Valdivia Family Blog

Surprise, Grandma!

2008-09-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, Mom, Garrett, and I made a trip down to Burbank to surprise my Grandma for her birthday. She was very excited and thanked us for making the trip for her.

Saturday morning, Mom, Grandma, my aunt, and I went "garage saleing" around Burbank. See, this is a tradition. We always go to garage sales with these relatives whenever we're down in Burbank on Saturday. It's just something we always do! We bought some real nifty things, too, at great prices.

After going to garage sales, we returned home and refreshed ourselves. That night we went to the Macaroni Grill with all my Mom's relatives, minus 2 who couldn't make it, for my Grandma's birthday dinner.

Sunday was full of fun stuff! Grandma, Mom, Garrett, my cousin Richard, and I all went to the Americana outdoor mall in Glendale for the first half of the day. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, and then continued to across the street where we roamed around in the Glendale Galleria. I spent most of my time in Claire's (a jewelry and hair accessory shop for girls and women), where I bought some bracelets and earrings, and Garrett got a pocket knife that's kind of like a switchblade at the sword store. And besides all that, we continued to just enjoy walking around the mall.

When it started getting late, we packed up and left for the Ben & Jerry's shop back in Burbank for our last treat of the day.

The next day my aunt took my Grandma to Knott's Berry Farm for her birthday breakfast, and the three of us headed back home. My Grandma said this was the best birthday she can remember having, and that she was spoiled rotten! We were glad we made the trip for her.

Family Seadooing

2008-09-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well, after a long time of dreaming (about 6+ years), I finally can say I've ridden a Seadoo! And boy was it fun!!! I drove most of the time (to my great delight), and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

We were given an hour to rent the Seadoo at Bass Lake, and I actually thought I could drive that thing the whole day if I could, but I was glad to be given the time that I had. We went at the end of the season, so the lake was pretty much ours.

The guys who instructed us how to control the Seadoo, said we could do pretty much what we want, go as fast as we want, but if we wanted to fool around and make donuts and such, to do it within the "Jet Ski Zones" that were set apart for that purpose. And that we did. Garrett started driving first (I was sitting in back of him), and took us to the first of these "zones", where he made donuts, whirlpools, etc. and successfully freaked me out.

After about 10 mins. of playing around, he let me drive. After getting used to it, I found MYSELF making donuts, whirlpools, and jumping off waves that I had made. To my own astonishment, I also found myself speeding the thing up to 50+ miles an hour! Garrett cheered me on from the back, squealing gleefully like a little child, when I would get the Seadoo to jump off the waves. It was truly a great experience - especially since I was in control :)

After going around the lake, we made a switch at the dock - Garrett off, Dad on. I showed Dad the "awesome Seadoo skills and techniques" that I had learned and took him for a spin (he said he'd rather not drive, so I took full advantage of it!). After going half-way around the lake, we returned the Seadoo :( Our hour was up, and I felt I was just getting started! ;)

Now that we were done Seadooing, we had a "lunch-dinner" at The Forks restraurant in Bass Lake to finish off our outing - which was delicious.

With all that said, here's the photos!

Ahh.... the 'old' days!

2008-05-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

The family and I literally 'laughed out loud' when we watched this video... for those who grew up with the Muppets (and enjoyed them =P ), this one's for you :)

"The Cat Post"

2008-05-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are – coming out of blog hibernation (second post in two weeks)! Finally more consistent blogging from the Valdivias. Well, I guess the beginning of spring sprung some pretty busy times for us but we are recovering now and ready to come back a bit to the computer – at least with a bit more consistency. The weather is great and the garden is almost planted. Yes, don’t laugh, our garden is not quite what most people would call a garden but it is what we can do with the deer, gopher, and water rationing problems we have here!

Speaking of gophers, we’ve added some weapons to our home. Well, gopher hunting is kind of a side benefit to this addition but comes as a welcome one!

A special family was in need of a home for these 3 beautiful cats and now that my allergies are almost eliminated (I say almost because I still have a few aspects to them to work out), we decided to let Megan finally have the opportunity to have some feline friends. We tried in the past but had no success as my allergies were just too serious. I have held these beautiful creatures and although I still have some reaction to them, I am confident the remainder of the healing will be finished soon. I am getting allergy elimination treatments through a protocol with the name of NAET which is an acronym for Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques and has done way more than eliminate my cat allergies. I am no longer struggling with a life-long motion sickness in the car and my food allergies are almost all but a memory now! This is truly a miracle that the Lord has granted me this last year through the gift of my close friend. (Thank you!)

So here’s introducing:

On the left: Teddy (Teddy Bear for me because he is the most lovable and cuddly one and Teddy Roosevelt for everyone else because they wanted a more manly name and calls him “Mr. President”). :)
On the right: Riley – which means “valiant or noble”. I think you will agree he has quite a noble stance! He demands the most respect and gets it! We love him.

Now for the show stopper:

This is awwwwwwww (wait, we will take a deep breath now), okay, now we’re ready. This is:

Tsukiya – (yes, Megan, the name queen, named him) and what a beautiful name! It means “moon” and it really fits his exotic Siamese mix! It is pronounced “sue-kai-yah”.

These 3 cats are brothers and get along beautifully. They just experienced our yard yesterday for the first time and although Tsukiya didn’t make it back for dinner, he did make it back for breakfast. I think they have marked their territory quite well because they are hanging out on the property exclusively today so we are much more relaxed. :)

Tsukiya decided to “break the Valdivias in” by bringing a special gift into the garage where the cats call “home”:

He was very proud. Having only had indoor cats all my life that played with cloth mice, I was amazed that their outdoor counterparts play exactly the same with “just killed” specimens. I kind of wish they would just eat their prey though. It seems like a waste to loose all that nutrition and kill a very good garden inhabitant just for fun! But, we will have to get used to more of the same. The worst is that we LOVE birds, feed them, and save them from every enemy. BUT, it would be wrong for us to have outdoor cats and not let them exercise their instincts so we are preparing to let the little sparrows expire at the hand of our higher food chain pets. You can be assured that they will not be in the house though because we still believe in protecting our pet birds from their “instincts”. So, you can see, there is some conflict in thinking going on in the Valdivia home. We’ll balance it out over time, I’m sure!

In parting (for now), I will share a couple more photos and officially name this entry “the cat post” since it’s been taken up by our new family members. Enjoy!

Until next time:

Tsukiya and Riley

The award winning physique of Riley – Mr. Valiant!

Teddy (Mr. President)

I think they are really going to have a blast with this Bob, The Builder playset.

This is how we warmed them up to the front yard the day before we let them out.

Home Sweet Garage

Oh Riley! You're so cute :)

Taking a good nap, Mr. President?

Tsukiya, the Great Lizard Hunter

Bedtime stories :)

Star Wars According to a 3 yr. old

2008-05-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Our family got a kick of out of this, so we thought we'd share :)

An Update on The Valdivias

2008-03-04T15:51:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well! Here I am again =)

Here's a couple little random pictures to start off the post:

I made the family a Valentine's dinner on, well, Valentine's Day =P I ended up making Spinach and Feta stuffed chicken breasts, Caesar salad, & Cream of Broccoli soup in mini Sourdough bowls.

For dessert I made a Banana Split for Mom and Dad to share (Garrett made sure I put M&M's on it!).

The following week on the 22nd of Feb. we took our normal Fresno trip, but it was far from "normal". The day before, Buddy was showing some signs of something (his droppings were extremely watery and he was eating and drinking a lot - more than normal) and since us bird owners/lovers have to act quickly or they may fall dead by the next day, we made an appointment at the vet to take him in when we went to Fresno on Friday. So, after the appointment, which was at about mid-morning, we decided it was worth while to take Buddy back home and then go back down to do our "normal" Fresno trip. Turned out that we didn't get back home until 2:30 (long story) and we didn't leave for Fresno again until 3-ish. Mom and I condensed our shopping trip as much as possible and flew in and out of the stores. We didn't get home until almost 10. A couple days later the vet called and gave us Buddy's test results. Turns out he's pretty healthy for an 8 year old bird. We're continuing administering pro-biotics until his droppings firm up again.

