good. Once we get a diagnosis, then We'll know what direction to take. Being close to my Heavenly Father has helped tremendously.

Thank you to all of you wonderful people who offered your AZ homes to us. Thank you to John and Jayme Dosdall who wanted to see their names specifically thanked in my blog. Kai is having a great time reliving his college days with his old roomie Bobo. Thank you to Lana for talking to the insurance co. Thank you to all of the people who have donated their time and money and prayers to help us.

In happy news: Kai and I got a new nephew today.
Little Charlie was born to Ben and Amanda Davis this morning.
I can't wait to meet him and hold him.

Update Numero Dos

Well, really there isn't anything to update. Our insurance hasn't called the Mayo clinic back to pre- auth the MRI's. Don't you love insurance?

The Mayo clinic called them yesterday- no call was returned.

Kai called them three times this morning- no luck.

Kai is upset thinking he might spend a whole day in Arizona doing nothing because his insurance won't call the Mayo clinic back. Looks like because of them he may be in Arizona longer than 5 days.

THANK YOU for the kind posts and words of support and love. You have no idea how comforting it is to hear and know that you guys are thinking about us and praying for us. You are all great!

Update Numero Uno

Mayo Clinic. Scottsdale, Arizona.

Dr. Noe says Kai's MRI is very abnormal and says time is not on our side. The swelling in Kai's brain is of serious concern. At any moment Kai could have a stroke that alters his health quite severely.

If our insurance approves three new MRI's they will happen as early as this afternoon.

Tests to follow- for lack of the scientific name- a catheter test that pushes dye (and electrodes?) up near his heart. Dr. Noe says this is the gold standard of tests and should tell them what they need to know. If this is unsuccessful, a brain tissue biopsy is not off the table.

Other tests to be performed: EEG, spinal tap, blood work.

We are thankful to finally have a doctor that seems as concerned about Kai's health as we are.

I was unable to go with Kai on his journey for various reasons. His Dad went with him. I feel helpless here. I hope to join him later on in the week.

MAYO

Last minute.
That describes our trip tomorrow morning. This appointment has been on the calendar for months, but mostly as a precaution. As a last resort. As a "its there just in case we need it."

Thursday Kai decided that we did indeed need to keep our appointment at the Scottsdale, Arizona Mayo Clinic. It is a top notch neurology center and we pray that it will give us answers.

I have spent the last two days scrambling to get everything in order. Our sweet little babies will not be going with us. My parents were kind enough to schedule a trip to the great desert to tend them while we are away. I've never been away from them before so this feels kind of weird. I think when I return my mother may have a new appreciation for my skill with My eldest daughter's hair.

We have been told to expect to be there "no less than five days." I hope (if there was a stronger word I would use it- what is stronger than hope?) they can figure out what is going on with Kai so we can treat it or cure it and move on with our lives.

This has been so taxing. Thank you to all of you who have helped us through thus far.

Where is love lurking . . .

Despite What Hollywood may say, I don't think on one's death bed one would pridefully pull a tally card out of their pocket about how many one night stands they may have had. Many may claim they enjoy the freedom of being a bachelor or bachelorette or the thrill of the chase, but deep down I think it is human nature to not only desire to be loved but to love something in return. Feminists may hate me, but for a man and a woman to belong to each other, to form something unbreakable and solid; to create a family that only they can claim- now that is something special. I am not saying that marriage is never hard, but when love is nourished in the bounds of matrimony magic begins to unfold.

Now where is love lurking these days and how do you find "the one?" Is it in college or a bar? At church or at a club? At the grocery store or the gym? Or could it be on the Internet . . .? Every time I open my email there is a picture in the left hand corner asking me if I want to find hot singles in my area. They must not know that I have already found "my one." Nevertheless, I have known an increasing number of people who have found their match on an Internet dating site.

