Merry Christmas

I will post more soon but let me just say:
God is good.
Families are Forever.
Faith is real and can bring immense strength.
Angels are everywhere.
And Life is Good!


Merry Christmas!


My eldest is being baptized today. :)
My heart is so full!

Thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts

• I have had a great time getting ready for Christmas and doing all my shopping, until I ran out of money. CRAP!
• I'm going to have 29 people in and through my house b/w Christmas Eve and Zech's baptism on Sunday. That's alot of people. Do I have enough food? Do I have enough room/ Do I have enough energy? graciousness? patience? (insert prayer here)
• I have contacted all 29 of these people with plans for the weekend which included food assignments, room assignments, festivities and their times. Do you think they have contacted me to let me know Yay or Nay? Thank you Cortnie Johnson for being the ONLY one!!! Ever. To be on top of your game!
• I love Corntie JOhnson. She is OCD like me :) Thank goodness she decided to give Scott a 20th chance (it was about that many right?)
• My house is not ready to house these people yet. It usually is by now. But I have been cleaning my SIL's house, helping watch her kids, working my job, keeping up with my laundry and house and kids, taking meals to people, decorating, entertaining, etc, etc.
• I am in the ugly stage of pregnancy. You know the is-that-a-FLUB-hanging-over-her-pants- or-is-she-preggo? stage. UGH! I am now wearing my "fat" pants. The ones I wear after I have the baby. My belly isn't nice and round yet but I am too big to fit into my nice size 2's I just babrely bought since I was so dang tiny. (Sigh)
• I hate the Wii. Seriously, I HATE the Wii!!! "Why Rebekah? Why do you hate the Wii?" Because even as I type, the darling children are downstairs playing it. After hours of begging to play it on this snow day (the rule is Friday night and Sat only) and having their mean mom say no, I finally broke down and said OK. Now? They are yelling at each other. It never fails. It doesn't matter what game it is. Zech and Gabe yell, Audrey and William whine. I don't know which is worse. Of course the whining gets more on my nerves b/c I'm not used to it and the shear high pitchness of whining drives me insane!!! But no, yelling and whining are both equally as bad. Now I get to be the bad guy and turn it off due to their behavior. See why I hate it now? There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There might even be a Wii controller thrown by my dear eldest son who has a terrible difficulty controlling his temper. In the which, I will get to ground him from the Wii for the whole weekend which will bring more weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. If it were up to me, I'd throw it in the trash!
• There are about a million other things rolling through my head. The most important of them though is the fact that my dear sweet husband is at work puking his guts out. He can't get home and due to the snow and road conditions, I can't go get him. I have to go figure out what to do. Until I decide to blog again....

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Lists

Christmas wish lists, in no particular order because I suck at blogging. :)

1) I do not think the Griesmyer boys will ever be done with Star Wars. This is all Ammon can talk about. Here in lies the problem: what new Star Wars items do I and you get the little guy? We can always use new lightsabers (they get used out very fast with all the intense lightsaber duels we have here) Ammon LOVES Galactic Hero Star Wars figurines but they are hard to find. PaPaw sent Ammie a $20 gift card for his birthday and guess what he picked out? a $7 Star Wars Lego shirt. That's all. Well, at least we know Ammon is not greedy and that he is happy with very little. I do so love that little man!

2)
There is a reason why this is a pic of Lego Land. Are you kidding me? A trip to Lego Land would be the ultimate to my crew but I think they will be happy with just new Lego packs.
Here are what's hot right now:
Hero Factory (guys and vehicles)
Castles and Knights
Atlantis
Power Miners (the new Lava Fort)
Technics
Since Zech is almost 8, I will be putting him in a Lego Robotics club. He will need a Lego Mindstorm for this. They are very expensive. I will need some help (hint, hint)

3)
My baby boy, Elijah loves balls. I do not think you understand, he LOVES balls!!! I bought him this super cute Lighting McQueen ball pit for his 1st birthday and it was popped within 2 days by a little person living with us. I want a ball pit that is NOT inflatable so it will not pop! I bought this awesome tent thing one year at a yard sale way back when I lived in Fort Rucker, AL. We used the heck out of that thing. I finally had to trash it before we moved from TX b/c it had so many tears in it. It is a great toy for all ages!

4)

Gabriel wants one of these. Well each of the boys would be happy as clams to get one of their one. Gabriel also wants Bakugan and Bey Blades. Gabriel likes to play. He does not fixate on any one thing but he tends to like trends. I personally do not get any of these things or their attraction but he is my little angel and whatever makes him happy, I am ok with.

I was about to finish the post but I forgot about me! I want Want, WANT:

size 6 Dansko brown clogs

size 6 Dansko black clogs

It's cold here and I don't have any close toed shoes without heels that don't kill my back.

Gary wants a vacation. He needs a vacation. We were supposed to go on a cruise for our 10 yr anniversary back in April but he was in GA for training. Money and shear work load has prevented me from being able to book anything for us to escape. I hope to send us at least for an overnight excursion for his birthday on Jan 1st. But if you want to buy him something you could get him some LDS CDs to listen to to and from work (he has a long commute) We love book on tape and CD's. It helps put him in a relaxed mood which is very helpful after a very stressful day.

That's about all. I love you all!