One evening we saw these awesome clouds over our house. Mom says they're either the beginning or the end of Mammatus clouds. Here's what extreme Mammatus clouds look like (you do NOT want these around! If you do... take cover! ;) ):

Image courtesy of NOAA weather

We had a surprise guest at church on Sunday. The little girl was born as one of our family's were walking out the door to leave for our house. The family did come once they did what they needed to do and brought the goatie with them. She ended up staying with the church throughout the whole evening! She was even a good girl while we prayed and sang songs =) I don't care for goats, but I did have to admit that this little girl was quite cute!

Not much has been happening since I last posted besides the few things I mentioned above; thus, the lack of updates! It appears we'll be getting busier as the days roll by. Garrett is taking a martial arts class twice a week.. He goes to the little kids class before his to help the instructor set up, helps teach and 'control' the kid's class, then goes to the adult class as a student, and THEN goes to the "Black Belt Club" where they teach more complex 'maneuvers', and then he helps clean-up. So he's gone almost 8 hours a week now and I'm missing him terribly!! A few years ago I went along with him and we both participated in the class, but I opted out this year. The class was established to do things The Christian Martial Way. Anywho, he's participating in the class with a number of our other close friends and he's enjoying himself immensely.

I've also started becoming a little busier, as I'm trying harder to involve myself in our family economics even more. Dad's teaching me more about the ways of Quicken and once things are 'in order' I might be taking over the accounting! Ack! Not something I particularly enjoy, but it is necessary. I'm also trying to pursue a couple side projects that may provide more income for the family, so I'm excited about that! As they develop I'll report them, I promise ;)

Mom's also kept herself busy - which mothers do best. Planning, cooking miraculous dinners (and I mean miraculous. When you think there's nothing in the house but a bit of cracker crumbs, she sets down a meal that could serve more than just our family! One day I want to master that art =) I'm glad I have such a great teacher!), learning about new things to improve our family living and health, encouraging the family when things get tough, selflessly serving everyone but herself, even when her health suffers, etc. She's a great woman!

Dad's keeping himself very busy also! After working at the Post Office for most of the day, whatever time he has before dinner and after he tries to find other means to support the family. He also strives to keep his family spiritually fed and brings us together in the evenings, either reading quietly to ourselves, studying, or talking about numerous different things that need to be discussed. He invests time with me by taking Sunday morning drives (when able) together as he teaches me how to drive the Cruiser. These drives are precious times that we share together, since it's just the two of us and it brings on intimate discussion which I really enjoy. He also spends a lot of time with Garrett and they've gotten really close. The two of them work in Garrett's room, as we moved Dad's “business” computer in there with Garrett's, and they do window washing jobs pretty often, both of which provide plenty of time for conversation.

We're striving to become even more knitted together as we enter into this new phase of our family life. Now that all Mom and Dad's children are in their 20's (yes, all two of us!), we're trying to understand and feel this new ground that seems so strange to us. It's been such a blessing being part of this family, and I'm ever thankful that the Lord plopped me here among these three great individuals!

As we keep moving forward, here, I'll keep you posted when things happen in the Valdivia household! Until then, the Lord bless you!

Snowy Days!

2008-01-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

As I'm sitting here writing this post, snow is fluttering down outside our dining room window, gradually accumulating on the ground (so far we have about 3-4") making everything white. This has happened two times already in just the past week (actually the first snowfall started last Wed.). So, when I woke up this morning to "whiteness" outside my bedroom window, I thought it'd be nice to share some of it with you!

Here's a video (of today's snowfall), and below are some pictures (from the big snowfall on Wed.)!

I Surrender All

2008-01-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

Our family comes back to the words of this song often. Don't let the performance distract you from the incredible message this song represents.

I Surrender All
performed by Clay Crosse
written by David Moffitt and Reggie Hamm

I have wrestled in the darkness of this lonely pilgrim land
Raising strong and mighty fortresses that I alone command
But these castles I've constructed by the strength of my own hand
Are just temporary kingdoms on foundations made of sand
In the middle of the battle I beleive I've finally found
I'll never know the thrill of victory 'til I'm willing to lay down
All my weapons of defense and earthly strategies of war
So I'm laying down my arms and running helplessly to Yours

Chorus:
I surrender all my silent hopes and dreams
Though the price to follow costs me everything
I surrender all my human soul desires
If sacrafice requires
That all my kingdoms fall
I surrender all

If the source of my ambition is the treasure I obtain
If I measure my successes on a scale of earthly gain
If the focus of my vision is the status I attain
My accomplishments are worthless and my efforts are in vain
So I lay aside these trophies to pursue a higher crown
And should You choose somehow to use the life I willingly lay
down
I surrender all the triumph for it's only by Your grace
I relinquish all the glory, I surrender all the praise

Bridge:
Everything I am, all I've done, and all I've known
Now belongs to You, the life I live is not my own
Just as Abraham laid Isaac on the sacraficial fire
If all I have is all that You desire
I surrender all

San Diego

2007-12-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the long delay of this post! Due to technical difficulties (and they really were difficulties! Windows decided to throw in the towel and quit its job unexpectedly. Garrett was able to install Linux and extract all the necessary files that would've been lost, so I'm glad for that... though I lost a lot of my music mysteriously during the transfer to our external hardrive, which is truly an odd thing. Folders of songs don't just slip away... So I'm a little distraught about that. But I'll hunt for the songs I'm missing when I have the time (yeah right!) ;) ), I haven't been able to get this post up before now... so I hope you'll forgive me! :)

The the first two days in Burbank were full up with Thanksgiving feasts we had with family. We had a great time and probably came back weighing about 10 lbs. heavier =P The following week we spent two days in San Diego, enjoying it's beautiful night cityscape and fun attractions - including the Dead Sea Scrolls (Garrett gave the full review on that one), Point Loma (Garrett also covered that), the Hotel del Coronado, El Indio (Mexican restaurant), TGI Friday's, the Westfield Horton Plaza, and more.

The Foursome - watching a movie and looking very concerned ;)

Westfield Horton Plaza - Garrett and I were dropped off here for 6+ hours to hang out together and we had a great time! We spent the longest time in Nordstrom trying on $700 jackets and such. At first I was hesitant, because I had remembered my mama's motherly caution... "If you break it, we have to pay for it." Well, that caution stuck with me since I was a little tot, so I've always been very cautious and careful around stores :) I wasn't worried when walking into that store, knowing my boundaries well... but the minute I saw Garrett run over to a jacket... I got really scared. Horror-stricken I looked around the store and told Garrett about mama's caution. And knowing that jacket was $700, I was even more scared. If he even did anything to that jacket, we'd have to pay! Oh no... he's putting it on! Looking around me, I made sure there weren't any employees to see. I have to admit, he looked quite stunning in that expensive jacket... but that doesn't justify the wrong we were committing! ;) Then the worst thing happened... Garrett slid the jacket onto the hanger, and as he put it back on the rack, I spotted something fall... "Um, what just fell?" He looked and picked up a button. How did I know something would happen? Oh dear. Now I was frantic. I grabbed the button from him and tried to find a place to put it. We found the little sack where the extra buttons went, and thank goodness we realized that's all that button was! A spare! But it was a lesson I tried to drill into my brother's head. Well, it didn't stick, because off he went to the next jacket.
Long story short, we spent most of our time there. And no, we didn't break or tear anything, thank goodness! We both left the store feeling totally humbled and broke (heh).

TGI Friday's - Garrett and I ate lunch here. We shared a Shirley Temple (yum!), chicken fingers, and french fries.

Beat it, bub. ;)

El Indio

Trick or Treat - Valdivia Style

2007-11-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

Instead of trying to explain to you how we spent our Halloween evening, it's best to quote an email I sent to Sally Parish, regarding a movie she let us borrow called North & South (by BBC). A small background on this movie and another (Pride & Prejudice) that I will mention throughout this post, is that those two movies are both several hours long and are on 2 discs.

Enjoy!!