My brother, Sean, is such a one. He has met his match. A blond named, Shannon. She is everything he never knew he always wanted. She completes him in away that we didn't think was possible. As their love story plays out, we are sure that marriage is on the horizon and we have an Internet dating site to thank.

Does this mean that old fashioned meet Mr. Right at a friend's party has flown out the window? No, it just means the big old world has gotten a lot smaller and your next date may be just a key stroke away.

More blood

Kai had a Doctor's appointment with the neurologist yesterday. No new news it seems. We still have to see a rheumetologist to decide if Lupus is his condition. A whole new round of blood work has been ordered and a brain tissue biopsy is inching itself closer and closer into the picture. He will need an MRI in March to see if his brain looks any different ans we are scheduled for the Mayo clinic for later this month.

Many of you have spoiled us with more than we deserve and I don't know how to say thank you. So much of you have given and blessed our lives. I hope you know how much your kindness and gifts of all kinds have meant to us. Some was given in secret and some was given with kind greetings and well wishes. We just hope that someday we can pay it all forward.

We didn't send out any Christmas cards but I want you to know how much we loved getting yours. It was one of the high lights of our holiday to get exciting mail. Thank you so, so, so much. For all we have been given those words don't seem adequate enough.

Another Sad Day

Before I explain the following heartbreak, breathe a sigh of relief because it has nothing to do with my dear husband's health.

This morning welcomed me with heartbreak and heavy sadness. I have had my suspicions for a few days now and today my fears were realized. Good-bye imagined youth. Good-bye 20 year old image of myself. I must lay you to rest with a final farewell. It is time . . . that I . . .embrace the full maturity of adulthood. I don't even know if I can say it . . .(big sigh) . . . I found a grey hair. Four of them. I plucked them all out so that I could get a closer look to confirm their ghastly color. If any of you tell me that two will grow back for every strand I pulled you might loose an eye. I blame it on Kai and his medical crisis for causing such complete stress in my life . . .but it doesn't make me feel any better.


The whole day wasn't a total loss however. In fact just as I was about to despair Kai called me and told me their was a gift waiting outside my front door. I asked if it was from him and he said no.
This is what I saw:
Several white plastic forks sticking out of my lawn with a note saying "You've just been forked!" Now, I have been toilet papered and heart attacked, but being forked was a first for me. And surprisingly, it made my day. I teach the young women in my ward on Sundays at church- ages 12-18. This little lovely gift was from them and this is the note the left "forked" to the grass.

I don't think the girls know I have a blog so this second thank you will fall on deaf virtual ears, but this sweet note really touched my heart. The fact that they would take the time to be all sneaky and stick plastic forks into the hard earth really was such a nice message to send. I love them!

Results from Spinal Tap

I feel like we are just as far away as ever from finding an answer and boy is it getting old!
Kai spoke with his Doctor this evening and he said the results come back showing signs of lupus, but he isn't convinced that it could be lupus because Kai has NO symptoms whatsoever of lupus. The Dr. said he will need to see a rheumatologist to make the lupus call. The doctor also said that according to Kai's spinal tap his body is making all sorts of antibodies to diseases/illnesses that Kai doesn't have. Weird.

Thank you to all the people who continue to bless us. We had a wonderful Christmas thanks to many people around this little town of ours. You know who you are even if we don't know who you are:). Thank you!!!

Indoor Tanners of the World Unite

I saw this on the Yahoo News about the Senate's new he health care bill that passed.

"Indoor tanning. Beginning in 2010, there would be an additional 10 percent tax on the cost of indoor tanning services, to help pay for health reform. No kidding. The House bill contains no such provision. Yet."

Another provision is mandatory insurance. I do think it is good to have health care insurance, but for the first time in the history of America you will have to own/purchase something to be in accordance with the law- to be legal. That doesn't sound American to me. I was under the impression we were free to choose our lot in life.

Sorry, I couldn't stay away from politics forever.

