Bummed!!

I am truly bummed!! What is it with me this week? I feel homesick for Italy!! Why? Probably because I actually had friends there. You see, I may have moved back to an area that is considered our family home, but I don't have any friends here that I can just call and say come over and visit with me. It's just sad!! I love my home and my family, but sometimes ya just need more. I don't like feeling like I'm a burden to others, so I won't call someone out of the blue that I don't know very well and ask them to come over and visit with me. I have prayed every night for a friend, but alas none have showed up on my doorstep. Am I being too selfish? I don't know. I feel like I have given so much of myself to others and those around me but nothing is being replaced. I know that probably sounds like depression and believe me I know. I have suffered from depression for MANY years. I have been feeling really well and have been able to cope fairly well, but this week has just been in the crapper. We have been in our new ward for two months and we've yet to see hometeachers or visiting teachers. What's up with that? I've been trying to fill my own bucket with trips to the temple, church on Sunday, fulfilling my callings as wife, mother, VT supervisor, visiting teacher, daughter, crafter, and gamer, but it doesn't seem to be enough. I really need someone that I can talk to, someone who really cares and will actually listen to me (no judging please), maybe someone that would let me cry on their shoulder. Boy, I sure don't want much do I?

Amazing Series

For Christmas Kaitlyn received a box set of a book series called Believe and You're There. I just finished reading the fourth and final book to her tonight (Saturday) and I was amazed. The series is written by Alice W. Johnson & Allison H. Warner. The characters, Katie, Matthew and Peter, siblings who go to Grandma's house to hear stories from the Bible and to have an 'adventure' in a painting that Grandma has done of the stories that she reads to them. Each story takes the children to a new time frame of Jesus' life and they experience everything that is happening in the story. I was so touched by the Spirit as I read each story to Kaitlyn!! Each night as I read to her I would get emotional and Kaitlyn would say, "Okay Mom, you can stop reading for tonight, you're getting too emotional." But I just couldn't stop reading to her. Each book is about 10 short chapters and we read about 5 a night. Tonight she even asked me to read to her, which she usually does any way, but for some reason it was even more special because I knew that tonight would be the last night for this series.

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All the girls have been able to spend time with their cousin, MaKayla and Koby, each weekend that they get to spend with their Dad, Steve. It has been great for them to spend that time with family, especially since we have been away for so long and now that everyone is a bit older. They seem to get along great and love spending time together, playing games, shopping, watching tv, drawing, and just hangin' out. It's also great because everyone is at Grandma and Grandpa's house so they get to spend time with them as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Today is my Honey's 47th birthday! He is an amazing man! I am so grateful for him and for all that he does for me and our family. I would be completely lost without him in my life. He has been by my side for 23 years now, through good times and bad. I love him with all my heart.

Kaitlyn has gotten settled into school and has made new friends. She worked really hard this week, Tuesday and Wednesday, for a class spelling bee. She came home on Thursday and was upset because she didn't win. Then she said that if the two people before her couldn't make it for the school spelling bee then she would be able to participate!!! SHE GOT THIRD PLACE IN HER CLASS!! We are so proud of her!!

Aimee and Wendy are still looking for work and trying to get paper work done for school.

Dave received a calling at church this week, First Counselor in the Sunday School Presidency. I received one also, Relief Society Visiting Teaching Supervisor. We didn't sit idle for very long!!

Family Update Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends!



HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We have made it home to Utah safe and sound. We arrived here on the 8th of December and have been running around like crazy trying to find a car, a house, a good school for Kaitlyn and jobs for Aimee and Wendy.



We started 2009 still in Aviano, Italy, where Dave worked his civil service job as information security for the entire base. It was a very frustrating job as it was actually a two to three man job and he did it all by himself. He received several awards this year, the one he is most proud of is the recognition he received from the OPM office in Washington DC. He made a lot of great contacts for the future. Dave was released as Ward Mission Leader and immediately called to be the Gospel Doctrine Instructor. He loved both callings, he loves teaching the gospel! He enjoyed his LONG bike rides through the Italian countryside. We usually found him two hours away on Saturdays. Everyone he knew said they loved to go bike rides and he invited many to go with him, but very few took him up on the offer.