Sally ~

You are about to have a good laugh... prepare thyself!

We decided to go ahead and watch North & South on Halloween instead of Pride & Prejudice this year (but we will be seeing Pride & Prejudice before the 1st of the year, you can count on that!), so Mom popped the disc in and we all settled in with the Ben & Jerry's of our choice ;) What a lovely combination it makes! A family movie with your own Ben & Jerry's ice cream container... truly there isn't anything better! ;)

Well, the whole first part of the movie made absolutely no sense! So we all kept saying to each other that it was like Pride & Prejudice, so we might have to watch it a couple times before we fully understand the story. And when Thornton and Margaret were united at the end of the first disc, we couldn't imagine where the movie could possibly go from there. And then we popped in the second disc and everyone who was dead was alive again, and it was like Back to the Future! We all commented how terrible the directing was.

Then we had a horrible, awful.... HILARIOUS revelation!

We watched the second disc first.

So we all hated the movie, had a good time, and went to bed. It probably would have been a decent watch if we had watched it in the proper order, but we don't have the stamina to start at the (right) beginning again ;)

Joking aside, we did make the best of it and watched it as a "mystery" and put the pieces together from the "first" half, which was quite revealing! If you've never watched a 5 hour movie like this before, TRY IT! It really puts you on an emotional roller coaster!

Thanks for letting us borrow it, though. If it weren't for our "blind faith" that you guys put the discs in the right order in the DVD case, we may have watched it correctly last night. But we're not blaming you ;) We're blaming our lack of observation skills =D

Thanks for providing the Valdivias with a unique family movie experience =D

God bless and hope to see you all again soon!

Megan (with lots o' love!)

P.S. Honestly, it WAS a fun night and we enjoyed ourselves immensely!

Read Garrett's version of our Halloween night!

Image courtesy of Foolish Passion

The Rosebud

2007-10-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Rosebud

It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
Then, in my hands, they die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
The flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

So, I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the Pilgrim's way.

The pathway that lies before me
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.

An "Eventful" Weekend!

2007-10-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

A week after arriving home from Burbank on the 12th, we (Mom and I) took off to Springville on the 18th! The Welch family asked us if we could consider helping them prepare their Springville home (which is currently up for sale) for Brittany’s bridal shower that they’d be hosting on the 19th. Of course we said yes, and we were so glad we did! There was SO much to do, that I’m not sure what the Welchs would have done if they hadn’t asked for extra hands. They thanked us over and over again for coming down and helping them! The Bridal Shower was actually a Bridal Tea, and it turned out to be quite elegant ;) Eight families from Oakhurst went down to spend that special day with Brittany (our 19 year old bride), as well as numerous families from Springville and some from northern California.

Hannah and Lilly (two of the Welch girls) came down from the house to open the electronic gate that didn’t appear to be working for us. I punched the “right” code in (or so I had thought), but it just wasn’t opening for us! Eventually, after Hannah tried opening it from the other side of the gate, I tried punching in the code again (and that time I did it right, after all that!) and voila! … the gate swung open (ever so slowly) and we drove on in.

Hannah and Amber’s belated birthday presents!

This is where the magic happens…

Part of the Leever family stopped by to help us girls out =)

Folding napkins and getting the tables set for tomorrow!

Why won't the coffee makers work?!
(We found out later that all the outlets on that wall were shot. It wasn't until Amber tried plugging in her iPod that we noticed we weren't getting any power from them. So Amber went all around this room and the kitchen, using her iPod as a test for what outlets gave power and which ones didn't. A new use for iPods!)

Pretty table for Brittany!

Pretty tables for everyone else ;)

Some folks started showing up just an hour after we finished the crucial preparations. (Mom and I put together the sandwiches, which took 4 hours to make! Yikes!)

Frozen quiche, mmm…

Happy relatives (the top middle young lady is our bride)

Squeezing in and out between tables was a skill within itself!

Stoeppler twins in front, Polach girls in back.

Polachs!

Happy people and lots of cameras!

Gifts…

Where the buffalo (er, bison) roam ;)

The following day we joined almost all our friends at Manzanita Lake in North Fork for the Kennedy’s good-bye BBQ. We all had a blessed time and things went along so well!

Everyone together.

The BBQers.

“For the blog!”

Wyatt Becker

Food time!

What is that?!

“I believe Rebekah may want to make a speech on the family’s behalf…” ;)

A beautiful family.

Friends are friends forever! (sung in half-time ;) )

Mr. Jeremy Becker sharing fond memories they’ve had with the Kennedy family.

Garrett sharing fond memories he’s had of the Kennedy family.

Overall, everyone had a blessed time with the Kennedy family, and I know that they all had a great time with everyone too!

Stay tuned for more Valdivia happenings! =D

Thank you Peter!
(our compliments on the group photo) =D

The Promised Burbank Post

2007-10-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is! These pictures were all taken throughout our stay in Burbank, so I’ll keep them in order, by date taken, and add captions here and there on what’s going on in the pictures!

It was hard to leave home :(

On our 2^nd day down south, we traveled to Simi (Valley) with Grandma to say hi to Aunt Diane and Alicia (Uncle Alan was at work and Tyler was at school).

We received many gorgeous homegrown beefsteak tomatoes!

Alicia loved their homegrown pumpkins that they would use near Halloween (the tradition of carving pumpkins… I’m happy we’re not doing that anymore! And boy is it ever messy!)

These next few pictures were taken while we were first setting up our garage sale in Grandma’s backyard. My Aunt Debbie’s business partner, Pete, offered to let us use his three E-Z-Ups for the week, which we found one of them not to be so “e-z-up” as the word might imply!

In this picture, we were attempting to put up the “not-so-e-z-up”.

Ah yes, the carnivorous squirrel. Long story behind this one! The four cousins (Richard, Garrett, Derek, and I [if you haven’t already read in past posts] grew up together and were constantly together, so we have many, many, many memories and stories behind us) actually have “fond” memories about that skeleton that the squirrel is snacking upon. It’s kind of gross, but we grew up watching that thing decay in back of my Grandma’s shed. The boys always used to scare me with stories about what it once was and that it might still be alive (why do boys have fun teasing girls like that?!). Well, I could tell you more about our many rendezvous’ with that decayed species, but I’ll spare you for now ;)

Here’s a couple pictures of our garage sale set-up…

On Friday, Derek (20 - on the right of me) pleasantly surprised us with his presence and dropped by to pay us a visit! I was so happy, as I was closer to him growing up… but alas, he since created his “own life” and so we haven’t seen much of him in the past 2 years (approximately). So we took this opportunity to take a cousin photo, though we missed having Garrett :( I have to say that Richard and I are closer now than before, and he’s really enjoyed spending time with us when we go down to visit. He’s come to appreciate family much more since his illness (he has been suffering from what the doctors think is/was encephalitis that brought on terrible seizures about 5 years ago which the medication is now holding at bay).

After the last day of the garage sale (last Saturday), we celebrated Richard’s 24^th birthday (wow!) and had Costco pizza and a rich chocolate, chocolate cake (I told everyone I would get them back on my birthday with a vanilla, vanilla cake and vanilla ice cream :) ).

After eating, Richard and I took Tyler and Alicia into the living room and taught them to dance ;)

Me and Ah-wee-cia cuddled on the couch.

Tyler, me, and Alicia :)

When we got home, Dad and Garrett were standing on either side of the driveway waiting for our arrival. I immediately fell into Garrett’s arms, as did Mom in Dad’s. Then we swapped partners, and then we had a group hug :) We just hate being apart! We stood there hugging each other and saying, “I love you!” and “I missed you!” and just enjoying each other for about 5 minutes until we decided it was time to unpack a bit ;)

Garrett made us a homecoming dinner yesterday and it was delicious! He mastered barbecuing while we were gone and he was very proud about it, so he made us hamburgers and they were yummy!

For once our homemade burgers didn’t fall apart or crack and he learned to turn them like a professional! ;)

Well, that's one way to flip burgers ;)

Well, that’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed the update and photos :) Take care and God bless ‘til next time…

We came home to beautiful fall colors!