Spinal Tap

Kai had his spinal tap yesterday and all his worrying turned out to be for naught. The nurse performed the procedure with excellent skill. He didn't feel any pain except for the slight pinching of the numbing shots. He has had to lay down flat for 24 hours- he still has an hour to go. He was only sad that it wasn't New Year's day so that he had an excuse to lay around and watch football all day.

We should know something in a couple of days. I am praying that this test will give us some answers because I don't want to do anymore!

Merry Christmas to all! I promise next year we will give out neighbor/friend gifts and send Christmas cards . . .it just isn't happening this year! Thank you to all of you who have made our Christmas feel special with gifts and goodies and Christmas cards. We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. We have seen the hand of God through your love and kindness.

Meet Ginormica, the Conifer

Upon entering our humble abode one might be forced to stifle a chuckle or disguise the look of surprise in one's eye at the sheer sight of our Christmas tree. It's mass no doubt is out of proportion with our small living room and thankfully we have vaulted ceiling to adjust for the tree's height of almost 9 feet. It is not so much the height that is astounding. Many people have trees that are much taller. In our case it is the width that adds to the overall presence of our beautiful evergreen. From left to right it is almost 6 feet across ( I measured.) The tree easily takes up a forth of our living room making it quite cozy indeed. (the pictures really just don't do it justice.)
We have enjoyed having our beautiful forest tree decorated and watching it twinkle with festive lights and the squirrel family that finds refuge in it's thick branches have finally provided pets for my children. We really do love it and are thankful to Amanda and Matt for bringing it to our home.
Here's to you Ginormica- Merry Christmas!

When we visit my family for Christmas my Grandma usually invites us to her house to decorate gingerbread houses. We love doing this and we love spending time with her. When she heard we would be unable to visit this year because of Kai's medical issues and doctor's appointments she decided to send the activity to us. This year it was gingerbread men. It was so wonderful to do because the tension in our house had been so high and the kids really needed something fun and messy to do. Thank you Grandma- this was exactly the kind of thing my kids needed. even Malachi got it on the action.

Some dear friend's that we made in Hawaii Fedexed Kai some ice cream for his birthday. I already told you that story. What I didn't tell you was that they used dry ice to keep the ice cream nice and cold for the long journey between Ohio and Nevada.

Dry ice is a wonderful toy.

Finally, Kai's brother Ben and Amanda brought Kai a nice yummy cake for his birthday. It is his favorite and it was very nice. Now only one thing is left unfulfilled. Every year since Cambria was born we have given a snow globe to Kai for his birthday. He loves them and it has been a fun tradition. The only problem is this year that has yet to be done. I haven't been able to find any worth buying at the small selection of stores we have in our area. If any one has seen a good snow globe- let me know where you saw it so I can get one for Kai for Christmas. Target, Costco, a Hallmark store? There has got to be a good one out there somewhere!

As I mentioned before . . . Kai's spinal tap is scheduled for Tuesday morning. I hope we will finally have answers.

Spinal Tap has been Scheduled

I am getting so tired of writing about medical stuff. I hope with a fervent hope that this spinal tap scheduled for this coming Tuesday will finally give us the answers we need so that we can treat whatever is wrong and move on. Well, in a sense Kai has moved on. He is feeling great on this new medication and he is back to work and coaching basketball. So much so that my kids will go a day or two with out seeing him because he is gone before they wake up and gets home long after they are sleeping. Sometimes I feel like a secretary on a payroll organizing all his medical appointments and coordinating with doctors:)

From what we hear spinal taps are unpleasant and we are hoping that come Christmas morning Kai will feel as good as he has been feeling.

Thank you, as always for continuing in prayer and acts of kindness in word and deed. We have been blessed much through family, church members and members of the community. Thank you a million times over.

I promised my mom I would take a picture of our abnormally large Xmas tree brought to us by Kai's sweet cousin Amanda and her husband. So the next post will be about our big tree Ginormica.