Cripple

Last Wednesday morning started like any other morning. Ammon came into my room around 6am because he needed to potty. After he did his business, he climbed into bed with me for about 15 mins of snuggles, then asked if he could go downstairs. I got up and went downstairs to feed him. Gabriel was the next one awake. Zechariah finally woke up around 7:00am. Elijah was still asleep. I got cereal out for everyone, said prayer with them, then went upstairs to take a shower. I took special time picking out my outfit that day. I felt good, I wanted to look cute. I had found out that a week before that I was pregnant and knew my skinny days were drawing to a swift close. So in honor of skinnyness, I picked out a pair of jeggings (yes, I have those-one pair!) I had found them on clearance at NY&Co while shopping with my SIL, Kimmy. They were brown and felt GREAT on me! I slid on my brown cowboy boots over them, put on a cute top, and completed the outfit with my Premier jewelry. I was hot! And ready to get the boys dressed and out the door for school. I heard Eli in his room. Finally! He was awake! I went to his room, scooped him up in my arms, gave him hugs and kisses, and started down the stairs. Then it happened....

The front on my boot slipped, my heel caught on the edge of the stair, I went down on my knees, and started falling down my stairs. There was nothing I could do. So many thoughts and solutions went through my head but the only one that prevailed was, "No! No! NO! NOT ELI!!!"
I held him to my chest and tried to throw my body back as I was falling so that I wouldn't roll head over on top of him and crush him. When I got the the end of the stairs, Zechariah came tearing around the corner. "Mom, MOM! Are you ok?" The only thing that I wanted was to check if Elijah was ok. He was screaming and I couldn't tell if he was hurt, there was just one problem: I didn't have the strength to get him and look him over.

"Go get Aunt Sarah", I said. Zech was gone in a flash. Sarah and Zech came back and I told her I'd fallen down the stairs with Eli, I couldn't move yet, and to please check him out. She felt his head, look him over, then turned her attention to me. She asked Zech to get the phone and dialed 911. I totally did not think it was bad enough to call an ambulance. I kept telling her No! I don't need an ambulance. Just call Gary. I figured he could take me to the Dr. if I needed to go. Sometime during all this I tried to move and grabbed my right knee because it was hurting worse than the rest of me. My hand came away covered in blood. I was shocked! I had no idea I was bleeding. Zech and Sarah took off my stupid boots (which are now in the trash) and helped me peel off my jeggings so that we could see the source of the blood. YIKES! There was a nasty tear on my knee that was gaping open and just plain gross. Sarah went upstairs and brought me down some different pants to wear that were going to be easier getting on and off. The paramedics showed up and strapped me and Eli to those awful back board things and took us to the hospital. Eli was madder than a hornet at being strapped down. Gary had made it home by then and was trying to comfort him. Gabriel is Elijah's buddy and protector and kept bringing him balls to play with and trying to sing and talk to him to calm him down. Finally we were ready to be carried to the ambulance and taken to the hospital. Once there, they checked out Eli who was discharged immediately. I mean, the kid was laughing and playing and trying to run around! Aunt Nancy had shown up to check on me and took Eli home. I then spent the day getting X-Rays, an ultrasound, 4 stitches in my knee, a immobilizing brace, and crutches.
Every day gets a little better. I can bend my knee a little now and put weight on it.

There are blessings in all things too:
. 1)This was the day before Veterans Day so Gary had a 4 day weekend where he could take care of me and the boys. I do not know what I would have done without him.
2)The ultrasound found a hemoraging cysts that I didn't know I had and will have to keep an eye on.
3)The 4 day weekend plus me being laid up provided a good opportunity for Gary to work on his school work and get one class finished (almost).
4) Not being able to do for myself gives others an opportunity to help. I am fiercely independent and try not to ask for help but have had to many times over the last week.
5) I am learning patience. I HATE to be slowed down, at the mercy of others or my own bodies inabilities.

In conclusion, I am a cripple and it is inconvenient and frustrating. But I am learning to chill out and take it easy and this is probably exactly what I needed. ~Plus my husband has been amazing! He has doted and cared for me in a way that he never has before. Not even when I've had my babies! But I am not a sickly, needed person and he has never had to or I have never let him. What does that say about me? What does that say about our men? They need to be needed. So I will take off my Wonderwoman cape for now, hang it up in the closet, and rely upon my big hunk of a man to care for me and love me. After all, I do not want to do this alone.

On the Road Again

I'm heading to Georgia tomorrow. Mom will finally be moving. She has sold her house in this awful market which is a miracle in and of itself. I was going to leave the 2 oldest kids with Gary and my SIL and take my 2 little guys. Gary had this MAJOR case come in and has been MIA for a week and expects it to last another 2 or so. UGH! He couldn't tell me he would be home to care for them, do homework, put them to bed, etc. My SIL is starting her 1st week of having all her chickies home and homeschooling and couldn't keep my guys either. So I toyed and fretted and worried about what to do.

Gary and I had the privileged of going to the temple on Friday night where I took it to prayer. (There is just no where on this vast earth that is more pure, sacred, and beautiful than the temple.) I felt impressed to ask Gary's mom to come over and help me. After more tiny miracles, her schedule completely cleared and she is on her way here even as I type! I will be leaving all my boys. I am so relieved b/c I will be able to drive and work SOOO much faster and harder without them around. Of course, I am making lists, schedules, dinners, menus, etc, etc. cause I'm OCD like that. But hopefull, it will be a lovely week for my in-laws and my boys to develop a strong bond. You all know that my love language is service so I totally feel loved by them!

Here I go, on the road again!