Relatives and Misc.

2007-09-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I know I've been a bad girl, but I've been computer-less for the past week. So, to make up for it (again!), here's a caboodle of pics that we took when my Dad's sister's family came up to visit a couple weeks ago!

Cristina (Dad's youngest sister/sibling), Brock (her husband), and from left to right there's: Abby (8), Jordan (10), and Joel (7)

Cousins (minus me) eating hotdogs and chips!

Joel and Jordan "boxing" on the Wii. They really had a blast "knocking" each other out!

Even mom and dad took a turn!

Father and son :)
(the story behind this is that Joel was the "unbeatable" champion, and everyone who challenged him got beat... so Brock decided to take him on, until his son conquered him, too! hehe. After this particular round, Brock wanted a re-match with his son... yes, Joel was humbled and put back into place ;) )

Sister & Brother

Moms and Dads

Cousins!

Okay, these next few pictures were taken just a week ago. So here's some fresh stuff for ya!

My little boy, Bubbas (a.k.a. Buddy), enjoying a nice head scratch from Uncle Garrett =D

"What's this I see?"
(I thought this picture was so cute as Buddy was watching very intently at whatever Garrett was doing on the laptop.)

"What needs dusting today?" ;) Kiwi decided to offer me a hand as I went around the room dusting away. I heard her calling me with little "clicks and chirps". When I offered her the duster, she took it gladly and started dusting off her perch =D

There you go! Mom and I will be down in Burbank next week, and I plan on doing an update or two while we're down there (yes, I really mean it!), so stay tuned! I'll update again when I have a chance next week.

Hiking Photos

2007-09-12T20:09:00.001-07:00

"Well, the big honkin' collection of photos from the 3-day backpacking trip is up... maybe one day I'll get the pics off my phone too...

http://picasaweb.google.com/ptelian/12GuysGoHiking

Thanks Pete!

-Garrett"

Taken from Garrett's blog. Me? Lazy? No silly! ... just resourceful =)

Back-packing?

2007-09-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been Garrett-less for two days now... We miss him a ton already! Needless to say that the house has been a lot quieter since he's been gone =( In case some of you are at a loss for what I'm talking about, here's the scoop... =D Garrett and a whole bunch of other young guys left for a back-packing trip to, um, somewhere! hehe... I still don't know where they ran off to, but they left on Tuesday morning (the 4th) and won't be back until late Thursday (the 6th). This is Garrett's first exposure to back-packing, so it'll be interesting to hear all the stories and experiences he had when he comes home =)

Here's Garrett, right before we dropped him off at the Telian's (he spent the night there so he could just get up and go with them the following morning)... Isn't this a good picture for Pilgrim's Progress?! ;)

Backpacking? What? Me? Something's terribly wrong here...! ;)

Anyways, I'll give you another update when Garrett gets home and we gather some photos of his trip! Stay tuned ;)

God bless!

BONUS!!:

We spent a lovely evening with our good friends last week, and I just wanted to share this photo that they took of me and their little girl, Lilly :) Isn't she precious?! She let me hold her for 2 hours straight! 8D

Here's the Latest...

2007-08-21T09:20:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry everyone for not updating you all on the Valdivia happenings, but it's been so busy here, we've hardly had time to catch our breath. I don't have time to explain too much about what's been going on over here, so I'll direct you to Garrett's blog, where you will get the gist of what's been going on. I'm sorry for not updating everyone, myself, but once we're through this month, things should go back to "normal" ;)

Have a blessed day!

Family Fun

2007-07-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

This past week we were priviledged with the visits of some of our family from down south! My Grandma first traveled up to Fresno on the Amtrak with a friend of hers who was on her way to visit her daughter in Modesto. Since the train goes through Fresno before Modesto, the two friends were able to travel together for most of the ride. It worked out perfectly!

Left to Right: Megan, Clara (our dear friend), Grandma, and Garrett

During Grandma's visit, we enjoyed numerous activities together and enjoyed her visit very much.

One of the activites included scrapbooking!

Ah yes... we also celebrated Garrett's 23rd birthday on the 12th with Grandma. We took him bowling in Oakhurst, which we all very much enjoyed (especially Garrett!), and after the bowling, Garrett and I enjoyed playing some games together at the arcade. That night Garrett opened a couple presents and then I presented my gift to him... a Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream Pie that was completely homemade! He was very excited, to say the least ;)

Right to left: Aunt Diane, Uncle Alan, Tyler, Garrett, Megan, Alicia, and Grandma

The next day, my Mom's sister and her family joined us for the weekend! We all had a blast together... especially on our "Lewis Creek" hike! But sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures of the hike. The only footage I got is on our video camera, and it's hilarious ;) Sorry about that!

Saturday was a very busy day! Full of fun and family :) In the morning, my Aunt took her family and Grandma to the Rock and Mineral Museum in Mariposa. An hour after they left the house, we re-grouped at the museum and continued on to Mariposa to have lunch at Happy Burger!

After Happy Burger, we took a pit-stop at home where a couple adults took naps while Garrett entertained the kids with our Wii (indoor sports ;) ). At around 5:30 we took off in two cars to Bass Lake so Uncle Alan could fish with the kids. It was a very nice evening by the lake.

Family Time!

Father and daughter fishing

Young Fisherman!
(he caught a 2 ft. Dorado at sea the week before with his dad! That's pretty good for a little tyke like him ;) )

Grandma and granddaughter time :)

Catch!

After our outing at Bass Lake, we returned home to enjoy the rest of the evening on the front lawn.

Garrett teaching Tyler how to make his first song (very cute!). You should've heard the words! It was kind of like a lullaby =)

Grandma watering :)

Nearing bedtime!

Sunday was "take-off" day for everyone (except us ;) ). Before they left, Alicia wanted me to do her hair, and then me asked me if Mom could do my hair exactly the way I did hers. She was very cute. Her eyes just made my heart melt and I had to give in to her small plea :) So Mom did my hair the same way, to Alicia's delight. It made her so happy, it was cute!

'icia and me ('icia is our affectionate name for her ;) )

Take care 'til we write again! =)

Father's Day & Mom's B-Day!

2007-06-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a busy day! We celebrated the Lord's day, Father's day, AND Mom's birthday all in one! For Father's Day, we made chili dogs for Dad (his special request); Mom asked for homemade Cookies 'n Cream ice cream; And in the afternoon we spent an hour singing songs unto the Lord for His Day =)

Let me back up a bit though, so you know what our day was REALLY like on Sunday ;)

At 10:30am we visited the Becker's morning church and enjoyed a sweet time of singing and praising the Lord, and Jeremy blessed everyone by speaking about Fathers (well, it was Father's Day!). We weren't the only ones who visited the Church of Christ in our circle of friends, though! We enjoyed seeing the Polachs, Buggs (Cherie's mother came too), and Callis' as well! After church, we invited the Buggs and Cherie's mom to spend a few hours over at our house for a BBQ and fellowship. Here are some pics to show for it! ;)

Heidi and Leslie keeping Garrett company

Gettin' ready to grill 'em onions and zucchini!

Yum!

Leslie and Heidi under the umbrella!

Mom, Cherie, and Diana.

Dad and Heidi

Again!

Ah yes. Our Father's Day gift for Dad! A new shirt! Who in the world are those kids on the sleeves?!

Even the back has something to say :)

Well, that's about it for Sunday. We just relaxed the rest of the evening, ate the requested homemade ice cream, and played some games before bed. It was a lovely day for everyone =)

I'll post again when other events take place ;)

Late Update (again!)

2007-06-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry everyone! I know I'm a terrible "blogger" and I don't give you many updates, but things have been rather hectic around these here parts the last couple weeks. Garrett, my Mom, and I have all put together websites on the net that's caused a bit of commotion and a lot of hours of research and design on our part. So yes, I've neglected all my devoted readers for the sake of personal interest ;)

Garrett's website is pretty much an informational "how-to" computer help site with awesome weekly how-to videos on practical and fun applications to aid in your internet experience. Really cool! Check it out sometime ;)

Mom's website is a support site for those who have Hashimoto's Disease and thyroid problems.