This week's doctors visits . . .

We love the new Dr. we saw in Vegas this week. Dr. Bangalore was amazing. He spent three hours with us trying to understand every one of Kai's symptoms and making sure we understood everything he was saying. He was even very optimistic about treatment saying that Kai might just need to stay on KEPPRA for a year and then we could wean him off in the hospital and see if anything happened.

Then he looked at the MRI.
He was much more serious after that.
Kai definitely has an abnormal MRI with very strange flairs on his brain that mimic MS, but are in all the wrong spots for MS.
The most confusing thing . . .Kai looks healthy. Not sickly.

Dr. Bangalore wants to do a spinal tap in the next two weeks (as soon as our insurance company gives us the go ahead). He says the spinal fluid is like the brains sewer system and anything that happened in the brain gets dumped into the fluid. It should be able to tell us what is going on. He says our next step would be a PET scan. He also ordered a whole new array of blood work to be done (we actually did it yesterday) in search for a virus that might of caused this problem.

We are happy to postpone the brain tissue biopsy.

We have an appointment for the Mayo clinic in the latter part of January. Thank you to all of you wonderful Arizona people who offered your homes to us. We haven't quite decided what we are going to do. Our insurance doesn't cover the Mayo clinic so life may get interesting.

Kai hasn't been back to work since last Monday. He feels better but he still tires easily.
He can't drive for three months from November 30Th, the date of his last episode. This drives him nuts just as much as being mostly home bound.

Thank you again for the prayers and gifts and phone calls and dinners and other support. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many who are willing to give. I know without a doubt there are angels among us.

Waiting . . .

The worst part is waiting . . .waiting to see if a seizure will break through the meds again, waiting for the doctor to call, waiting for the day of your appointment, waiting to hear a diagnosis . . .waiting . . .and wondering.

Once again may I start with my gratitude for the outpouring of love and well wishes and call and comments and visits and dinners and babysitters and fasting. We are truly humbled by it all. You all have truly been a blessing in this time of test and trial. We "celebrated" Kai's 32 birthday on Friday. (I took him to see The Blind Side- great movie.) We have some wonderful friends and family members who made this day special. The Christensen's even FedExed Kai Ben and Jerry's from Ohio. That was a first and it put a wonderful smile on his face to feel of that friendship. I think the hardest thing for Kai has been the down time and the monotony of it all. Thank you for bringing him some happiness.

The new medicine Kai has been taking has been great. Though he still tires easily he is no longer sleeping all the time and it feels like he is back among the living. He even went to work today. I made him ask his dad to go with him just in case. Poor Jim, He hasn't been to high school in many moons. I hope he can stay awake. He is to be Kai's shadow all day.

As far as answers go, tomorrow we have phone conference with a doctor in Texas. Wednesday we see a doctor in Vegas . . . hopefully we can put a name to Kai's condition because the unknown is very hard to deal with.

Fast and Prayer

We are having a ward fast for Kai on Sunday. I know some of you have already fasted for him and I thank you. We would be honored if any of you would join our fast this Sunday, Dec. 6 for Kai's health and well being.

Kai's birhtday is Friday, December 4th.

MRI

The MRI revealed "flares" in Kai's brain. The Dr. says "they are signal changes in the brain tissue suggestive of inflammation of veins or nerves." The flares occur on both sides of his brain. I saw the pictures. They look like bright spots of light.

He also said "this is strange enough to call in the big guns." I guess the pictures looked similar to MS but MS usually shows in the center of his brain and these flares were mostly around the edges of his brain (if you were looking down at his brain from the top of his head.) He threw around names of some possible diagnosis' but i would prefer not to speculate.

He has referred us to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ so that they can do a biopsy of his brain tissue.

EEG

I can't tell you all how much your sweet comments and thoughts and prayers and everything else that you all have done for us mean to me. From the bottom of my heart I thank you.