Pam served as the Ward Historian and the Ward Family History Consultant. I really love Geneology, so both callings were perfect. Pam started the year with bad health and a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis, but thanks to a caring doctor that diagnosis was ammended to Chronic Fibromyalgia. Now the trick is to get proper treatment and start feeling better!!! She stays busy with her geneology, crocheting, cross stitching, reading and playing games on the computer.



Aimee is 20 years old. She served as the Young Single Adult Representative for the THREE that were active in the ward and MANY that were inactive. She worked for AAFES in giftware and jewelry. She received certification to sell precious gems, diamonds and gold. She was very excited about that. She is planning on attending a trade school once she finds a job. She is excited to be back in Utah where she has been able to reconnect and catch up with old friends. She still enjoys drawing, painting, and illustrating comics. She still loves Manga comics.



Wendy is 19 years old. She served as a Primary Teacher and LOVED her 'kids'. She loved those kids so much that she moved up with them. She worked for AAFES at the Four Seasons Shoppette. She loved her job most days, made tons of friends, and loved meeting new people. She took a few classes online through the University of Maryland. There weren't too many for her to choose from as most of the classes she had during junior high and high school. She is looking forward to starting school again this year once she finds a job. She is looking forward to having her own room, she has had to share with someone for her whole life. She loves to write poetry, drawing, reading, cross stitching and spending time with her family. She has been a great help to everyone.



Kaitlyn is 10 years old and in the fourth grade. She has been a great student and wonderful friend to everyone she meets. She is still shy until she feels comfortable, but it doesn't take her too long now before she is talking your ear off. She is very excited about getting her own room and having her own space. She is very happy about being close to her grandparents once again and she has loved spending time with her cousins the past week.



We didn't take very many vacations this last year due to Pam's health. We did take day trips to the beach and to local markets. The one trip we took was to the Swiss Temple in Switzerland. We took a week and spent a wonderful time together as a family. We started our 'mission' in Italy with a trip to the temple in June of 2007 and ended our 'mission' the same way in October of 2009.



We moved out of our Aviano home on the 23rd of November and have spent every night since then in a hotel. Today (January 1, 2010) will be the first night in our new home. We left Italy on the 7th of December, flew into Charles-DuGaulle Paris, France, had a nightmare there barely making our connection to Detroit. We arrived in Detroit about dinner time and spent the night there. We left Detroit on the morning of the 8th and arrived in Salt Lake just before lunch. We told no one that we were arriving and surprised everyone!!! It was the best Christmas present we could have given our family.



Today we are moving into our new home, 1632 N. 2800 W. Clinton, Utah 84015. We all have cell phones, but Pam's is 801-513-0283. We have lots of room for visitors, so give us a call if you are in the area or drop by and visit!! We LOVE visitors!!! We hope this year will bring love and happiness to everyone.


Dave, Pam, Aimee, Wendy and Kaitlyn Holloway

I was going to add pictures but I can't find my camera right now. I'll add them later.

HOME

We finally made it back to Utah!! Our plan was to surprise our family by arriving a week earlier than planned, it worked!! It was the hardest secret to keep! We left Marco Polo Venizia Aeroporto on Monday, December 7 and flew into Charles-De Galle in Paris, France. We had a horrible experience in Paris's "city of love" airport, but we made it to our plane and flew into Detroit. We spent the night in Detroit and flew our of Detroit on the 8th. We landed in Salt Lake in the morning, picked up our rent-a-car (Larry, Dave's oldest brother, was so kind in arranging for us, Thank You Larry!!!), and drove in the SNOW to Layton, where we checked into our hotel. The hotel reservations were screwed up, but we managed to fix it and get into our room and the car unloaded. It was lunch time so we raced up to the Post Office on base where my Dad works and surprised him!!! We went to lunch and then headed to Mom and Daddy's, where we surprised my brother, Steve!!! My other brother, Scott, was working in Provo and after work he picked up his boys (Laura, his wife, was sick so she didn't make it) and drove up to see us. We waited in the living room for Mom to arrive from work when she called and said that she had a doctor's appointment after work, so we waited some more, then she called after the appointment and asked Daddy what he wanted for dinner because she was at the store picking up her prescriptions. Daddy told her they would figure it out when she got home.

Mom arrive home, entered the basement, took off her shoes and coat, said 'how come it's so dark down here? Honey, what's goin' on?'

Daddy said 'Nothin', just sitting in the living room.'

Mom said, 'Okay, I'll be up in a minute.'