Tender Mercies

I have more faith and am less stressed. This is a tender mercy because I have not made myself less stressed. I am trying to read my scriptures and pray more but I think faith is a gift. Just like the Holy Ghost. I cannot produce faith. Maybe you can, but I can't. It is usually given to me by Heavenly Father. For that, I am truly grateful.

My mom has had ALOT on her plate with selling her house and the projects that had to be done before she can close. I tend to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders and think I should fix everything or at least coordinate the fixing! :) I worried how to help my mother. My brother Jason and his amazing wife Teri packed my mom. My brother Chris fixed up her house. All I have to do is go down there to help clean and oversee the moving her stuff out of the house and into storage. I am now breathing a huge sigh of relief.

I am in love. I think that being in love with your spouse is a tender mercy from the Lord. Marriage takes work and it is hard to not dwell on the negatives, differences, and frustrations. You can love your spouse and not feel that giddy school girl feeling for him. But recently, I have felt that and I am not going to let it go! I am grateful for my husband and the wonderful man and father he is.
October originally had 6 parties on the calendar for my Premier business. 4 canceled on me. I whined, I worried, then I prayed. Since then I have had 3 OP's (where I tell people about the biz) and 2 more parties book for this month! 2 of which are tomorrow!!!

I paid my tithing on Sunday. I came home and checked the mail from Saturday and found an escrow reimbursement check! I had just been discussing with my SIL how I never receive money when I pay my tithing. It is just something I always do without expecting anything in return. Well, I feel the Lord wanted to let me know He heard me and here is something in return. Thank you Lord, I appreciate it and I needed this sweet tender mercy from thee!

On my mind

1. Home improvement projects: the holidays are coming up which means entertaining and family and cooking and kids off of school. Gary and Will just laid the new floor and new pedestal sink in our downstairs half bath. Now I need to paint the walls and trim.
   Other improvements that need to be done are:

• toe molding put in everywhere downstairs
• LR ceiling painted
• LR walls painted
• Baseboards put in the quiet room downstairs
• all trim and doors downstairs need to be painted
  
• tub and tile ripped out of the master bathroom
• new surround and tub put in to the MB
• old vanities and linen closet ripped out of MB
• new double vanity put in which includes rewiring, moving plumbing, and knocking down walls.

2. My Premier Business: I have had 4 people cancel their parties this month and I am getting very frustrated. I must keep the faith. I am trying to not let it affect me but October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I decided to donate 10% of the proceeds of my parties to the Susan G. Komen foundation in my Aunt Sis's name since she is a breast cancer survivor. I was very excited about how many shows I had on my calendar to make this successful. It is more than just being upset about loss of income or new contacts. I was really happy to be giving to something greater than me. I wanted to do this for her. Aunt Sis lost one of her breasts and had to have reconstructive surgery. It was scary, it was hard, but she made it. How many people don't?

3. Gary starts working in Quantico, VA June 1st: Do we go? Do we stay? Do we sell our house? Do we rent down there? Questions, sooo many questions.

4. Sarah is looking for houses: My SIL lives next door to me. They sold their house, didn't know where they were going to end up, and ended up renting the house next door. Sometimes, our stress becomes each others stress. She is consumed with house hunting which means I hear about it all the time which shouldn't be stressful but she talks about us moving too with her or close to her. Since I don't have answers to my questions, this sometimes confuses and frustrates me.

5. I'm thinking about having another baby: There you go, I said it. No, I am not pregnant. I could list a million reasons why I am contemplating this but honestly it's none of cyberspaces' business! I am researching having a girl. I am completely happy with my 4 beautiful boys! I am content with my family. I feel that the Lord wants me to put my faith in him and try for a baby girl. Please think pink for me!

6. Gary is taking his last 2 classes for his Bachelor's: IF he finishes these 2 classes, IF he passes these 2 classes, and IF we don't kill each other in the process you are all invited to a HUGE graduation celebration!!! Not kidding! Mark your calendars!

7. I've been contemplating homeschooling: As if my life weren't stressful enough. I love homeschooling. There are a million reasons why I feel homeschooling is useful, valuable, and most beneficial for my children. I also miss my little guys when they are away. I want to protect them and make them happy and help them work through and deal with their stresses. However, I can say this is one answer I have gotten as of late. Gary and I both feel that they should stay where they are right now. We are both pleased and at peace with their elementary school and their progress. Prayer has helped confirm this in our hearts and I can now rest easy knowing that while my desire is noble, it is not the time. Zechariah has had some difficulties but he is working through them. He needed to learn how to deal with these frustrations. I am very proud of him.

8. My mom is finally moving! Mom has sold her house (well almost-closing is Nov 1st) My brothers and I have once again rallied together to help pack her up and move her out. Chris spent a weekend pulling stuff out of the shed and attic to see how much we were dealing with. Then Jason and Teri spent the next weekend packing like crazy and got most everything in boxes. They are amazing!!! I will leave next Monday to help direct the loading and moving of the household goods as well as clean the house before closing. I will drive down Monday, and be back Friday for Fall festival at school, Trunk or Treat and other Halloween festivities.

9. Where is Mom going to stay? Gary's Aunt Nancy invited mother to stay with her until she decides where she wants to be. I hope Mom will decide to stay up here but that choice has to be made by her. I offered for her to stay here with us but she kinda isn't looking forward to sharing a bathroom with 4 little boys. Why not? :) Still I stress out because I want her to be happy. And no matter where she goes, Aunt Nancy's or my house, I've still got A LOT of rearranging of furniture to do. When will I do that? UGH!