My website is a growing database for Biblical names and offers a weekly newsletter with in-depth studies (for those expecting babies, or for those who are just in love with names like me!). Stop by sometime and have a peek! ;)

So there you go. That's the best I can do at this time :)

Oh, I forgot! Here's a bit o' a glimpse into the next few weeks!

We'll be having our friend Diana up this week from down south for a week or so, and then when we drop her off at the station in Fresno (for her trip back home), we'll continue down to Springville for the weekend to visit with some of our friends. When we come home, we'll have a week to get "back into the groove" of things until my Grandma comes up, on the 3rd of July, and stays for 1-2 weeks or so (or until she can't stand us anymore! ;) ).

As these visits take place, I'll upload some pics and let you know how things go up here :D

Take care and God bless!

Birdie Tribute!

2007-05-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a collage of pictures (young and old) of our little birdies! Some of you have seen them in person, but for those who haven't been to our house, here's a bit o' a glimpse of our pets :)

Here's my little Bub! He's a gray cockatiel and 7 1/2 years old. I got him as a birthday present from my family in 2000 when I was 12. He's been my best "Buddy" for a long time now. In this picture, he's quite fascinated in himself.

Buddy LOVES playing Scrabble with the family!

Yes, there's the mirror again! He LOVES to sing to himself :) Sometimes when I take a shower, I take him with me and let him perch on top of the sliding shower door. Most times he just fluffs up and relaxes, but OTHER times when he sees his reflection on the mirror, he'll sing and sing and sing, and it feels like I'm in a tropical rain forest! :)

Taking a shower! When it gets warm, I'll take Buddy out and give him a nice shower using a water spritzer.

Ah yes, our little Budge (he was an English Budgerigar)... He passed away when he was just 3 years old due to pneumonia. He caught it at the change of the seasons when drafts are able to sneak in and give the birdies a chill. He was the best bird we've ever owned (we've owned 4 in total... two have died). He was so smart and said most anything and everything you could think of. Later on I'll post some videos of the birds talking and singing.

Budgie adored me and said "good-night" to me every night before I covered him to go to bed. Whenever Garrett or Mom brought him to me, he would run over straight to my face and give me kisses and say sweet nothings :)

There's Budgie and Buddy together on top of Buddy's cage near our window seat. Some days we would open the blinds and let the sun hit them for a bit for some vitamins.

Little Budge taking a bath!

Another shot of him taking the same bath with Kiwi watching in the background.

Buddy helping me sort coins :)

Are you running off with that one?!

Eating a tortilla ;)

Budgie usually helped me with Science, but since he had died, Buddy took over that position. Budgie LOVED Science and History. I would read the text out loud and Budgie would stand right at my mouth and just LOVED the vibrations that my words made. It was so cute! We all thought he was "soaking in every word" and just loved my curriculum :) I guess you just had to be there ;)

Kiwi! She's an 8 (approximately) year old Senegal that we adopted into our family just four years ago. My aunt on my Dad's side of the family was giving her away because she felt she needed too much attention that my aunt couldn't give her. So, because we love birds and want them to have a good home, we took her up to Oakhurst with us and she became one of our new "flock" members. She's pretty much Mom's bird, because that's the only person Kiwi likes!

Mom massaging Kiwi's feet! Well, those birds HAVE to be tired of standing on their feet 24/7! Wouldn't you?

What in the world? Silly bird!

Buddy and Budgie on Kiwi's perch :)

Kiwi playing with a wad of paper.

All hail Prince Budgie!

There's our faithful Humming Bird! He was our constant visitor one year for the longest time. We nicknamed him Hummer. He wasn't scared of us at all. At one point when Garrett was putting up the feeder with new food, Hummer sat down and started drinking it in between Garrett's arms! He was very cute :)

Well, that's all the good photos I have on the computer! I'm sorry I made it so long, but I thought you'd enjoy our pictures ;) I've also included two videos below of Buddy and Kiwi doing tricks for those who have endured my bombardment of photos! Enjoy!

Buddy:

Kiwi:

Last Week

2007-05-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

This post stretches back to April! It’s kind of been a “work in progress” so sorry about the delayed information!

On the 23rd, We had a wonderfully tasty brunch at the Polach's home that launched us on towards having a family day in Fresno. We hung out around Fresno, just relaxing at Berean, and visiting Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and even Trader Joes (who ever thought you could have fun at a grocery store?! Well, we do!). This was how we celebrated my dad’s vacation week – something the Valdivias enjoy doing but never really have the time to do!

During our Fresno trip, we also celebrated my dad and mom’s wedding anniversary by eating at Claim Jumper (my grandma sent money to help with a dinner out so we got to pick a place we’ve never gone to before due to financial constraints). Boy, was that a good choice! Everything there tasted great. Mom ordered herself a "Frisco Burger" (grilled-toasted Parmesan sourdough, hamburger, Swiss cheese, 1000 island, lettuce & tomato) with fries, and Dad had a "New England Chowder Sourdough Bowl". Garrett had a "Widow Maker Burger" (isn't that name just lovely? We were watching him eat that monster, just making sure he'd make it through all right! It was a hamburger with double thickness cheddar cheese, avocado, smoked bacon, sweet fried onion rings, butterleaf lettuce, tomato, mayo & red relish! Yikes! Needless to say he disappeared from the table after dinner ;) ). I ordered my faithful stand-by (though everything looked massive and delicious), "Chicken Caesar Salad" with garlic bread (boring, right? Well, it was massive just the same and I was VERY satisfied :) The garlic bread rocked! I think I filled myself up on that before I got to eat my salad). After dinner we ordered a Brownie Finale that had vanilla bean ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, and sliced almonds all over it. It was too big even for the four of us to devour... but we managed to finish it anyway ;) You can always count on us :) On the way out of the restaurant we grabbed an original cheesecake slice (one slice could be split four ways... it's really big) for the next day in celebration of Mom and Dad's 14th wedding anniversary. It tasted SO good! Even Garrett, who normally runs far from cheesecake, wanted more!

Wednesday (25th) we spent a special evening in fellowship with the Carter family. They made great food for all of us to enjoy, and we visited with them until midnight! We didn't get home until 1:00am! We had a great time and we enjoyed seeing them again.

Last Saturday, the 28th of April, was a day to spend in Yosemite with my dad’s best friend from childhood and his family. The dad's are both jokers and they're so funny to listen to! They made code-names for each other that day on the walkie-talkies (Rubber Ducky and Humpty Dumpty) and it's just so hard to be serious around them. Garrett doesn't help the situation either. Now that he's older, he can take part in the jokers' conversations and it just keeps getting funnier to listen to. The fathers decided to hike the Mist Trail, and the women folk (along with Garrett to protect us frail creatures from harm!) went with them about half way, then turned around so the visiting mother and daughter could spend some time in Yosemite Village before it got too dark.

Once the guys were done with their hike, we all met back in Curry Village at around 7:20ish to eat dinner at the buffet. We didn't get done there until about 8:30 or so. As we were walking back to the car, I noticed how beautiful Yosemite looked under a full moon! Yes, Yosemite actually looked pretty in my eyes! Seeing the park in a different light (no pun intended ;) ) was really neat. The rocks glowed and everything looked so majestic. I asked the family if we could stop off at the meadow under El Capitan to soak it in. It was just really beautiful with a full moon. Looking in the moon's direction, you could see the silhouette of the mountain range above you. It was really cool. I kept wishing I could take pictures at night, but our camera couldn't do it.

We were going to meet up at our house and hang out there (that was the original plan) and have dessert together, but by the time we pulled into Oakhurst, all of us were wiped out from the day and about to pass out, so we decided to postpone our dessert until tomorrow ;)

The next day (April 29th... just this past Sunday), the dad's got up early to hike the Lewis Creek trail while Mom and I got brunch ready. We all got together at our house at around 11:30 after our visitors left the hotel. While brunch was being prepared, Dad and Greg looked over their old trophies and signed baseballs, newspaper clippings and other things that Grandpa found in the basement of the house dad grew up in. It was fun to watch them reminisce. Here’s two photos of that “touching” moment.