Unfortunately the EEG gave us no results and we are scheduled for and MRI on Friday, Kai's birthday.

He had his worst seizure so far this afternoon. I will spare the details because I think they would embarrass him. It was bad enough for him to have this particular seizure, but after it was over he could speak. He sounded like a drunken mumbler. He kept trying to talk but it was all a jumble. He has always been fine right after a seizure. This time was different.

I wish I had better news. At least it isn't life threatening, but it sure is life altering.

I just wrote this in a letter to Kai's sweet cousin and though I would share it with anyone else who is wondering . . .


It has been a crazy week. Kai got some medication that stopped the seizures but knocked him out. He slept all week. We went for the EEG on Tues or Wed . . . I can't really remember - all the days are blurred together. We won't see the neurologist until tomorrow morning at 10:45. Hopefully we'll know more by then. I wish I had more answers. On a more positive note, he was up and about yesterday and today feeling slightly more like himself. Still he tires easily, has really bad headaches and even though he isn't having seizures heis still experiences some weird sensations that used to occur right before he had seizures.

Yesterday

Kai had four seizures yesterday. It was the first time I have ever called 911. He was incoherent for all of them and it scared me to death.

Tomorrow we go for an EEG and an appt with a neurologist. Hopefully we will know something at the conclusion of our visit.

He seems perfectly fine after the seizures. His vitals are good. His life is not threatened.
He is now on seizure meds and sleeping a lot. It is a good thing.

We have had lots of help and even more offers for help and we want you all to know how much your comments and phone calls and outpouring of love has meant to us. Instead of feeling abandoned by God we have felt him carry us every step of the way.

Please continue keep himin your prayers.

The Best ER So Far

I have spent a lot of time in the ER with my seemingly perfectly healthy husband. Broken fingers, surfing accidents, slip-n-sliding accidents, dehydration due to fasting and then catching the stomach flu. I would trade all of those at the same time for what we experienced yesterday.

At 9 AM right before our Saturday morning ritual of Ultimate Frisbee began, Kai's left arm begun to shake. This was accompanied by a mental block that we have labeled a "stupor of thought." He was well aware of all that was going on around him but he was unable to form a coherent sentence and didn't have a clear focus of thought and he could not utter many words. His face seemed to be frozen. Not in a contorted way, but just still. He didn't tell me about this episode that lasted for about a minute. In fact he felt fit as a fiddle as soon as his hand stopped shaking and commenced playing ultimate Frisbee.

An hour later he passed by me after some one had scored a goal and told me to hold his hand. He was clutching his left arm at the wrist. I didn't understand him. I asked if he was hurt. He didn't answer. I asked if he had hurt his wrist. He didn't answer. He again told me to hold his hand. I grabbed it and realized that it was shaking quite intensely. His left hand was having a seizure. I held it as tightly as I could too. . . I don't know why . . . to stop the shaking I guess. But I was unable to do so.

He had two more scary episodes like that before 5PM and one of the scariest happened in Walmart. His arm was again shaking and his head pulled down and to the left as well and he began to panic. He says his biggest regret was leaving a carton of Ben and Jerry's Half baked Ice cream in the grocery cart along with the rest of the unpaid items. It was on sale.

We went to the ER in St. George. The waiting room was full but luckily he had an "episode" at the exact moment it was time for us to register. It pushed us to the head of the line and we were being seen back behind a curtain in less than 5 minutes.

He had 4 more episodes while we were in the ER.
They did lots of blood work and a CAT Scan.
This is what we know:
It is not a tumor.
It was not a stroke.
It is not a blood clot.
It is not a mass.
It is not diabetes.
It is not a liver or Kidney infection.

Unfortunately we do not know what it is. The doctor says it is a serious problem and he suspects it may be a seizure disorder or some kind of very strange migraine that causes the body to seize instead of creating a head ache.