10. The holidays: I LOVE Christmas. But since the divorce it has been forever painful. Having my mom and dad together in the same room is like watching a time bomb go off. It's awful. Throw in that mix my Dad's wife, FORGET IT!!!
This Christmas, my sweet baby boy turns 8 and will be baptized.
All the family will be here. = drama
(I started to rant and rave further but have decided to delete and stop there-sigh)

So now you know. I've got a lot on my mind. So here it is cyberworld/ journal.
What do you think?

Discovery

Rebekah does not do well on nighttime meds of any kind.

I took Tylenol PM Cold and Flu last night because my head was about to explode due to this nasty head cold that I have. I even wrote a note to Gary and left it on his pillow as a warning(which he removed without reading). I did not want to be held accountable for anything that might happen during the night such as night awakenings by children, peepee accidents, robbers, etc. Night time meds knock me out and I am completely unaware while under their influence.



What did I discover?



Apparantly they also make me talk in my sleep! Gary said I was talking all night long and he couldn't sleep b/c he thought I was trying to talk to him. Luckily, he couldn't understand anything I was saying. :) Weird, so now you know. Nighttime cold meds make me loopy, knock me out, and make me talk in my sleep.

And I will take it again tonight b/c I felt so much better today! :)

Ammon is 3!

My little Ammon turned 3 on September 20th!

What a crazy weekend before this little guy's bday. Gary got home from being away on TDY for 5 weeks on Saturday afternoon, I had a jewelry party that night, and my Aunt Sis and cousin Drew came into town on Sunday for a quick visit. So on Monday, I let Zech and Gabe stay home from school, forced Gary to take the day off, and we all went to Cosca Park for Ammon's "Star Wars" birthday party. I invited some friends from church and we had a lovely time. This park is great and I can't wait to take full advantage of all the cool things it has there!

OK, I have tried 4xs now to load pics and place them where I want on this page and can't figure it out. I'm frustrated and will finish this later. I almost made a muvee but I want to print this out and build a book and my movies won't work for that goal! UGH! Someone blogger savy (Beth) tell me how to place my pics!

Angels at Ryan's

I will confess that I do not write in a journal. Yet, I have felt a strong desire to write down or blog about something that happened to me on Labor Day, the day I went to D.C. with Uncle Gary. I know, it's been a month. Sue me!

Uncle Gary wanted to take us out to eat after our lovely time at the American History museum. I was pressed for time because I had signed up to feed an elderly couple and their family that night. We probably could have made dinner had the following not transpired:

• my "experienced" navigator (Uncle Gary) got us turned around and we drove around and around and around D.C.
• 
  

• I hesitated in a turn lane and ended up pulling out in front of a motorcycle cop and pissed him off (I totally had enough time and space! He was just mad at my audacity!)
• I had to sweet talk said cop, win him over, and enlist his immense knowledge of the area to direct us where we needed to go.

Needless to say by the time I dropped Uncle Gary off, I had to rush home to heat up the casserole I had made the day before. I then took it over to the family's house and was just too spent/exhausted to go home and make my own dinner. The kids were hungry and tired and so was I but I did NOT want McDonald's. It was Monday and I thought I would go to Ryan's so everyone could get their heart's desire and I hoped that the kid's could eat free.:) FHE anyone?

What happened next is still deeply personal and so special to me. I walked into Ryan's with my crew. It was packed. I was going to turn left b/c I can ---eat your heart out Zoolander------but felt I should go right. I found a table and sat my crew down. There was a elderly couple in the table next to me who asked me if they could watch my kids while I went to get their plates. Immediately, my Wonderwoman kicks in and I say I am fine but thank you so much for offering (but I don't know you from Adam and this is D.C. and there are crazies everywhere and these are my babies! etc etc)
Then it dawned on me: How in the h*ll am I going to carry the baby, hold onto my lunatic 2 almost 3 year old, make their plates, and carry them to the table??? No sooner had this terrifying thought entered my mind when a sweet couple came from around the wall where they had been enjoying their dinner and asked me if my husband was deployed and could they help. I told them he was TDY for 6 weeks. They said they could spot a military wife anywhere and wanted to lend a hand since they too had served 23 years in the military. Well, I nearly lost it right there! I mean, really? Angels? in Ryan's?!? 2 sets of angels??? The wife sat with my 2 little ones while I took the 2 oldest to fix their plates and got food for the little ones. She then sat with all of them and fed Elijah while I fixed my own plate! After I returned, she left. While I was gone though the 2 tables beside me had black families that had been watching all this transpire and had gotten to know my kids too. They were making eyes with Eli, talking to Zech and Gabe, and playing games with Ammon. All throughout our dinner, whenever I needed anything, there was another person sent by God ready to serve me and my family.

Why was this so important to me? Because the depression bug had bit my butt big time and I was struggling with my faith worse than I have ever done in my life. I wondered if God cared. I mean, I knew he loved me but did he care what decisions I made as long as they were good ones? Did he care that I was busting my butt trying to hold my little world together?

This day, I received a HUGE answer to those questions. Not only did God care about me. He cared enough to send other people to care about me. Little tidbit: my love language is "acts of service". There was NO clearer way God could have sent his message to me that He loves me and cares for me than through these angels who chose to Serve me and God that night at Ryan's.