After making a pit stop, Mom walked up the stairs saying, 'What do you want..............Oh my gosh!!!!! You're home!!!!!' With tears in her eyes she came to hug us all because after three years her girls are home!!!

Scott and his boys left to go home and the rest of us went to dinner.

Saturday is the family party to welcome us home and decorate Mom and Daddy's home for Christmas!!! Yeah!! We made it in time for the holidays!!

It is so nice to be near family again, it's as if we never left. I guess that means we are supposed to be here in Utah. It's time to swallow our stubborn pride and accept the fact that this is where we are suppose to be!!

PEACE

So we are on our last legs of getting out of here. We have gotten completely out of our house. The movers came last Monday to pack us out, it took them two days to pack and load the crates. I wasn't too happy about how they packed those crates and Dave was having a fit. The took apart all of our bookcases and desks, but left the screws and dowels in everything. That means that everthing is going to be broken, and I get new stuff!!! All of our things came to Italy fully assembled and the Italians think it is totally cool to take everything apart when they send it back to the states. What a pain in the backside!!!

With all of our stuff packed up and the house empty, we were able to clean and do final inspection on Wednesday. So that's all done. We have to take in the final meter reading for our electricity and pay an 'estimated' final payment (they will let us know in 4 to 6 months if we owe any more). We shut off the phone and internet, moved into TLF all on Monday of last week.

We got to spend Thanksgiving in TLF with just our family. We received a few invitations to share the day with other families from the ward, but decided that we wanted to be alone and relax after the stressful few days. We had ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, garden salad, pumpkin pie and apple pie. It was a great day! We talked about the many wonderful experiences we have had here in Italy and how grateful we are for our family and friends.

We had to speak in church last Sunday for the last time in this ward. Kaitlyn gave her last talk in Primary two weeks ago. So we are all good until we figure out what ward we will be moving to next.

This week is just as stressful, more for Dave than anyone. And today didn't start off very well at all!! First off, he couldn't find his keys, actually that is not unusual since he never puts them in the same place twice. When we lived in the house, he would usually leave them in the car until the end of the day when he needed them to lock up the house. He has a couple of times left them in the car since moving into TLF. I found the keys just a couple hours ago under the kleenex box. ;0) Then he had to go pay the final bill for the electricity and they wanted our account information, just in case we get a refund. So he had to come back to the room to get the checkbook, which he couldn't find where he thought it should be, so ended up waking me up to his stomping around. UGH!!! Now we just have to go over to the hospital to pay off that bill, that one is gonna make me stress out!!!!! Then we just need to take care of the car, we have to sell it because it is European specs, so we can't ship it back to the states.

After all of that is done and we have to get Kaitlyn's school records, our medical records, and Dave's last day of work. We will fly out of Venice to Paris, spend a couple of hours there. Fly from Paris to Detroit, spend the night in Detroit. Fly out of Detroit to Salt Lake City, rent a car, check into our hotel, get some much needed rest, then see our family!!! We are all so excited about returning to be near family for the holidays!!!

Frustration!!!

Okay, so we are in the process of trying to get moved. It has been a freakin' nightmare!!! Dave, of course, decided to exercise his return rights back to Hill AFB, UT, six months ago. They actually did away with his job or consolidated it with another wing or group or something and didn't tell him. Then said that the lady that has his position isn't going to give it up or something like that.....the job was guaranteed to him by contract and condition of return rights. So Hill had to scramble to find him a position, found him one or created one for him. Between Hill and Aviano, they couldn't decide who was gonna write the orders, so Dave had to write them himself and submit them. Orders were approved and we began the process of getting everything set up.

Dave started the outprocessing by decideing when we were going to leave Aviano and getting our airline tickets. Then he had to schedule the movers, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving so any time was good for us, the sooner the better. They will be here on Monday and Tuesday to pack us out and load it into the crates. What are we going to sleep on? Well, Dave tried to make reservations at TLF (Temporary Living Facility) but they were completely booked for the time that we wanted a room, so he made reservations in town at a hotel. Come to find out, he had to call EVERY day to see if there were any cancellations at TLF or we would have to pay out of pocket for our hotel. LAST night we finally got TLF for the whole time we need it. Thank you!!! I really wasn't looking forward to having to eat out EVERY meal for 3 weeks.

