Happy Easter!!

This Easter weekend was GREAT! My Dad and "the girls" (when we say "the girls" we all know we are talking about Sasha and Alina) came from Utah. We have been so lucky to have so much family come lately.
We took some time on Sunday for a little mini-photo shoot:

Isaac was having WAY more fun running around than being a supermodel. See that blur in the bottom right corner? That's his shoulder!

Finally. Got a good one!

Dad and girls came Friday night. They got here just in time to scarf down some dinner and head out to our ward talent show with us. I let the boys decide what they wanted to do in the show. Landon wanted to do a magic trick. He put three pins in a baloon witout it popping (thanks Kerri Whitney for the idea and the "how to"). He was hillarious. To show that pins were real he touched each one with his finger and said, "ouch, that hurts!" once the pins were in he jumped around showing off the balloon and then ran off stage. And the only picture I got was this one because he was being so silly!

Austin was hillarious too. He wanted to do summersaults. A friend of his wanted to dance so the two of them decided to do it together. Austin didn't end up doing anything but standing with his head down behind his friend, Tyler. Somehow, though, it was still adorable.

Sasha ran up on stage to help Austin out. He still didn't dance, or do a summersault, but at least he wasn't feeling alone up there. Tyler, was so dang cute. He had the best "monkey" moves. The two of them together were pretty funny because they were such opposites.

We spent Saturday shopping for the rest of our Easter treats, making cupcakes, and dying eggs. We also went to see Monsters vs. Aliens. The kids ate two movie BUCKETS of popcorn. I was quite impressed with that. In fact, Isaac didn't stop eating the ENTIRE movie. That kid can pound popcorn and candy; it's crazy. (and it keeps him quiet!)

We woke up to "puffy pancakes" for breakfast and snow out the window on Sunday morning. "Natives" of the Springs say that you can count on snow every spring break and Easter weekend. We got it both times. It's a little weird though. Everytime we get Utah visitors we get big snow storms.

Everyone was happy with their Easter baskets. Austin went through his basket and exclaimed, "how did the Easter Bunny know this is just what I wanted?!" (he would be happy with anything!) Landon found his basket and immediately started putting his lego set together. When Isaac spotted his basket he just sat down and said, "mmmmm" and piled in the candy as fast as he could. Alina was more than happy that she finally got Eclipse - yes she, too, is an Edward fan. And Sasha was excited about the three books she got.

After church we came home to scalloped potatoes, ham, and deviled eggs. Even Austin liked them. I forgot to pull the rolls out the freezer so I was a little sad but nobody else cared. We had a great, relaxing evening and woke up this morning to tear-filled good-byes. We love these short mini-vacations with our family. It makes a perfect weekend!

Well that {SUCKS}

I know I tell my kids they aren't allowed to say that word but in this case there's just no there word - actually a stronger word{s} came to mind first.

For those of you waiting with baited breath to find out where the military is sending us - take a breath and keep waiting! No, I'm really not kidding. Cameron just called and there's issues they are still working out on assignments so... no news until sometime next week.

But wait... there's more - *said sarcastically joyful* The hangups with the assignments are due to the fact that the list we ranked was not the FINAL list. Yep, ya heard right. Apparently, they want to distribute dentists a little more evenly so they changed the list after we turned in our ranked choices. They are making assignments based on a list that none of us has even seen. So, now it's just a big grab bag of choices. Neat, huh?

The silver lining in all this is maybe they put some "better" options on the new list. Problem is, we didn't get to rank so how do they know we'd want to go there? The bureaucracy in the Air Force kills me, seriously.

Like my Aunt Kim says, "just put all the worry in a little [make-believe] balloon and LET IT GO." Okay, Kim I'll try but right now I'm just P.O.'d!

just a few personal thoughts that you may or may not want to know:
{I know to some of you this may be no big deal - it is an adventure, after all. And, obviously the military looks out for #1 and not for some lowly Captain's family - I get it. I know. But it doesn't make it easier for me.
I think about where my kids will be at the end of the next four years - Landon will be in fifth grade. So close to Jr. High when friends become more important than parents. I just want him to grow up in a place where he will be happy, and safe, and confident, and well adjusted. Yes, I know that mostly depends on Cameron and I but where we live and the influences the kids are around really does make a difference too. I just get so nervous about the unknown. And this waiting for months on end to find out where we are going is wearing me out. I have faith in God and know He really does have a plan for us. The bottom line is I know we will be taken care of if we follow 1) personal revelation and answer to prayer through the Holy Ghost, 2)the teachings in the scriptures, and 3) the counsel from our church leaders - coming off Conference weekend I am bolstered with a new commitment to doing what's right. The knowlege that Heavenly Father cares about these "little" things gives me hope. But none-the-less I worry. (and please don't tell me there's people out there that have it SO much worse than me and it's just moving, not disease or death or some other horrible thing. I know that. I'll deal.) Really there is nothing I can do about it so... I gues I'll give into the adventure... tomorrow. Today I just want to be mad.}