So there you have it. For all posterity and my little blog followers who do not read or post comments :) This is my journal entry, my testimony.

D.C. with Uncle Gary

It was Labor Day. Gary was out of town and I had been very depressed but desperately wanted not to be. On a last minute whim, I decided to get out with my beauitful boys and enjoy the nation's capital. I love living so close to D.C. It is such a blessing to live here. (As long as I do not listen to the news!) Anyways, I packed everyone up into my huge truck and I was on my way. Then the thought came to me to call up our Uncle Gary who lives in Alexandria to see what him and his girlfriend Joyce were doing. Maybe the would meet us for lunch. Uncle Gary did even better-he said he'd come with us! So, we headed to D.C. and much to our surprise it was totally dead! There was noone there! We got an awesome parking spot right next to the Mall and didn't pay a dime. Sweet! We decided to go to the American History museum since we had not gone there yet. Originally I wanted to do the spy museum but it isn't free and Daddy wanted to go too. The American History museum was awesome! They had tons of fun stuff for the kids to do. I mean, as soon as we walked into the place, there was C3PO's costume from Star Wars. Uncle Gary loves to shoot pics so here's a bunch from our festivities:


By the time we were done, I had tired out Uncle Gary and the kids. But we had a splendid and wonderful time!

Back to school

Zechariah started 2nd grade this year and Gabriel started Kindergarten. Here are the handsome boys on their first day of school. At Zech's open house, his class was supposed to write a note to their parents. The first line was supposed to state, "Thank you for coming to my open house". Zech refused to write the line and got in trouble with his teacher. When the teacher's aid asked him why he wouldn't write it he said, "Because it's not my open house. If I write it, I have to own it!" His aid tried to control her shock and amusement but let me know that she thought it was very insightful of him. He was right! It wasn't his open house. He wasn't even invited! The next line to us stated, "2nd grade is kind of a bossing zone". Ok, that made me laugh! Zech loves to make other people follow the rules but he wants to decide if, when, and which rules he will follow. Oh well, he's mine and I love him like crazy!
Gabriel LOVES school. He is really coming into his own too. Our little neighbor is in his class and says he is hilarious and talks a lot at school. I am so glad! He is quite shy until he gets comfortable with you. Hearing that he is joking and talking at school makes me happy that he is comfrtable and thriving there! He is gaining self confidence and his own his personality is really coming out.

The day before school started I threw a back to school party. Everyone had a great time!

I made cake and let the kids decorate their own slices. Ammon and Eli truly enjoyed the treat!

See my sign? I totally ripped this idea off of my amazing SIL, Cortnie. I was so proud of myself!

The crew! Unfortunately, Gary was away at Advanced training in Ft Lostinthewoods, MO but Uncle Will graciously stepped in to give the kids their back-to-school blessings. Thanks Will! It is so nice to have family right next door.

My SIL, Sarah is homeschooling her oldest this year and since her youngest 2 are not old enough to go to school, she's got them home too. We have worked out a pretty good system to help each other out with school. I take her little boy, William, to school with Zech and Gabe and pick them all up. If my babies are still asleep in the afternoon, I leave them with her while I go get the kids. Since I have had some significant back problems and am currently in physical therapy, Sarah watches Ammon and Eli 2x a week while I go to my apts. It is a life saver! I would never be able to do this if she weren't here! Thanks Sarah!

Next post: Fall soccer! We love it!

More catch up: Gabriel's 5th birthday

Since we were out in Ohio at Cousin's Camp for Gabriel's birthday, I wanted his birthday to be fun, special for him, and educational too. I called up the local fire department and scheduled a tour for 13 kids under the age of 1o and 4-6 adults. I didn't expect much. After all, this was McConneslville we were talking about. As Zechariah said about how to get to Nanner and Grumpa's, "Just drive forever and ever in the middle of nowhere until you see the yellow house on the hill". He is pretty much right!
Was I ever surprised! The fire department was HUGE!!! And it was GORGEOUS!!! They had every single truck our books ever told us a department may have. What was most amazing about it was that every fireman there was a volunteer. Chivalry is not dead folks! These brave men do it all. They cover over 400 miles including farms, woods, swamps, hills, and a major river. We had a fabulous time touring their facilities, learning what they do, exploring their fire engines, and trying on their gear.

After the tour, we came home for some fire engine cake decorated beautifully thanks to the ever so talented, Emily Griesmyer. The cake was made out of Rice Krispies. We had celebrated David's birthday the day before and Emily had made him a lovely red, white, and blu cake so I wanted something a little different. The kids LOVED it! Yay me! :)

Gabriel is truly "my very special boy". I call him my angel. He makes me smile. He makes me laugh. He is tender hearted and so funny. I look forward to seeing more of his own personality emerge as he comes out from Zechariah's shadow. This past year was good for him since Zech went to school and he went to half day PreK. The played together and are still the best of friends, however, having time away really helped Gabriel to develop his own confidence. He is discovering his own voice and sometimes he uses it, LOUDLY! :) I love him with all of my heart and soul. He is my angel.

Cousin camp 2010

I got the idea from a friend in our ward after a Relief Society lesson she gave.

Cousin Camp. I had seen things in Family Fun magazine about Grandma Camp, sibling camp, and cousin's camp, but it wan't until I talked with Monica that the desire set in. I dubbed myself planner extrordiaire and got the whole Griesmyer family on board. Who could refuse an opportunity for the children to get together, have planned activities, learn from the incredible and diverse talents of their aunts, uncles, and grandparents who they do not see very often, and grow together in love and an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My goal was to help, aid, and assist the children develop testimonies of Jesus Christ through family unity and support. And to have fun!