Dave has been telling his bosses that he was leaving in December and that they needed to find someone for him to train on the programs that he uses so that the transition would be smooth. WELL, in all their wisdom they waited until FRIDAY to send someone over. Never mind the fact that he wasn't going to be in the office next week and his last day of work is the 4th of December. Oh yeah, and by the way, he had to move over to a new building on Thursday!!! BY HIMSELF!! He is so frustrated! People are thinking that what they need him to do has to be done YESTERDAY, never mind the fact that they have had six months to get their crap done before the deadline. Now that their deadline is here they want him to drop everything and get it done especially if there is a problem that should have been taken care of six months ago. UGH!! Stupid people!!!

One of Dave's co-workers tells him not to worry about it, do what he needs to do to get the heck out of here and not worry about all this other crap. The bosses knew six months ago he was leaving and if they waited until the last minute to find a replacement then it's their problem. But the only problem with all of that is Dave was raised to have good work ethics.....he can't leave his bosses hangin' out to dry.

Dave went to turn in the reading on our electricity and try to get a final bill. They told him that they couldn't give him a final bill until we actually turn in the keys, get the meter reading on that day, turn it in....they will give us a estimate of what it will cost, but not an actual final bill until 4 to 6 months from now. Yes, I typed that right..... FOUR TO SIX MONTHS FROM NOW. We will be in the states and they could jack up the final bill and we could end up owing thousands of dollars MORE than what we have already paid. UGH!!!

The Medical bill is the same way pretty much.....that is a long story in and of itself. One I don't want to have to think about this morning.

Oh the stuff we have to get done this week. Laundry today, prepareing talks to be given tomorrow in church, packing the suitcases, seperating and gathering stuff to be given away, seperating and gathering stuff that needs to be shipped ahead of us so it's there when we get there, move ourselves into TLF, clean the house, clean the FMO furniture, find and turn in the keys to the house, turn off the phone and internet, pick up medical records, turn in all the library books, sell the car, pay off the medical bill, finish out-processing, pick up a rental car, get to the airport, and fly out of Italy!! Holy cow, I guess I better get busy!!

Needless, to say we feel like we have been taken advantage of by the Italian government and our own because they allow the Italian government to do this to American citizens. Sure this is actually their base, but we put all the money into the buildings and the landscaping. The Italians get all the good civilian jobs on base, get paid much better wages, and get the better schedules. The Americans get whatever is leftover.

Don't get me wrong, we have LOVED being in Italy. We have fallen in love with the culture, art, people, and the country. We have had experiences here that we could NEVER have had any where else. Our family truly needed this experience. We have all grown closer together as a family, we have grown spiritually, and stronger as individals and as a family. We have learned to rely on each other and help each other. We have watched to church grow and members become active again. We kind of like to look at our living here as a three year mission. We know that we were sent here for a purpose, I pray we have accomplished that purpose. We have created memories that will last us all a lifetime. Now it is time to return to the states, Utah in particular and continue on our life's journey.

Happy Halloween

I know this is a week late, but hey we've been crazy! Our ward had a trunk or treat Fall Festival last weekend and so the girls got all dressed up in their Pirate costumes and became......

"Daddy's Pirate Wenches"

There was food, games, activities, and of course trunk or treating. We had a good time visiting with friends and letting the children have fun. The weather even cooperative, no rain, but it was chilly.

Are We Ever Moving? Part 2

And the answer is......YES! We finally got our orders this morning!!! We have our plane reservations now too. We leave Venice, Italy on the 15th of December. We get to be home for Christmas!!! Yeah!!!

Are We Ever Moving?

Are we ever moving? That is question I keep asking myself every day for the past month. You see our moving hinges on orders from someone sitting at a desk at Randolph AFB, TX. Do they care that our visas expire in about 60 days? Apparently not. Do they care that we have a child in school that needs to have records copied so that we can transfer to a new school? Of course not. Do they care that I have to carefully plan for a major move that requires 14 hours on an airplane? Absolutely not!!! We are all going insane trying to make plans for the holidays and we don't even know where we will be. Dave has been letting and bugging people about needing orders to make these arrangements for at least 6 months. UGH!!! So frustrated!!!