Thanks for the Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Perigo came to see us a few weeks ago. We had a great time. Although, most of our plans were "postponed" due to Cameron's PRK surgery recovery (who knew getting your eyes fixed was so painful - but three weeks later Cameron can finally says it was worth it) we still managed to do some fun things. And just hanging out was great too.

Thanks for coming. Thanks discovering that little bear museum for us. Thanks for teaching us how to make "octopus" hot dogs. Thanks for the walks. Thanks for all the frisbee. Thanks for the notebooks and drawing the horse on the front page (Austin has brought it for show and tell and brought it to two friend's houses to show off his drawing of a horse {aka Grandma Perigo's horse sketch). Thanks for taking Landon to the bus stop a few times - that made him feel special. Thanks for helping Cameron with the kids while I went to Utah. Thanks for taking Cameron to all of his appointments. Thanks for teaching us how to play chess. Thanks for scrubbing the cupboards - and introducing me to Old English varnish (they look SO much better). Thanks for sticking up for me when Cameron didn't like my haircut. Thanks for endless stories and games of "ball". Thanks for spending time with the kids. They loved every second.

The sad part about people coming over is they always have to leave. It's always rough when our families go back home.

P.S. Tomorrow is the day we are "supposed" to find out where we are going. Cameron's office has a huge map with colored pins for each resident in each of the bases offered. The word is that they are going to take the pins out through out the day and by the end there will be 5 pins representing where each guy/girl is going. *cue execution music* {I'll tell you as soon as I know-after they pick me up off the floor and give me an oxygen mask}

Families are Forever

Sasha and Alina: my {SISTERS}

I just LOVE them!!

In the bible, Matt. 16:19 it says "and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven". My family had the opportunity to bind these girls to us forever in the temple this past weekend. We had a wonderful experience.

We Latter Day Saints ("Mormons") go to the temple, not to be married until "death do us part" but to be sealed together as families for eternity. Since Sasha and Alina were adopted they needed to be sealed to my parents. Our family gathered together to witness this awesome event. After the girls were sealed to my parents my brother and I and our parents and sisters were able to stand together in the temple. The feelings I had can't be really described. Except to say that I was overwhelmed with peace and joy and gratitude for my family, including Cameron and the kids; and gratitude for a loving, all-knowing Heavenly Father who truely knows His children and truely, truely loves them.

The girls have had to over come so much in their short lives. Sasha is still haunted, at times, of some of what she had to endure as a little kid in Ukraine. This past year she has grown up so much and really changed her attitude about a lot of things. I'm so proud of her. I'm proud that she is working hard to overcome her past and make good choices. I'm happy that she is making steps to really understand the blessings of the gospel.

And I'm so thankful to Mom and Dad for following all those whispers of the Holy Ghost telling them it was time to get two more kids. I know it hasn't been easy to have both their kids grown-up and gone and then sort of "start over" with two more. And it's never easy having "pre-teen" girls and all the craziness that goes along with that. (I can only imagine!!) Thank you for everything you do for them and for me.

My family feels more complete and happy. I love being with them. I love going to the temple and feeling that special spirit there. The fullness of the gospel is a wonderful blessing in my life.

These girls were SO happy. They were smiling the entire time. They loved picking out their dresses and white bows. After the sealing they didn't want to take off their dresses. We went outside for pictures and they just wanted to twirl around like princesses.

just missing Cam and the kids

I love this picture. I think we all look alike. Sasha and Alina definitely belong to our family...


And a special thank you and shout out to Gary and Sharlene - Cameron's parents. They stayed to help Cameron recover from his PRK surgery and help take care of the kids while I was gone. Plus they came early to hang out with me while Cameron was in Atlanta. We've had a great time with them. It's always so fun when we get visitors. Pictures from their visit to come...

Commander Quack and a Fun Week

Last week was a great week. Grandma Meier came to get some more dental work done. It wasn't so much of an "arts and crafts" week like it was last time she was here because of the amount of time spent in Cameron's dental chair. But we still managed to make two more pairs of PJ bottoms, some bracelets, and Landon's "Commander Quack" costume for his 1st grade play.