We gave everyone a good breakfast, and then we all gathered around the computer to show them the Half Dome hike the guys took with a lot of our friends about 2 years ago.

After we spent some time showing them the pictures and videos, we gathered in the living room and played some games together on the Nintendo Wii (virtual sports: tennis, bowling, golfing, boxing, and baseball). At around 2:00pm Mom and I served my homemade ice cream (cookies n' cream and chocolate chip) and her apple cobbler to everyone. It was tasty! Everyone loved it :) At around 3:00 our friends left Oakhurst and headed back home down in Southern California.

That's about all the "exciting" news I have for you right now! Here's some pictures of our day in Yosemite with our friends!

What's This?!

2007-04-16T17:30:00.000-07:00

You're probably thinking that it's about time to update this blog, huh? Okay, okay, I'll do it ;) But don't laugh okay?

Garrett and I gave into the "do it yourself at home" workout regime that most of our friends would call cheating :) Even Mom says, "The Lord gave us land to work with, and that would be great exercise if that's what we wanted! There's plenty of work out there that would be great for your body!" Well, that's just not very appealing for two ex-city slickers like ourselves. So we decided to try this...

Boring, huh?

Not really!

It's hard to exercise when somebody makes you laugh all the time!

Well, maybe one day we'll be good enough to make a video like "ok go" ;)

Then again, maybe not :)

I'll post again as soon as more crazy happenings occur in the Valdivia household!

We're Home

2007-04-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, we're home! We arrived on Monday, the 19th of March, and we are so glad to be home with the guys! It took a few days to get everything back in order and settle in, but we were just so happy to be home.

On Saturday (the 24th of March) we went down to Fresno to pick up a friend of ours that was going to stay with us for a week. So we took care of our Fresno shopping trip while we waited for her bus to pull in at the Greyhound bus station in Downtown. We were happy to have her with us for a week, and she was happy to take a break and relax in the mountains :)

We held Sunday's gathering here (on the 25th), which was very nice. We got to see all our Oakhurstian friends again with their beautiful smiling faces to greet us. Our friend was very happy to take part in our love feast and worship.

I'm sorry we hadn't had the chance to update you sooner on what's goin' on up here, but this is really the first week we've gotten things back to order and back to our "old" schedule. So, I hope you enjoy the following pictures that were taken from Diana's visit and also from our "family getaway" to Yosemite on the 1st.

Here's our first night with Diana! A toast for a great week of relaxation and meditation on our Lord and Savior.

There's Mom and Diana in Yosemite!

A look at Yosemite... neat clouds, huh?

Bridalveil Rainbow Falls :)

Tenaya Lodge in the snow...

This was our "family getaway to Yosemite day" and we decided to take the 140 instead of the 41 this time as a change of scenery... and it definitely was!

Isn't it perty? ;)

Mom took my Grandma on that road (that is currently hidden by the landslide) just last May; just a week before it toppled on down!

Isn't that awesome?!

We were priviledged with a sighting of the mysterious creature that's been roaming around Yosemite lately. It seems to like to spend it's time rock hopping...

There have been no reports of violent activity coming from this creature, but we have noticed it seemed to have been quite tame at times, and if you get too close to it, it wraps it's arms about you in what seems to be an embrace. We'll give you more updates on this creature when more reports of it's activities come in.

Our modern day Rocky...

We found a really cool spot underneath the Cascade Falls along the 140 where no one else was (at the time). The temperature difference was huge. On a hot day, that would be the place to be!

Last night we were blessed to spend quality time with the Shaws over dinner and fellowship. Their new arrival, Lilly Joy, is so cute and precious! It's been such a blessing to know them.

I'll keep you up to date as new events take place in our humble abode :)
Thanks for looking!

Picture Time!

2007-03-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hello again! We're sorry we didn't supply you all with photos of Grandma's recovery, but I'm here right now to make up for it. There's not too much to say, so I'll just tell you what each photo is about and you'll get an idea of how Grandma's doing and what we're up to down here ;)

Here's Dad and Garrett looking at good ol' smoggy Burbank! It was so nice for them to come down and visit us last weekend! We were so sad to see them leave us (again!), but hopefully early next week we'll reunite with them once again... at home!

This is Grandma's house (the white one) with her dear neighbors that always do what they can to help her right next door in the green house. Garrett and I have known them all our lives, because when we were small and lived at Grandma's house, we would play with their two girls after school sometimes.

This is the walking/bike trail (I know our friends at home are probably laughing if I'm calling this a "trail") that is very happily situated at the end of Grandma's street. The guys brought two of our bikes down last weekend so Mom and I could ride them out on the "trail". It is a very leisurely ride and I love riding my bike, so this is perfect for me! The path is probably about 6 miles long, or longer. This path used to be railroad tracks, but they hadn't been used since I was about 3 years old, so Burbank made the tracks into a walking path about two years ago or so.

We took this while Grandma was in the hospital. This is The Walt Disney Co. The only reason I took these two pictures was to show you sculpturing of the "seven dwarves" that help hold up the building.

Here's a clearer shot of the dwarves...

Here's a picture of Grandma after surgery! This was the first picture she even allowed Mom or I to take. The pillow on her chest was to help relieve the pain of the incision... You know, heart pillow / heart surgery? Ha ha... sorry, that's probably not too funny. Oh, and sorry about our nighties!

Here we are at our favorite Italian deli, Monte Carlo. Grandma has been going there since she moved to Burbank probably 50 years ago! They make an awesome fresh Parmesan cheese blend! You really must try it! :)

Oh... yum... not to mention their delicious, succulent, tasty, mouth watering Gelato... YUM! ;)

Universal Studios... yes, we actually went. Grandma wanted to take Mom and I out, so we decided to go to the Universal Studios City Walk. It was fun and I bought a souvenir and a new headband. :)

The famous spinning ball... we had to get a picture of that! ;)

Just along City Walk... They also had a Dodger fan shop, which was interesting. :) It was fun to just walk around and see all the different little stores and shops.

Hard Rock Cafe.... We thought the huge guitar was neat :)

There's a nice ending photo :) That's my cute little cousin, Alicia. She LOVES dressing up and having her nails painted, so we did both when we babysat her for my Aunt Diane. She was absolutely ecstatic to paint my nails... or was it my whole hand? (I gave in to her puppy dog eyes, but as soon as she got picked up to go home, off went the nail polish!) :)

On another note, before I sign off, Grandma's been doing a lot better and we're doing last minute clean-up that she needs done before we go home next week. Hopefully our next post will take place in Oakhurst!

The Wild Side of Burbank ;)

2007-03-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Some interesting events have taken place in the last week...

Last Saturday night (24th of Feb.), Mom had to take Grandma back to the emergency room due to atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) which kept her in the hospital throughout the next day. She came home (again) Sunday evening and things got even harder after that. They gave her too much medication and her heartrate continued to drop into the 40's at times which kept Mom monitoring her through doctors and nurses on the phone and waiting for the drugs to begin to come out of her system. She is still seeing the effects of this but it is beginning to get much better now. She is getting help from nurses visiting the home and believes that the worst is over as far as that goes. Now the medication needs to be adjusted to her body and things should get easier after that. All in all, things are going well, considering the seriousness of the surgery and recovery stages. Thank you to all who are praying and continue to lift Grandma up in prayer.