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I finally went back to the doctor for a follow up for the RA that I was diagnosed with a year ago. The new doctor ordered new tests and a series of x-rays because he was not happy with the results of the last. Last week we got all the results from 4 sets of x-rays, both hands and both knees, and about 9 vials of blood. I do not have RA, I actually have Chronic Fibromyalgia Syndrome or FMS. I have done a little bit of reading on the subject and realize that many of the health issues I have had over the past 20 years can be attributed to FMS. I have thanked my Heavenly Father several times a day since last Thursday for the thoroughness of the doctor. I can now take the things I learn about this ailment and get my life back. I do NOT want to be a slave to the pain I experience constantly. Fibromyalgia can be explained as constant pain at varying degrees in varying places at varying times throughtout the day. Fibromyalgia affects everything in the body, from the top of the head to the bottoms of the feet, from the inside of your vital organs to the outside of the skin. Fibromyalgia zaps your energy within minutes of waking, that's IF you are able to sleep.

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Earlier this month we enjoyed a wonderful trip to Bern, Switzerland, to visit the LDS temple before returning to the states. We were looking at our pictures and realized that we didn't get any pictures of the temple!!! We got pictures of our drive up and back! We enjoyed a quiet, unhurried six days of family and new friends. Here are a few pictures of our journey up and back. Hope you enjoy.

These pictures were taken on the border of Italy and Switzerland, in Como.

Our beautiful daughters in the Swiss Alps!!

The leaves on the trees in the Swiss Alps are starting to change colors the first full week of October. I love the many waterfalls that we could see around every turn it seemed.

September

We took a drive one evening in mid September and ended up at this really awesome, cool little park in Polcenigo. There is a restraunt, an outdoor cafe, walking path, and the BLUEST pond I have ever seen in my entire life with fish that had to be at least two feet long and ducks and geese every where. It was beautiful!!! Enjoy these pictures.

September Day-Trips

I know this is kinda outta the blue or late....whatever you want to call it, but I found my camera and uploaded all 121 pictures that have been taken over the past six weeks or so. I realize I haven't really posted anything on our blog lately so now that I have pictures I'll post and try to get all of you caught up on our family. I hope ya'll enjoy.

Here is Kaitlyn on the beach at Caorle. It's one of the resort beaches on the Adriatic.

We have been to Bibione a couple of times, but always during the off-season. This time we decided that since this was going to probably be one of our last chances to go during the tourist season we would go to one of the beaches we hadn't been to. Wow, what a difference!!!

The sun was out, the tourists were sunbathing, little children running around naked (that's how they roll in Italia), the water was nice. The tourists ride around on these crazy motorized two-seater bicycles. Pretty Cool!!

I was surprised how organized the beaches were, I know that sounds weird huh? Any way, each hotel has a designated area and specific chairs or color of chairs that they use. Very strange for us who don't do beaches.

We saw jellyfish again.

There was actually a church on the beach. I don't understand why because out of respect you need to be DRESSED in order to go in. But hey whatever works.

And here are all three of our beautiful girls!!

Here We Go Again

Yup, it's the beginning of a new school year and we are back to a 'normal' routine. The night before the first day of school the girls receive a father's Priesthood Blessing, a tradition that was started when I was a child. Each child sits in the chair, in our family it happens to be the computer chair, and at the hands of their Daddy receives that special council from their Heavenly Father. The council is always unique to each child and is something that they need to hear. This year was no different, Kaitlyn received her blessing and was counciled to choose her friends wisely and to choose the right so that the Holy Ghost will always be with her so that she will make the right choices. When she was done, Aimee said that she missed getting those Father's Blessings each year, so Aimee recieved a blessing also, then Wendy said she would like one. So this year was a little bit melancholy for me as I realized that I only have one child in school now.

We are happy to say that after a LONG night of worrying and fretting about our first day of school, Kaitlyn did great. She made a few friends and is going to love the fourth grade!!

I know that Aimee and Wendy have put their lives on hold the past year or so waiting for us to return to the US and that once we do return they will be flapping their wings and going out on their own. For me that is exciting and a little bit scary. Did we teach them everything we were suppose to? Did they listen when we taught them? I sure hope they did.

In other news, we have added another family member to our home. A parakeet named Leo. Had you scared there for a minute didn't I? ;0)

Book Review....

I just finished a really cool book, "Bitten & Smitten" by Michelle Rowen. It was a funny read. For some reason I have been in a Vampire mood, it seems that at least one of the books I am reading is about Vampires. It must be part of the 'Twilight' craze, but I like my books a little bit more on the mature side.