Every morning we gathered as a family for Devotional. Nanner and Grumpa shared a new story and introduced a value or character trait for the day. Scriptures were read and prayer was given and shared. It was a powerful and spiritual time for all. Sure it was frustrating to encourage children to sit down and be quiet but it was worth the effort and struggle. They know now that they have a huge family support system that believes the same things they do and will help them along their path of righteousness.

We had many classes at cousin camp that featured all of our talents and skills. Nanner and Aunt Sarah Linn were in charge of Nature Study. Nanner took the children around her garden introducing new flowers, vegetables, and herbs to them. They ate rhubarb and fried day lilies! How cool is that?!

Aunt Sarah Linn took the children on hikes and taught them about what lived in the beautiful surrounding woods. She invented the "imagination tree" a place where you sit when your behavior is poor to imagine all the fun you could be having! Love it! She madew awesomme googly masks for their exploration and even shared her many bones, fossils, and artifacts with the children. She adores the children and they adore her. Sarah can also make a mean lego creation!

Emilaylay held our crafty corner. She made fun treasure boxes with the kids as well as many other crafts and treasures they got to keep and take pride in. Emily was also the calm force in camp. She is low key and lovely. She loves everyone, kisses booboos, talks out and resolves fights, and shows an amzing level of patience. I want to be more like Emily.

Sarah Beth was our camp cook and had quite a big responsibility! She had to come up with menu plans for the masses, delegate responsibilities so that the job was shared, and also held a daily cooking class for the children. There were many fun kid friendly lunches that they enjoyed making and eating. My favorite were the tuna boats. How fun!

As well as dubbing myself camp director, I taught a musical theater class (of course). We had fun playing drama games and learning a short musical number to "It's Possible" from Seussical the musical. Only draw back: too late in the day and the patio was HOT!!!

Grumpa: Poor Grumpa. He was probably the most stressed out person at camp. He was the handyman. He laid floors in the bunkhouse before we arrived so that the children could stay out there and lessen the stress on the farm house. But the farmhouse only has 2 toilets. 2 toilets and 20 people is not such a good combination. There's a reason why the Duggars have 9! The toilets kept stopping up adn poor Grumpa was beyond frustrated. I truly appreciate him though. He works like a dog and is such a wonderful man. Praise and love is his only payment for all that he does and I hope hope that he knows just how much we do love and appreciate him. Don't worry, he did make time to take us on some awesome tractor rides through the fields and one especially for Nanner up to the top of Helaman Hill! She had never been and was so pleased to make it up there. Thank you Grumpa!

David was our creative genius. While he was supposed to teach firearms safety to the kids, he instead won them over with their very own wooden guns that he specially made for each person. David also designed (with the help of our kiddos) and air brushed our camp t-shirts and somehow found that fairies live in Nanner and Grumpa's forest and even leave imprints of their wings on bark and rocks surrounding the farm house. David is amazing and SO much fun!

A special treat: DeDe, Rob, Tanner, Jordyn, Maddie, and Jackson "Griesmyer" drove all the way from American Fork, UT to spend cousin camp with us. We had never met Rob or their kids and so this was such a special opportunity for us to meet more of our family, play with them, and grow lasting friendships and love with and for each of them. We miss you guys! You can move out here whenever you'd like! :)

On the last day we had a award ceremony where everyone received awards such as "Most Energetic" Hannah, "Future Performer" Gabriel, and "Happy Feet" Jackson. Each child enjoyed their certificate and award. Afterwards, we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and of course told camp stories and sang camp songs!

I cannot wait for the next cousin camp and many cousin camps to follow!

May Madness

Gabriel and me after his PreK presentation
Gabriel and his wonderful PreK teachers. I could not have been happier with their work with the kids this year. These ladies are amazing!

Gabriel on stage (kinda) Still I could not believe he actually said his line and did the motions. Yay Gabe!

the end of May was CRAZY!

I took off to Georgia for a week because my mother had to have back surgery. I got home late Saturday night 2 days before Memorial Day. Before my mother's unfortunate rupture of her disk, I had asked (begged, pleaded) Scott to come down from Syracuse and help me and Gary finish some home projects that were about to drive me crazy. I came home to newly laid floor and lots of dust from spackling and sanding walls. Needless to say, my house was a hot mess! Thank you Scott for helping me stay sane, Gary for putting up with me nagging, and Cortnie who really was the one who made Scott come bail me out/help me. :)

My brother and sister in law showed up a few minutes after I got home with a van load of their things to put in our garage while they figured out where they were going and what they were going to do since they sold their house in Catonsville, MD. The next day, they moved in with their 4 children and all the things they would need to live out of suitcases for 2 months or so. Since my mom's surgery was kinda sudden I did not have anytime to prepare the house the way I'd wanted to for them before they arrived. Needless to say, I spent the next 3 days rearranging furniture and clothes to make room for their family. Oh plus cleaning from the home improvements projects!

My boys moved into Eli's nursery, Gary and I were in our room, Will and Sarah got the older boys'room with the full bed, and their 4 kids got Ammon's room that had 2 twin beds in it. It was tight but manageable. Their kids were pulled out of school early while mine were still in school and Zechariah thought that wasn't fair at all! :) But we were busy with soccer, end of the year festivities, Elijah's 1st birthday!, Zech had a piano recital, Gabe had a PreK presentation, etc, etc. We were BUSY!!! Thank goodness for 2 moms! Sarah was a huge help! It was nice having another set of eyes and ears in the house especially since the # of children doubled!