He has been instructed to call our local Dr. to get him To schedule an EEG ASAP. Something is misfiring in his brain and they need to know what. He said we have a long road ahead of us. The doctor told him in jest that he shouldn't be swimming in the ocean anytime soon. This was the worst news of the day to Kai because his weekend was going to have been his surf trip for the holiday.

Kai is feeling fine otherwise. His vitals are strong and he recovers quickly after each episode. He is, however, extremely tired and slightly weak. Though, this morning his left leg also began to feel "strange" and weak. It shook only slightly. No where near as violent as his hand. It worries him. It worries me.

We had so many wonderful family members and amazing friends help us yesterday. To you I offer a thanks which I can never truly repay. If I didn't call you to let you know please don't take offense. The only people who knew were the 15 of us playing Frisbee. You can understand why I didn't have time to call and let you in on the news.

The doctors and nurses at Dixie in St. George were the best we have ever worked with in and ER in 4 different states. They were kind, humorous and very quick. I think we were only there for two hours. Maybe two and a half. Our Bishop was there. So was Cameron Klug, Beth and Igor Shelley. I told Kai, it was our fastest ER trip for our most serious problem.

We are not out of the woods. In fact I think we just started our longest hike. If you could remember Kai in your prayers we would be very grateful.

Ukus. Coaching and ears . . .

The very name can cause incessant panic and wide spread itching to occur simultaneously. I was around it once. In Hawaii. When I was a teacher. One day a cute little girl came to class missing her beautiful thick black hair. Her mother had shaved her head- and all of her sister's head's. She then pierced their ears herself using a needle and a potato so that one would not mistake her for a boy. I called CPS on them several times for various reasons. They didn't do a thing until two years later. Sigh . . . I digress. That is not the real story.

It would not have been on my top 20 lists of fears. I hadn't conceived of it yet to add it to my list. Especially not for my four year old. The one who doesn't go to school. At all. Yet I was brushing her hair back one afternoon and I saw it. A bug. Almost the same color as her strawberry hair. I thought. That is strange. Then I brushed her hair back some more and though I had never actually seen a live specimen before. I knew instantly what it was. It makes my gorge rise a bit in my throat now just to relive the event. Lice. How in the @#** did my four year old girl get lice? Kai went to the school to have Cambria's head checked. Luckily her hair is more like brown cement than fluffy strands of silky hair. I put so much styling product in her hair to control the curl that whatever lice tried to make her head their home probably died on impact. You could hold onto her hair in a hurricane.

Long story short . . . one of the neighbors who frequents our house had lice but not the decency to tell us. As soon as I found out that Kiera had lice I was weak with shame thing of how to tell all the kids that she plays with that we had a problem and they should keep themselves alert. If only the same courtesy could have been afforded to me.

I do not wish lice on any of you. I think it should require a quarantine. I did 21 loads of laundry ( oh yeah and my dryer broke half way between those loads- luckily we have a handy man friend because this wasn't the time for broken dryers). Vacuumed twice a day for two weeks (including every bed and every couch.) We still have a few pillows and toys stuffed in black plastic trash bags. It was a nightmare. One that drained me emotionally and physically. I do not wish lice on any of you. Ever.

In other less disgusting News . . .
Coach Davis and Coach Davis are now in the business of soccer. Kai and I have the opportunity to coach our little girls' soccer team. It has been so much fun to renew my old romance with the sport. Soccer is in my soul. So far Malachi has the best ball handling skills out of the three of our children. It makes me sad as I realize I never taught my girls how to kick. The soccer field never saw such comedy before. We won our first game 4-1. It was so exciting! To keep it real though, we lost our next game 1-6. Only time will tell where our coaching journey will take us.

Kai really make the BEST cookies. I think that is why I am not a skinny mini anymore (okay so I was never a skinny mini- but I had a nice figure at one point:)). He could give old Betty and Aunt Nestle a run for their money. This really has nothing to do with anything else. I just like this picture because my kids really like to congregate together and it makes me really happy.