The synopsis:

'Dear Mom,

'I might be a wee bit late for Cousin Missy's wedding. It's bee a tough week. Turns out, my blind date from hell was literally from hell. Guy bit me. Next thing I know, I'm being chased all over the city by vampire hunters. And did I mention that I got fired, too?

'Bright side--I met a man. Thierry de Bennicoeur. How great is that name? Anyway, he's sexy, six hundred years old, and a tad suicidal, but no one's perfect, right? And we have a deal--he's gonna show me the ropes of the vampire world, and I'm supposed to help him end his existence. Or maybe I'll just try to convince him life is worth living--no small challenge with the mostly immortal, let me tell you. I'll admit it's a complicated relationship. But with any luck, I just might have a date for that wedding after all.

' Hugs and kisses,

'Sarah'

Sounds funny right? Here's a little more:

'As soon as the blood touched my tongue, the pain vanished...It was like fine champagne; strawberries and cream; Kahlua chocolate sauce on French vanilla ice cream; ambrosia--food of the gods. Pick one.

'Thierry's arm was tense for a moment, but he slowly relaxed. I looked up at him. His eyes were dark, and he wore an unfathomable expression on his face.

'"Enough, Sarah," he said, and his voice was ragged. He squeezed my arm and roughly brought me up to my feet.

'I thought he was going to push me away and leave the room, but instead he grabbed my shoulders to pull me against him and crushed his lips against mine, drinking me in as I'd just done to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed him back, deeply, so deeply that I thought I might drown...

'Okay, maybe being a vampire wasn't so bad after all.'

This is a series of books and suprisingly they are pretty clean as far as language and sexual content. A great summer read and funny!!!

2009 100+ book challenge

So I found this awesome blog that focuses on reading. If you know me I love to read just about anything I can get my hands on. If you have been to my home you know I have a library of very good, and probably some not so good, books. Many of my friends borrow books from my library and love sharing my love of books with others. All of my daughters have their own libraries as well.





Any way the blog I found is http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

I hope it was okay to copy the picture from her blog. I have accepted this challenge and on my side bar I have the list of books that I have read thus far with the date that I finished them. So far I have finished 52 out of 100.

I am currently reading several other books:

1. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

2. The Heir of Mistmantle Book Four Urchin and the Raven War by M. I. McAllister, this series I have been reading to Kaitlyn at night before she goes to bed each night

3. The Book of Mormon

4. The Immortal Hunter A Rogue Vampire Novel by Lynsay Sands

5. Prelude to Glory Vol. 6 The World Turned Upside Down by Ron Carter

I just love to read so much. A lot of people I know read one book at a time, but not me...I read many as you can tell.

Join the challenge which ends the 31th December 2009.

AND THE WINNER IS.......

My good friend, Sandra. Congratulations Sandra!!!

Send me an email with your address and I'll get a box of a few of my favorite things to you this week.

100TH POST - TIME TO CELEBRATE

Okay so I noticed yesterday that my next post was gonna be my 100th. You may ask yourself what the big deal is? But according to blog etiquette everyone has a giveaway for the 100th post, a blogaversary, and of course, any other time you feel like it. So I am having a giveaway!!! The way to win is by doing a couple of things:

1. Leave a comment - that gives you one entry
2. Follow my blog - that gives you one entry
3. List 10 of your favorite things on your own blog - that gives you five entries

All of this must be done on or before the 1st of August, one winner will be drawn on the 2nd of August.

Now what is the contest? I've been toying with this idea for some time, actually I think I have been since I started blogging nine months ago (that means I'll have another giveaway in just a short three months). I think I will do a 100 of my favorite things.

See I love the movie 'The Sound of Music' and my favorite song from that movie is 'My Favorite Things', or something like that. But you know the one I'm talking about....'these are a few of my favorite things'. Any way, so I thought it would be cool to list some of my favorite things, 100 to be exact....so here goes.