This is the best picture I got of Landon during his play. This was the opening song. After that he had to stand on the risers and ended up behind the curtain for the rest of the play. If we tilted our heads we could catch glimpses of him during some of the songs. Too bad. Finally, Cameron stood on the side and could see him well. Each set of "animals" had there own song so I just sat there waiting for the "ducks" to do their song. Apparently, though, the ducks were the only "animals" that didn't get to do their own song. Landon, did a great job, though - at least the few times I caught glimpses of him - he was smiling and singing and doing the actions!

Landon named himself "Comander Quack". I got a picture of him with his "feather gun" in his class room after the play.

He LOVED wearing his costume. It even had duck feet that he wore over his shoes. The costume turned out great.

After a great week with Grandma I promised the kids I'd do something fun with them after we dropped her off at the airport. Since we were in Denver I couldn't resist a quick trip to Nordstrom. After walking around the mall, playing at the play place, and lunch. We were all too tired for the museum we had talked about going to. So we decided to stop at Build-A-Bear instead. After Austin chose his stuffed puppy (he named him Land-o) he said, "that was WAY better than I thought it would be!" Landon was excited that his "High School Musical" bear (he named him "Fire Fox") came with a necklace. And since the HSM shirts were on sale for a dollar they both got a T-shirt for their new stuffed friends. Okay, so it wasn't intellectually stimulating like the museum would've been but who cares? We had fun stuffing, dressing, and naming bears and dogs. Can't beat that, right?!

St. Patty's day was fun too. Cameron was leaving for Atlanta so I wanted to have a fun dinner before he left. Green Fruit salad, green "leprechaun bread sticks" and Cheddar Broccoli soup is what was on the menu. The kids loved the green bread sticks. Austin was sad in this picture because I told him to move the bread stick away from his face. He wanted it in the picture. I guess I should have let him - it would have been better than the frown!

One Project Down...

{... About a Million To GO}

Is it a journal? Is it a photo album? No it's both - via BLURB

If you want to give you and yours a great little present make your blog into a book. It really is a treasure. You will love to see your families name in print! I especially love the hardback covered with a dust jacket. It's just so... cute! The print quality of the photos isn't the best and there are still lots of pictures to document, so I will have to do some scrapbooking for last year still. But, if I never get around to it, oh well becasue I, at least, have this!

This is my book from 2008. All our memories poured out into 78 pages. For this year I may have my kids and Cameron write down some of what they're thinking and incorporate that too. It'd be nice to have some more perspectives. But for now I love looking at my little book and the rest of the family does too.

And checking off one more thing off my to-do list feels WONDERFUL!

P.S. We find out where our new home will be on April 10. So stay tuned!

The *LIST*

Yes, I realize my husband is in the AirForce and I'm fully aware of all the "possibilities" that entails. That knowledge still didn't prepare me for the LIST Cameron brought home on Friday. We were prepared to have a list of choices, yes. But we weren't prepared to have a list of the LAST choices available to dentists. That's how they do it around here folks - the guys with the least seniority get to be the "fill-ins" so to speak.

So, 46 dentists are graduating from the AEGD program and there are 46 slots available for them. That means we rank our choices 1-46 and hope for the best. These maps don't show 46 bases because some of the bases need more than one dentist, for example Japan needs 5 dentists. So, the next few days will find us researching surrounding areas and elementary schools and praying and praying to figure out how the heck we are going to rank this list 1-46.

A friend said to me today, "You're in the Air Force - you knew you'd have to move {I could tell she wanted to add, "duh!" after that}. I did know I'd have to move but I didn't know how much I would love it here in Colorado Springs. It is a wonderful place to live. I feel happy and content and... settled. I got my hopes up on staying, especially because we know that three dentists are leaving Peterson Air Force Base (2o minutes from our house) this year.
Everyone says what great "opportunities" our family has. Well, ya know what? I don't really want them. I want to be comfortable and live in a house I don't have to move out of in 2-4 years. And not have to keep starting over. And be able to buy furniture instead of making our stuff "last through one more move." Uh, I'm sick of that!!

Don't worry I am getting a grip and I know my family will be taken care of and provided for and happy. But this is HARD. I knew it was coming but I had no idea how hard it would be. Oh well, Cest La Vie, or something.
So far, our top three choices are Mountain Home (near Boise Idaho - 3 1/2 hours from Ogden so really that would be great!), Fairchild (near Spokane, WA) and Beale (Northern CA near Chico). Other than those three I have NO idea where else on our list I'd like to live. Nowhere, really. So I'm wrapping my head around this and I'm going to make the best of it.
We'll find out in 3-4 weeks where we will be going in August. It's going to be a LONG month!!