All about me

I have been hesitant about writing this story about me and my problems, because there are a lot of other things to worry about in life.  These picture of me are when I was nearly 8 months pregnant with Mckinley. I felt great while I was pregnant with all the kids, I had very little net weight gain with any of them. I lost a lot of weight the first 12 weeks and usually ended up weighing the same as when I started. I was not a person who ate completely healthy while pregnant either!
After the kids were born, I started gaining more and more weight. I could not get any of it off no matter how I ate or exercised. I tried many different ways of eating, and fitness programs. Finally this year after my mom had a ton of success seeing a hormone Dr in Utah, and I had a surgery to help some of my PCOS symptoms, I decided that it couldn't hurt for me to try that route too.
I found one in Sammamish that I loved the first time I saw her. She really took the time to listen to me as I poured out my whole health history. She decided to try me on a clearing/detox diet with some hormones added in. It has been wonderful! She did food allergy testing on me and the lab discovered 28 foods that my body reacts too, 13 very badly! It isn't a fun thing to give up on all my favorite foods, but I love the results that I am seeing everyday.
When Andy and I went to Europe in 2005 and 2007 I contracted a weird parasite, my doctor at the time treated my with anti-biotics, pro-biotics, and a combination of some strong herbal pills. We killed the parasite but it is clear now that some damage was done to my gut because of it. More tests are being done now, and I should have all the results in about 3 weeks, but this may be my new lifestyle. I can adjust!
I am so thankful for the medical technology that we have now and for the encouragement from Andy and my family to find out why I couldn't get healthy. So far, in just 42 days, I have lost nearly 25lbs of fat and gained a few pounds of muscle. My earaches and headaches have completely disappeared along with my fatigue and brain fog! I don't need naps any more and love all the fun workouts I am able to complete!

I never want to look like this in Hawaii again!

School is in!

We had a very fun last weekend of Summer. We hit a beach we hadn't been to in a long time and then on Labor Day we went into Chinatown for a great lunch and bubble teas for dessert.

Parker with trains, planes, and boats! Very beautiful day at the Locks.

Hannah's very favorite: Crispy Shrimp Ball

Parkers first day at Jing Mei School. 

 Parker's Mandarin program has been functioning for 2 years at a local neighborhood school that was near Microsoft. The enrollment for the regular school was just too much for the building. His Mandarin Dual Language Program was able to move into a building of their own this year. It is very nice to only have 90 kids instead of over 400. It will take time to become established there. Our PTA and the new principal are working hard to get all the equipment and supplies we need. I feel bad that Parker's class is the guinea pig for the curriculum!

Madison's first day of school hair do.

Hannah was very excited for school, but no to leave Miss Sophie at home all day.

The kids are adjusting to their new schedules and this was the third week of school with all of our extra-circular activities being added in. It is great not to drive so far to Parker's school, but I am still in the car all the time!

Love all the kids, but enjoy my time with Mckinley-who is now potty trained! Dance and tumbling classed for her will start in just a few days!

The summer seems to be flying by, kids have had a great time at baseball camp, volleyball camp, girls camp, and Kumon.
We were able to have mom and dad come up for a week for a visit/baby-sitting adventure!

A large dose of seafood is becoming standard procedure while Dad is in town! I think he ended up at an Ivar's 3 times.
Andy and I had a great convention in Vegas. If you don't drink, party, or gamble there is not much to do there except for work, and some great food!

 Yes, there is a cut on the edge, I couldn't wait! Wolfgang Puck Grill was really wonderful, we ate there twice.

Andy received some much deserved recognition in the arena at MGM Grand. I am so proud of the business we have built over the last 15 years!

We finally got the chance to set up our new tent from Grandma and Grandpa.

It is a huge tent! We all fit in with our bags and I even stuck in my Queen size air mattress.

Of course we had to use it, off to Oregon to meet Aunt Leslie.

Our scenic route took us on Poodle Creek Road, so funny!

 Harbor Vista Campground North Jetty Beach, Florence Oregon.

We were just a few minutes late for the sunset, but it was beautiful anyway.

 

Seal Caves near Florence. Poor Mckinley, I had forgotten her jacket so she had to wrap up in her blanket for our walk.

 Haceta Lighthouse



Hannah was seriuosly excited for the fish and calamari. This place was the real deal, they had crab boiling right in the parking lot.



Cheese and ice cream great treats!

Ortho-Day one

Maddie and Parker have a great orthodontist! They enjoyed their first day of torture. The first few days were tricky figuring out what they could eat and how to eat it. I was thankful that I planned it right and Maddie had some time to adjust to them before she goes to girls camp next week.
Parker is doing well with all the moving and stretching that his jaw and palate are doing.  We can notice a difference in his appearance all ready! He is a bit harder to understand though, he was telling me that he was writing his name down to show all his friends at camp this week because they didn't know Parker was a name! He takes it well, I'm very thankful that we did this part of the process during the summer. School would be really hard for him right now, his pronunciation is completely off.

I'm three or tree.

My baby is three all ready, I cannot believe she is so grown-up all ready!

 Very excited for her new mitt so she can play b-ball like her big brother.

 

 Enjoying her black forest cake and haagen-daaz ice cream.

Trying out her new balance bike!

Happy birthday to my three (not tree) year old.
I had to stop taping her because I could not stop laughing at her tree comment!
 

 

Ortho...

Poor Parker! This new contraption is going to be his companion for the next 8 months, ten hours a day! His underbite is pretty severe. Unluckily he inherited the recessive gene from Andy and me.

He is excited though, thank goodness we are starting this while he is not so self-conscious. His only concern is that he won't be able to eat some of his favorite foods for a long while. He has been stocking up on crunchy granola bars, homemade popcorn, and gum.

 

Madison has to have plain old regular braces, nothing fancy for her. She is thanking her lucky stars that she doesn't have to have the head gear like her baby brother.

Hannah has perfect teeth so far!

Fulfilling and fulfilled.

My new calling at church is to be in charge of all the humanitarian projects that we do. This week it was our turn to feed about 30 homeless men at another church in our community. We bring the food for their dinner and provide supplies for their lunches the next day.

I passed around the sign-up sheets and filled all the spots that were required, I made calls, sent email reminders, gathered the food from other members of our ward, and delivered everything last night.

The minute I pulled in to the parking lot I knew that my heart hadn't been in the task of helping these men. I had treated this as another item on my busy calendar and not as serving others as my Heavenly Father would want me to do.

I had spent the morning with my sweet kids picking beautiful strawberries and then picked up some fresh from the farm cherries. I could have taken just a few more minutes and prepared some extras for these men. I could have made a homemade dessert instead of getting candy bars from the grocery store. The I could have done a lot of things differently, but most importantly I could have viewed this task as God would have wanted me to; as the line to one of my favorite hymns says

 

Put your shoulder to the wheel; push along,

Do your duty with a heart full of song,

We all have work; let no one shirk.

Put your shoulder to the wheel.

 

I did not do this job with a heart full of song, or with any heart at all. I am sorry that I missed this opportunity to be fulfilled while fulfilling my calling and my duty to serve others. I won't let this mistake pass me by without making changes in my life to be able to feel God's love more in my life.

I will not let being busy be an excuse for anything anymore.