100 OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

1. The Sound of Music
2. Books
3. Scented candles
4. Pictures
5. Cross stitch
6. Crochet
7. Reading
8. Peace and quiet
9. Autumn
10. Country music
11. Mexican food
12. Baby feet
13. The desert after a rain shower
14. The sound of thunder rolling down the canyons
15. The sound of rain on the roof
16. Baby's laughter
17. Italy
18. LDS Temples
19. Family
20. Friends
21. Sleeping
22. My husband
23. A comfortable chair
24. Sundays
25. Gelato
26. Fresh baked bread
27. The smell of lavendar
28. Lip balm
29. Cinnamon and Pumpkin scented candles
30. Lavander scented candles
31. Fresh laundry
32. Vampire books
33. Romance novels
34. Historical fiction
35. Sitting outside in the shade on my swing
36. Latin music
37. Italian music
38. Tender moments
39. Funny moments
40. The movie Grease
41. The tv show Grey's Anatomy
42. Crime shows
43. Comedies
44. Betty Boop
45. Teddy bears
46. Bunny rabbits
47. Souvenior thimbles
48. Bags and purses
49. Baskets
50. Diet Pepsi
51. Ice cold water
52. Warm showers
53. A nice back rub
54. Grandma's baby blankets
55. Children's singing
56. Children's laughter
57. New scrapbook paper
58. Scrapbooks
59. The first day of school
60. Blogging
61. Rubber stamps
62. Stickers
63. Crossword puzzles
64. Suduko
65. Hidden object games on the computer
66. Roller Coaster computer game
67. Nora Roberts books
68. Any movie with Vin Diesel
69. The movie Dirty Dancing
70. Long hair on little girls
71. Gerald N. Lund books
72. Tom Clancy novels
73. Shelves to put nicnacs
74. Baby dolls
75. Backyard BBQs
76. Kabobs
77. Daddy's steak
78. Mom's macaroni salad
79. Grandma Crook's potato salad
80. Grandma Berkley's zucchini casserole
81. The sound of Grandma Crook knitting
82. The sound of Grandma Berkley's voice
83. Grandpa Berkley's garden
84. Grandpa Crook's teasing
85. My parents
86. Dave's parents
87. The ability to read
88. The legacy that my ancestors have left me
89. My testimony of Jesus Christ
90. The USA
91. The opportunities I have been given to travel to other countries
92. Star Trek
93. My rocking chair
94. Facebook
95. Family history
96. Arthritis (yes, I am thankful for my arthritis)
97. Talented people
98. Kind people
99. Loving people

And last but not least

100. ME

LOL

Now what will the winner receive? A box containing some of my favorite things. Remember to post on your own blog, follow my blog, leave a comment, and most important....have fun!!

Good Luck Everyone!!

Take Me Out Back and Shoot Me

Seriously, I really wish someone would take me out back and shoot me. I have been hackin' up a lung for five days now, but it feels like an eternity!! I have kept my family up with my barking and the dogs in the neighborhood howl every time I cough. My head feels like it is going to explode. The muscles in my abdomen feel like they have done a million sit ups and a million crunches. I can't sleep for coughing so much. I can't lie down, I can't sit up, I just want to die. The pain which I experience on a daily basis is five times worse because of this stupid cough. I know that this will pass and that I will get better soon, but right now I just feel like I will never get over this.

Okay, so besides being sick, we are anxiously waiting for Dave's job interview on Monday. Yes, he has an interview for a position back at Hill AFB in Utah. We are desperate to get back to the states and even back to Utah. Yes, I just said "WE ARE DESPERATE TO GET BACK TO UTAH"!!!! For those of you that know us, know that we haven't had very good experiences in Utah, but we are willing to let them lay in the past and start anew. We will never complain again about anything there after our experiences here in Italy.

Don't get me wrong we have loved being here in Italy, the people are wonderful, the country is amazing and we have seen and done some things that we would never have been able to do or see any where else in the world. Obviously!!! But we have had some serious health issues here and we need to get back to the world of real doctors and be able to choose the care that we need. We need to have the medical facilities available to us that we obviously don't have here.

The girls are all anxious to get back to the states where they will be close to family and be able to get on with their lives. Things for them have kind of been put on hold because of the lack of availablity to civilians.

Wish us luck and pray for all of us. We have spent much time in prayer and fasting for our family as well as family members and friends all over the world. We have been richly blessed by our Heavenly Father and are thankful for the experiences we have had here, the good as well as the bad. We have become a stronger family and become more self-reliant. We look forward to seeing all of our family and friends soon. We hope to be able to hook up again with friends that we have met here in Italy and have had to say good-bye to.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!