Now jumping back to the 24th when Mom, Aunt Diane, and I started getting Grandma out the door to go to the hospital that night, Aunt Diane told us that something weird was going on at the end of the street (about 6 or 8 houses down from Grandma's house on the left) and to just ignore it. As Mom was helping Grandma into the Land Cruiser, the situation at the end of the street got louder and more violent. We saw now that there was a girl in the driver's seat in a dark SUV and man on the sidewalk (and maybe another person in the car with the girl, it was too dark to tell). At first Aunt Diane thought it was an accident and they were just angry, but then she concluded that it wasn't an accident, but something else. It was a very heated argument (or whatever it was) and the guy and girl were yelling and screaming at the other like there was no tomorrow. The guy started throwing things at the car and yelling at the top of his lungs. I was already inside the doorway holding the screen door for my Aunt Diane when my Aunt Debbie and cousin Richard pulled up. Aunt Diane hurried Richard inside (he was to keep me company while Aunt Debbie and my Mom took Grandma to the hospital) and told Mom to leave as the SUV and the guy on the street pulled up in front of Grandma's house. Aunt Diane pushed me into the house and locked the door as Mom took off with Grandma and Aunt Debbie. I was very nervous and wondered why they decided to pull up in front of our house! Luckily, my Aunt Diane kept telling me that she's been involved in worse situations and that this was very minor. Well, to my innocent mind I thought that it couldn't get any worse than it already was! The screaming and yelling increased, and it started getting more aggressive. My Aunt Diane saw that it was probably a good time to call 911. Five minutes after she ended her call with 911 and the police were on their way over, the SUV took off and left. We had no idea where the guy went off to or if he jumped into the car. After they left, my Aunt Diane called 911 back and told them what happened and that the threat was gone. Five minutes after that phone call, my Aunt Diane saw that it was probably safe enough to leave (She lives in Simi Valley, and she was only in Burbank to get together with her friends at a restaurant down here). As she got in the car, the police pulled up to our house and stopped her. She explained everything to them and at last was allowed to leave. She called on her cell phone after that to tell me what was going on and that the police would stay in the area to make sure nothing abnormal was going on in the neighborhood. I was relieved to know that they would stick around for a while, so Richard and I relaxed and played some games and watched a video.

I do have to admit I was thoroughly shook up and listened for any strange sounds outside. But in the end, I calmed myself knowing that God had his hand over this house and was keeping us safe. I also felt better after talking with Dad on the phone and asking for him and Garrett to pray for our safety and for the Lord to have His hand on the hospital group in Hollywood.

Mom and Aunt Debbie didn't come back until 11:30 that night. The doctor decided to keep Grandma overnight to regulate her heart rate and to administer any medications that would help her.

I believe it was two days after Grandma came home from the emergency room that Richard and Derek decided to come over and spend time with me while Mom and Grandma took naps in the other rooms. It was very nice to spend time with them and catch up on each other. Garrett and I used to spend every free weekend after school with them or during a school break, so moving up to Oakhurst has split the foursome for a time until we get together on our Burbank trips and holidays ;)

A couple days ago Aunt Debbie, Mom, and Grandma went to the hospital at 9:30am for her regular check-up with her cardiologist. While they were gone, Richard and I stayed at Grandma's house to spend time with each other playing games, cleaning up the house, and preparing meatloaf and veggies for dinner. When they came home, everyone was relieved because her doctor confirmed that she was being severely over-medicated, and took away half of her medications. She is slowly losing the toxic effects in her body. So she is down to only two heart medications instead of five, which is a great relief to Grandma and my Mom. This will probably help decrease her daily nausea.

We'll give you more updates letting you know everything that's going on. Thank you for reading and keeping us in your prayers! God bless you all.

Grandma's home!

2007-02-23T12:47:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all your prayers! Grandma is home (as of yesterday) from the hospital. After keeping her a few extra days, they determined she was strong enough to come home. The first night was difficult. She is adjusting to the medications (medications that make her heart slow down and another that dilates her arteries for better blood flow) which is keeping mom real busy working with the nurses and home care providers. Although there are a few areas that are in need of adjustment, she is doing well and recovering on schedule.

Mom and I plan on being down here at least through the first of March and then there should be a better assessment as to how much help she will continue to need.

We hear there's snow in them thar hills of ours! We had a feeling we would miss it this year. But having Grandma recovering well is worth the sacrifice. :)

A short update is better than no update at all. We hope all are doing well and thank you for those who have made the time to communicate with us. It is greatly appreciated. Mom and I hope to have time to do a better job responding to e-mails in the upcoming week so please keep them coming! Thank you!

Grandma's Still in the Hospital

2007-02-20T16:08:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

We are sorry for the delay in getting an update out but things have been up in the air for a bit now and we wanted to make sure we had some information that wasn't going to change minutes after it's posted. Although that could still be the case, I think we can safely explain what is happening at this point.

Mary Alice has been recovering quite well. Although she has had no complications, they are watching her at this point to make sure nothing is "brewing" like an infection at the incision and/or breathing problems due to something other than asthma or pneumonia. She has been having labored breathing and although it can be normal due to the re-synchronizing of the heart and lungs after surgery, they are not sure of the cause yet. A couple more days in the hospital is in order but we are glad they are watching her so well. She is frustrated and would like to be home but knows it is important to stay in the hospital until she is at the right stage to come home. Megan and I are continuing to visit and work around the needs of her hospital stay and taking care of the needs of her home. We are looking forward to her release date which will make it one step closer to coming home ourselves.

Thank you for your continued prayers and we will make sure to give you another update again soon.

Maureen & Megan :)

Update on Grandma's Heart Surgery

2007-02-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Well, we are two days post surgery now and things are going supposedly "as expected" in the experts opinions. However, our family is astounded! We did not expect such quick progress. She has already been moved out of ICU which, if complications were present, she would have had to stay longer in. Her breathing tube was removed the first day, 16 hours after it was inserted! This is amazing news (a lady we spoke to before surgery said her mother had hers in for 5 days post surgery and to expect it in longer than 1 day) and we know that the prayers lifted up on her behalf are the reason. Thank you all for praying! We hope to report good things in the next few days.

She is responding well to us and is communicating with less disorientation than was expected. She is still on Morphine unfortunately but they are already beginning to convert it to another pain killer that will not affect her mentally as much. That will be nice. This should begin to happen today. Now that she is out of ICU, the visiting hours are different. We can spend more than 5 minutes every hour with her and now we can see her without restrictions from noon to 8:00 in the evening. This will help us get some rest ourselves. The first two days were really hard for two of the three sisters being at the hospital for 20 hours straight and the same two of us not sleeping at all the night before. I finally got a night's sleep last night so I believe I will be functioning better from this point on. God has been so faithful to us through this. It's hard to see other families that didn't have such a great outcome. It reminds us that we can only trust in God alone, not man (even top notch surgeons). We believe it was His hand that performed the surgery and His hand that will continue the healing.

At this point, she will need to begin to get out of bed and move around to eliminate the chance of pneumonia setting into her lungs. They will begin to get her moving today and this will be the most challenging of the recovery for her since she is struggling with nausea and pain. We appreciate your continued prayers on this. We have left her favorite instant foods next to her bed and I believe this will help her eat. She really does not like hospital food. It's hard to believe nutrition is in some of these instant foods but I suppose it is better than eating nothing. :)

The family has been working together and taking shifts which has been extremely helpful. Adrian, Garrett and Megan have been wonderful support and have served Grandma through fixing things, making meals, and cleaning her home while she is in the hospital. I know it's been a blessing to her. She said the day before surgery that she felt spoiled since she didn't have to do anything around the house herself. I am sure that our presence during the week prior to the surgery helped her strength to get through it. It is apparent that things have been supernaturally orchestrated and our effort has been minimal in our own strength. This is totally different than in the past surgeries. Thank you for all your support and prayers. It is so wonderful to know others are thinking of us. My mom has dozens of friends who called the week before and wished her well, as well as many others who have kept in contact through the surgery (of course through the family members). This is all so encouraging. If all continues as it has, (they say these next few days will feel like a roller coaster - first up, then down) she may be released by Sunday or Monday.

Adrian and Garrett will be returning to Oakhurst this weekend sometime. They are not sure of the day but it will depend on what is needed here in Burbank. If my mom is released by Sunday, they may stay for that but if she will be in the hospital passed that day, they may just come home by Sunday. We miss our family in Oakhurst and we are all looking forward to coming home. This week will help us determine how long Megan and I will need to be assisting my mom during home recovery. We will update this blog when that is becoming more clear. Our guess is at least a week after her release but it could be more like two. She will not be able to drive for 4-6 weeks but my older sister is available for occasional transportation to doctor's appointments and other needs. We will be here to cook and clean for her as well as monitor her progress as long as that is needed.