In our most exciting news . . . My mother would be ashamed, but

The girls got their ears pierced. Cambria had been asking for about 6 months. We tried it with Cambria once but it only resulted in 30 minutes of sitting in the "piercing" chair crying because although she really wanted her ears pierced, she didn't want it to hurt.

"If you want to get your ears pierced you may want to hug your mom and hold onto her while you do it because it does really hurt. But it won't hurt forever" Cambria Davis

Cambria cried and Kiera didn't. It is a point that both of them will make sure to tell you. When Cambria cried I knew I had to be strong for her. When Kiera didn't cry it made me want to cry because I knew it hurt and she was trying to be so tough. It did leave her speechless for about 5 minutes which for Kiera is highly unusual.

I wish I got Kiera's smile when she saw her earring in the mirror for the first time. It was a look of pure joy. She has a hard time smiling on demand.:)

They have been so excited about the new jewelry in their ears and can't wait until they can change them out the week of Christmas. So don't be surprised if when they see you they let you in on the good news. Be happy for them (mom:).

I tried it myself . . .

It is hard to take your family picture and be in it at the same time . . .
There are some more great ones . . .make sure you see them here.
I want to take your picture too!

Spread the Word!

Don't miss out this time and dress warmly. I think we are supposed to have a cold weekend. Thank you.

Get Driving Directions here.

Time Out For Women

I was supposed to attend with my mother, grandmother, aunt and cousin. As it turned out I went alone. That fact seemed to be rubbed in many times when people could not believe I wasn't saving the seat next to me. Not quite as much fun this way. I tried to call dozens of people. Most were already going, some never got back to me. It really should have been a shared experience. As my tone may hint, I was a little bummed to be without family or friends. The Friday night event was amazing though and I was glad that I had shown up anyway. We heard from Kenneth Cope, Hillary Weeks, Chieko Okazaki and Carolyn Rasmus.

Sister Okazaki was so funny. I had been privileged enough to meet her in Hawaii and though she would never remember me I felt a connection to her. She turned 82 on October 21 and this is how she started her talk.
"I have five boyfriends that I spend my time with now days. I wake up in the morning with Will Power and then I go and visit John. After awhile Charlie Horse come to call and he takes up a lot of my concentration. Then "Arthur Ritus" pays me a visit, but he doesn't like to stay in one place for very long so he takes me from joint to joint. By the time he leaves I am so glad to go to bed with Ben Gay."

- "Life is like a roll of toilet paper. the closer you get to the end the faster it goes. Make sure to live joyfully."

Two very important principles of the gospel are Free Agency and Love.

God will not override of agency even to bless us or he would cease to be God. Overriding agency was Satan's plan . Satan chose to walk away from God and become The Deceiver and the Adversary. This was his agency.

Establish a pattern of prayer and make your home a library of learning. Make sure that your children know that prayer is an ongoing conversation with the Lord.

Hillary Weeks was absolutely amazing. She is beautiful and absolutely hilarious. She commanded the crowd and if no one else was there, the conference would have been worth the price of admission. She sang some beautiful songs and shared such a sweet testimony all with the gift of humor.

She said:
-Prayers are always answered. Sometimes exactly as we predict, sometimes in ways we could never have expected and sometimes with a 'no.'"

-God knows us. He knows our names. He could walk in to this room and call any one of us by name. He cares enough to know us by name and her cares enough to know all the details of our lives.

Carolyn Rasmus is someone I had never heard of. She gave a beautiful talk about God's love and mercy for us. I took the most notes on her talk.

She said that when the old testament was being translated from Hebrew to English the scholars came across a word that had no translation in English because it was so complex with multiple meanings.So the translators invented a word to encompass the entirety of it's meaning: at - one, meaning to bring everything together: atone

She said the power of the atonement can make a difference in our lives. It can increase of faith and dispel our fears.