Well, the fourteenth was Kaitlyn's 10Th birthday. I can't believe my baby is a whole decade old, a double digit! It seems like just yesterday that we were being told that we were expecting a surprise. And what a surprise she was too because two years before we had been told the chances of us getting pregnant again were slim to none. What a blessing she has been to our family! Our family had been through so many tragedies, disappointments and trials the previous six years or so that the Lord decided to send this little miracle to us. She brought the smiles back, the laughter, the joys, and the happiness back into our family. We feared losing her before she was even born. I went into labor with her at 18 weeks and so I spend the next several months in bed. I did EVERYTHING the doctor told me to do so that she would grow to full term. She was still a tiny baby at barely 5 pounds and a tiny 17 1/2 inches long. At 10 days she aspirated and had a second degree seizure. Dave had to resuscitate her with CPR and saved her life. Yes, she truly is a miracle to us. We love her so much!!! We hope she had a wonderful birthday and many many more to come.

Kaitlyn loves to play with bouncy balls, write poems and stories, draw pictures, watch movies, snuggle with Mom, be read to each night before bed, go places with her family, and just be a girl. She likes to spend time with her family and friends. She loves school, but hates homework. She loves stories, but hates to read. She is learning sign language, spanish, italian, and crocheting.

Kaitlyn has enjoyed her 2 1/2 years here in Italy. She has made so many friends, but has had to say good-bye to many of them since their parents PCS to other places. She misses her grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends that she has in Utah and can't wait to get back.

Kaitlyn wants to be a writer when she grows up. She has grown several inches since we moved here to Italy, she is 4 feet 5 inches tall. Not too much more and she'll be as tall as her mom, 5 feet 1 inch!!

Fourth of July Celebrations....NOT!!

The day started nice and sunny, but by noon the clouds had rolled in over the mountain and we knew the afternoon thundershowers were on their way. Dave, Aimee and Wendy managed to get out canopy set up over our table for the craft fair in the spinkles and rain that fell from the dark clouds. Dave then rushed home to get me, Kaitlyn and all of our other stuff. When we got back to the base it was sprinkling a little bit. We set up and were ready for customers by 315. We sat and sat and sat and sat.........and sat for several hours. Thank goodness I took more crocheting to work on because it was a VERY LONG DAY. The sun made an appearance for a little while, but those dark clouds loomed over the mountains like a bad dream. We had several people stop by our "booth" to take a look at our wares, Aimee's paintings and drawings, Wendy's photography, and my crocheting and cross stitch, but no sells. At about 730 a couple of little girls came by and wanted to buy something small, Wendy sold a small cross stitch pieces she made about 10 years ago and I sold a couple of cross stitched magnets. A whole $10 is what we sold. BUMMER!!! We broke even, the entry fee was $10. I don't think the craft fair was advertised as well as it could have been and it was the first year. At about 815 we started cleaning up and the thunder rolled and the lightening crashed and the rain came down in buckets!! The canopies were trying to blow away and so we had to hold them down and rush to get things put away and help each other. Dave was stuck at home because it was HAILING and the wind was so bad that he couldn't get the gate open long enough to back out of the driveway. When he finally showed up we were in a mad dash to load the car and get the canopy down, we had lots of help, the Reiker and Stevens families helped to get everything loaded in our car. Thanks everyone!!

The celebrations included a battle of the bands. When did music become so load and screechy that you couldn't understand it? I thought I was gonna go insane listening to that. There were 8 bands and they each had about 20 minutes to impress the judges. OH MY HECK!!! Most of the music was screaming and screeching guitars. There were maybe two songs that I could actually hear what was being sung. One of the bands, The Originals, was pretty good and they won the competition. One of Dave's co-workers, Dave, had a son that was in that band, so my Dave was pretty happy that they won. And of course, the other Dave was a proud father.

Dave and Kaitlyn had a good time checking out the games and food most of the day. The ward was having a party at the pool that night as well, so Dave took Kaitlyn over there so she could go swimming. She was able to swim for 20 minutes before they were kicked out. They had a good time despite the weather. They were able to spend quality one-on-one time together.

We were all exhausted by the time we all got home. Dave ended up sick with a cold, Kaitlyn was trying to get over a cold and so she was back to being sick again, Aimee and Wendy were just plain exhausted, and I was in enough pain that I didn't care one bit about anything for a couple of days. But over all we had a great Fourth of July. Sorry there are no pictures, we forgot the camera. Hope everyone had a great holiday!!