Soccer fun

Soccer was very time consuming and such a blast. Zechariah and Gabriel really enjoyed themselves. So did Elijah and Ammon! Their favorite thing to do was kick the ball. It was so cute
to watch Eli chase and kick the ball like his big brothers.

So much catch up to do

I have neglected this blog for so long that I began to wonder if it was even worth catching up and forging on. I mean does anyone really read this stuff? Then I told myself that since I don't journal, even if no one on the face of the planet reads it, at least I've written it down and can print it for future posterity. So, here it goes. The first of many posts in attempts to catch up on the last 2 months of our lives.
Has it really been that long? Seriously, it feels like much longer. I'm not kidding. I'm exhausted! I cannot believe it's almost time for the kids to go back to school! I am so sad. I have not done anything that I wanted to do with them. So much for teaching Gabriel and Ammon to read. (sigh)
I am getting ahead of myself. Ok, I've got to back up to May and soccer and school getting out.
Have fun! Here I go:

Mom

My mom had back surgery today. And I just need to talk about it.
I am very upset I couldn't be there when she went into the hospital. I have been upset that she is all alone without any family around to help her. I was mad at my Dad for putting her in Columbus and then divorcing her and leaving her with no family around to help her. However, things happen and as soon as I was mad, I got over it. I am really appreciative my SIL, Teri could be with her. Teri is another awesome woman that I will have to blog about at another day. She is an understated force to be reckoned with. That's what I will say for now about Teri.
I've been very weepy concerning my mom lately. I love her so much. We have had a rocky road growing up. Her and I didn't get a long very well for a very long time. I could go into it, but choose not to. As an adult, my relationship with her has really improved. Maybe it's b/c I had to mature to appreciate her, maybe the things she has gone through over the years has made her more vulnerable and reachable-I don't know. I just know that I love her. I have finally felt that I have a mom that I can rely on and confide in. She has helped me many times over the last 5+ years when I didn't know where else to turn. She was always there when I had each one of my babies. She helped me move into my house in TX when I was 8 months prego with Gabriel. She would come watch my kiddos when I had to work and Gary wasn't around. She showers my children with love, presents, fun outings, and loads of kisses she calls "sugar". The boys LOVE their "sugar" from Grandma! I want the best for her. I want her to be happy, healthy, and well. She is a wonderful mother and Grandma. I pray that she will recover quickly from her surgery and be able to live a happy full life that she desperately needs and wants.

FHE fun

So, I love reading my friend Sarah Bradley's blog, she is totally organized and writes Monday Memoirs, Tuesday Tips, and so on and so forth throughout the week (pretty cool right?). Last week her Tuesday Tip was about the FHE she had the night before. She had bought a metal tub from Lowes for around $4 and enough graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate bars, and marshmallows to make smores for her cute family. The whole night cost her $10! She is my hero.

Since I can only copy good ideas and not come up with them on my own, I decided to cook hot dogs over a fire and make smores for part of our FHE on Monday. I went to WalMart in search for a tub. Why not Lowes like smart Sarah suggested? Well, WalMart has everything right? I needed other things for the house, like the Smores materials, and I have 4boys. I must maximize my happy cooperative time when I have it! WalMart is fun for all: when they are good while I do my shopping, I will take them down the toy isle and let them drool over, wish upon, play with, then say goodbye to the toys. (Yep! I NEVER buy them! teehee) Guess what? You know already...they did NOT have any tubs! Zip, Zilch! So, I go to the garden center in search of bricks or paving stones-I'll build my own fire pit! How about those suckers were like 3 bucks a piece!!! I would need 10-20. I might as well BUY a real firepit. I call my sweet hubby to consult, he gives me the OK (this man has been wanting a fire pit for years!) I find one for cough cough 75 dollars that I like. Nope, they don't have any in stock. OK people if it were just my family I would have given up there, hit Lowes the next day for a tub and had FHE on TUesday. But, I had invited another family over! Then I had a brillant thought! I have 2 metal trash cans at home! Maybe that would work. I drive home and do a test fire in both trash cans. As soon as the sticks caught on fire, so did the trash can!!! Ok, now what? Another light bulb goes off: There is a Target next to my house. What's better than WalMart to a kid? TARGET! I throw the kids in the car, again, and off we go. Target has a cute copper fire pit there so I grab it and put it in the cart, swing by the toy isle-"Target has different toys Mom", pay for my stuff, and head home. On my way I receive a phone call from Gary saying he is running late, and one from my friend who tells me her day is crazy, her kid is screaming and can we reschedule.
$100 and 2 hours later, the kids and I roast hot dogs and marshmallows. We had laughter, lessons, singing, crying, and lots of hugs and kisses. It was the best 100 dollars I've spent in a long time. I tried Sarah, I tried. :)

)

Our new fire pit! Zechariah and Daddy

Me and the boys Ammon was crying b/c I told him no smores until he eats his hot dog

I am officially a soccer mom!