There was really so much more, but alas . . . you really had to be there to appreciate it all. If TOFW comes to a town near you grab your loved ones and go. It is worth every penny.

Just when you thought it was safe . . .

you have to look at one last Halloween post!
Kiera was really trying to get into character for her costume, Sleeping Beauty. She fell asleep while I was brushing her hair. My children NEVER just fall asleep so it was pretty funny.
Kiera thought the pumpkin smelled disgusting. She has quite a nose on her! She is very sensitive to smells.

Me finishing Kiera's pumpkin. She did all the "freckles." They were little holes poked all over the pumpkins face.

Cambria was the only kid who did her whole pumpkin by herself.

I love my Grandma so much. I am so glad that we could spend time with her. We got to eat a couple of dinners together and take a shopping trip and spend Halloween night with her.

Bubba had so much fun stacking blocks at Grammy's house. WE had so much fun in CA for Halloween. We are so glad that Nevada became a state on Oct. 31St so that we could get every Friday before Halloween off. It was very thoughtful of them. We were glad to see friends and wish we could have spent more time with them.

Next post: What is scarier than Freddy, Jason and Chucky all rolled together . . .? Something you better hope you never have to deal with.

Unprepared

I was quickly approaching the end of my rope. I had already turned off my emotions in order to think rationally and calmly, but I wouldn't be able to hold for much longer. Malachi's hands are red and largely swollen and the two different doctors I had just spent and hour and a half with were medically stumped. They had no diagnosis. Malachi is in misery. He is unable to grasp a spoon or hold a bottle and to top it all off we lost his woo (pacifier) last night and he could really benefit from it's comfort right now.

I had gone to Walmart to buy a new woo, and to get some more Slimfast. I headed to the 20 items or less express lane with my four year old sitting so nicely in the basket of the shopping cart and my two year old in my arms resting his head on my shoulder and crying softly. I waited in line patiently for someone to check out who had way more than 20 items, my total came to $11.03. I slid my credit card. It was declined. Whoops. I wrote a check. It was declined (I had expected the credit card failure but not the check.) I stood helpless and embarrassed trying to sift through my mind as quickly as possible for options. I had decided I would just come back with cash. I hadn't realized it before though I had made small talk with him, but an angel was in line directly behind me. Of course he was in disguise. He wouldn't openly flaunt his angelic likeness. Instead he wore a faded baseball cap over his graying hair and a red t-shirt. His face was kind. His tone was gentle. He asked the cashier how much it was. He said he'd just pay for it too. I quickly declined letting him know that I would return shortly with cash to pay. The cashier told me "There really are nice people." I could have handled more bad news or disappointment, but what I was not prepared for was kindness. My eyes began to swim as I thanked him. He said he had four daughters and sometimes things just happen.

I wrote a check out to him. In the section labeled for: I wrote "being my hero." How do you repay an angel. You can't really unless you pay it forward.

If you know a Frank Larsen, give him a hug for me. His kindness came at a time when it was least expected. He paid for a stranger and he will never know how it touched my heart. Tonight his name will hang on a leaf cut out of construction paper. I will tape it to a picture of a tree we cut out and hung on our wall. It is our Tree of Thanks. Each night after dinner we hang a leaf with something we are thankful for. Tonight I will hang his name. Frank Larsen.

I love Photography!

So I may be an amateur, but one thing is for sure . . .I love taking pictures. I have loved photography from an early age and now I ask myself how did I never take a class? Not in college, not in high school. Where were my priorities? Someday I promise myself to pursue this interest though it will most likely be when all my kiddos are in school. Someday I promise to take a photography course.


This is Matthew.
To see more, click here.

Want me to take your portraits? I ain't a pro, but I'll do a mini shoot for you for $25 that includes a CD. It'll be great. I'll get practice and you'll get pictures to send out in your Christmas card.

I have lots more to say involvng:

A.) Halloween

B.) Lice

Trust me . . .you don't want to miss it.