Well, as usual, we miss the mountains but have been so distracted down here, we hadn't had much time to think about it until now. There's sure a LOT of noise around here. Planes overhead every 5 minutes and cars buzzing down the street and neighbors taking out trash cans, construction on the road in front of her home... etc. We do miss the tranquil atmosphere of our Oakhurst neighborhood. It's good to be reminded of the things we have escaped though.

Well, this update has been long enough. I sat down and said to myself that a quick update would be better than nothing and now it's turned into a novel! Thank you for your patience in reading through my ramblings! Many blessings to all of you!

~Maureen

We're Here!

2007-02-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Burbank on Friday, the 2nd, safe and sound at our Grandma's. She was very happy to see us and couldn't wait for us to give her "sugars" and hugs as we walked up the front stairs to her doorway. We first unloaded the birdies and got them situated, and then Garrett, Mom, and Megan unloaded the rest of the luggage in the Land Cruiser while Dad took the Saturn to pick up garlic bread at the Smokehouse (Megan's birthday request) to go along with dinner that night. When Dad got back, we all sat down to have dinner. Dinner included the Smokehouse garlic bread, chicken Caesar salad, and sparkling cranberry juice from Trader Joes. ;)

After dinner Grandma disappeared into the adjoining kitchen and slipped into the laundry/pantry room and told Megan not to come in (Grandma sounded a bit mischievous when she said that). After Grandma walked into the laundry room, Mom came back in from the kitchen and cleared the table. A few minutes later, when Grandma saw that everything was the way she wanted, she walked into the dining room and presented Megan a cake. Everyone sang and Megan blew out the candles. Mom served everyone a piece of cake and all was well after that. :)

Later that night everyone got dressed into their PJ's and sat down to watch a movie together. Everyone was happy to relax after a long day and couldn't wait to go to sleep after the movie.

The only thing that took place on Saturday, that's worth mentioning to you all, were some garage sales. Aunt Debbie (Mom's oldest sister) and Richard (Aunt Debbie's oldest son) joined up with Grandma, Mom and Megan, and piled themselves into the Land Cruiser to start the hunt. After the garage sales, everyone went back to their own homes, and we just did miscellaneous odd jobs the rest of the day.

Sunday was fun for us. We went to our Mom's friend's church in Eagle Rock, met some neat people there, and then after that, the four of us ate lunch together and headed up the hill to the mall where Megan spent some of her birthday money on some things she wanted. After a nice family outing, we went home and spent time with Grandma for the rest of the day.

Monday didn't hold too much for us. Mom, Grandma, and Megan went on some errands, and then went to the mall (again!) to "hang out" for a bit and get Grandma some time with her girls. While we were in the mall, Grandma bought Megan a Blizzard at Dairy Queen. The people at Dairy Queen think it's fun to hold your ice cream upside down as they watch panic sweep across your face! After taking a quick detour to Barnes & Noble on our way down the hill from the mall, we went home. Later in the evening, after dinner, we all gathered around the dining room table in our PJ's and played a couple card games with Grandma.

Tuesday morning Mom, Aunt Debbie, and Grandma went to the Pre-Op consultation. I've asked Mom to update you on the details of that appointment:

Yesterday we (Maureen, Debbie and Mom) went to the Pre-Op appointment in Hollywood, California. (Kaiser) My younger sister has sick family members and her presence would present a risk of infection/virus which would not be good. We left at 9:00 and didn’t get home until after 5:00! This was due to an unexpected extended part of the appointment. They ordered 2 pints of blood for my mom for the surgery in case of blood transfusion, so my sister and I donated a pint each at the end of the day. This was the first time I ever gave blood (I was told I couldn’t because of my thyroid disease but they now discard the plasma and keep the rest) and didn’t realize the weakness it could make you feel afterward. However, if she needs blood, we are happy to know it will be coming from family.

Other details are as follows:

The surgery is set for this coming Monday, the 12^th (she arrives at 5:00 a.m.) and will last from 3-5 hours.
She will receive a pig valve, which should last up to 15 years. The other choice, the mechanical valve, presents problems with blood clotting properties if she should have other health problems afterward that requires thicker blood to heal. The reason is because she would have to be on blood thinner 24/7 for the rest of her life. This is one reason we chose the pig valve. She will still need the blood thinners with this option, but they could be stopped temporarily for dental appointments and other procedures that depend on the blood clotting quickly.
This surgery has an 90%-95% success rate. That 5%-10% chance of not making it through is making my mom extremely anxious as you might guess. During this surgery, there is a chance they will perform an additional procedure that could help regulate her irregular heartbeat that she has been suffering from for over 15 years. It has a 50% chance of working and would keep her on the machines another 20 minutes during surgery. When asked if we wanted them to perform this procedure, we had no clue as to what to decide. Finally the doctor suggested that we let them make the decision once she is done with the initial valve replacement segment, which could last 3 or more hours. This way they will determine if extra time on the machines poses too much of a risk. We feel at peace with this scenario.
We had a choice between 3 surgeons. The Lord gave me grace to look squarely in the eye of the nurse practitioner and say “we want the best of the three. I am asking you heart to heart to give us the best since we have no way of knowing”. She responded well and assured us that two of the three are the best choice and the first choice does 2-3 surgeries per day and has an extremely high success rate. He has done hundreds of these surgeries and is the most active of the three. Please pray for his alertness that day.
They are not too excited about her dependency on the cane since her chest will be cut open and will have trouble tolerating pressure when trying to walk after surgery. This presents the greatest healing challenge (besides the chance of infection) since she must begin to exercise as soon as possible. She will need someone to support her under her arms to help her walk because of this.
Also, due to her diabetes, the concern of infection is high and your prayers are greatly appreciated on that front.
We go back on Friday this week for many different tests (to check for infection in her body which would postpone the surgery) and admission and insurance issues. This appointment will also be up to 5 hours. Of course, on top of all of this, it is not too fun to be walking the streets of Hollywood. L There are many buildings to move between, causing us to walk Sunset Boulevard.

Please pray that the attempt to regulate her heart rate is miraculously successful if it is attempted. That she will make it through the surgery better than expected and will have a speedy recovery. Pray for her anxiousness leading up to the day and her yielding to the Lord during this time. We believe He is doing a special work in this family.

Thank you to all who are praying. We are humbled by the opportunity to serve our mother under such difficult times. We plan on another update after the surgery on Monday, probably after the first 24 hours when she comes out of intensive care.

We appreciate any and all e-mails. We check them daily. We love having connections with our friends during this time. We hope all of you are doing well. We miss you! - Maureen

So there is a glimpse into our lives down in Burbank. Much is to follow! We'll update you again later! Thanks for reading ;)

Launched!

2007-01-26T11:31:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken about two months ago down in Burbank with our cousins (on Mom's side).
Left to Right: Derek(19), Garrett(22) holding Alicia(4), Megan(18) holding Tyler(6), & Richard(23)

Hello everyone!

Here we are.... now you can visit our family digitally and see what we're up to ;)

We will hope to update you every month or so (give or take a few days :) ) on our whereabouts and happenings if you wish to check up on us every once in a while.

Nothing unusual happened in January... Just preparing for our Grandma's open heart surgery (physically, emotionally, and mentally). The only other event taking place coming up is Megan's 19th birthday on Tuesday. February, on the other hand, will hold a lot for our family with the 12th being our Grandma's projected surgery. We will arrive in Burbank on the 2nd of February and then the guys will head back home about a week after surgery (the surgery will take place on the 12th). Mom and Megan will most likely spend the rest of the month or more down in Burbank caring for Grandma whether in the hospital, at the rehabilitation center, or at her home. We aren't sure exactly what the month will hold for us but we know that our Lord does and we all pray that He will give us, and Mom's family, the strength to make it through.

Thank you for coming to visit us today. We hope you will all enjoy our new family website and check up on us every now and again. We will try and keep you updated on all our adventures for 2007! Stay tuned!