Yep, it's true. Because I was too cheap (frugal) to put the boys in mixed martial arts right now, we decided to attempt soccer. Wow! It is so involved! We are at practices 2x a week which is fine. The hard part is on Saturdays when Gary and I have to divide and conquer b/c their games tend to overlap and be at different locations. YIKES! Can you imagine when they are all old enough to play? I have a great friend with 6 kids that are in 6-10 different things at once. She is constantly on the go and I never understood how (or why) she did it. It is great though and the boys love it and so does my pocket book :) Thanks to the photo genius of a mom on Zech's team, I have some great shots of him in action. Poor Gabe-he is so slighted. I promise to do nothing but shoot pics of him this weekend to post Sunday.

Zech's team name is The Force.
Nothing could be more perfect for this little guy.

A mom on the team made these awesome posters that say "Don't Mess with the Force" and has General Grievous on it with all the kids' names on the sides of his light sabers. Cool? Heck Yeah!

nice effect huh? Zechariah is actually really good at soccer and likes it a lot. I still think Mixed Martial Arts is going to be our 'thing' but this is sure fun for now.

Eli's hands

My FIL called me up and asked me to take some pics of Elijah's hands for a project he has to do for his art class. I had so much fun trying to snap shots of him holding stuff. He has gotten so mobile and active lately that it was near impossible to get him to hold anything or hold still! He wanted to throw, jingle, eat, and run after everything I gave him.

I am happy to say that I was able to capture some truly nice pics. That night Gabriel just 'happened' to pick a Max Lucado book title, "You are Special". On the last page it reads, "Remember," Eli said as Punchinello was leaving, "you are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes."

Looking at Eli's hands makes me think pf what the Savior's hands must be like. Eli's hands are so sweet and innocence. They are perfect. God made him and he is special and perfect. God also made me and I am special. I have to remember this when I feel overwhelmed, tired, frustrated, and upset. Thank goodness for the Atonement. I'm glad God can take me where and who I am and make me perfect through repentance. I'm glad I am in His hands. His hands are perfect and innocent and kind. So thank you Don for reminding me of the power of God's hands.

What I've been up too:

Gary and I saw went to Richmond, VA to see Wicked for my birthday!It was amazing and I can't wait to see many more Broadway shows!I am now a Premier Designs Jeweler! I started my own business holding home shows and selling jewelry. It is crazy easy and tons of fun! I have had 6 home shows so far and have made an average of 200 dollars a show. That means I'm making around 50-67 dollars an hour! I'll take it! I really enjoy it and am excited to have the extra income help, aid, and enrich our family. Want to make some extra money? Want more info? Just want to host a party and get free jewelry? Shoot me an email! bekahandboyz@gmail.com

The boys are playing soccer!

Gabriel is super excited, it's all he talks about!

Zechariah didn't want to play soccer at first but once he went to a few practices, he was won over. Their first games are on Saturday. I think I'm becoming a soccer mom! It is sooo fun!

Stake Night of the Arts
I was asked to put together a musical theater number for our stake night of the arts. It turned out quite well and we've been asked to do an encore presentation at the D.C. temple! My friends took videos but I can't get them to load :( You can find them on my facebook page.

We went on a MEGA road trip for Spring BreakAunt Sis and Laura in ATL were our first stop.I love my Aunt Sis and miss her so much. It was lovely to visit with them and Mamaw too!

Panama City Beach to visit David, Emily, and kids was next!darn my camera! But aren't they all so cute?Double trouble! Actually, they are 2 of the sweetest kids ever!Gabe loves babies and is so good with them. Sophia is not so sure :)All I can say is: "For the love of cuteness!" Eli is pure adorableness! He smiles all the time and is just sweet and awesome to be around. I'm so glad he's in our family!Dear David and Emily, I am sorry. I feel so bad for you. To have a little girl as beautiful as Zoe just means a lot of heartache and pain when it comes to dating age. (sigh) She takes my breath away. I'm purely jealous and entirely content I don't have one. (weird huh?)Emily is a jewel. She is kind, thoughtful, creative, ultra talented, down-to-earth, cool, understanding, patient, level headed, and fun. I cannot say enough wonderful things to describe and sum Emily up. I will just say that I am glad she married David and is part of our family.
She rocks!Doesn't the ocean look great behind me? Do you hear it? It's calling me:
"Beeeekaaaaahhh, move to FL, bask in the sun, feel the soft breeze flowing off my waters, Beeeekkkkaaaahhh, move to FL"
I'm coming, I hope, soon, someday, maybe, I dunno, we'll see...(sigh)

Next stop, Grandma's house!Gabriel decorating Easter eggs! without a shirt? afterall, we are in GA!Zech without a shirt! Oh yeah, I was doing laundry :)

Easter Egg HuntingOn the hunt...Ammon needed a little coaching but he had a blast anyway!Elijah had a blast too!I love this little guyAmmon is a mess and we love him like crazy!While Zech wants to know when I am going to have "yellow" hair again, Gabriel absolutely loves that him and Mommy "match". I do too Gabe!

After I left Mom's house, I had Easter brunch at my Dad and Deborah's. After that, I went to B'ham to see my
Longest Bestest Friend,
MorganIsn't she cute? We've known each other since 3rd grade. Morgan is wonderful. I'm getting misty eyed thinking bout how much we've been through together and how much I love her. I miss her and wish desperately that we lived closer. Maybe when I moved to FL! :)

I think that pretty much sums up the last 2 months. I will try to do better, Manda, and not wait so long between posts. But it is now 10:41pm and I have been blogging since 9:00pm. Seriously?!? Crazy! Oh well, you are all worth it! :)