This last weekend we rented a house up in the mountains. Our hopes were that there would be snow up there and that it would actually snow while we were there. One might think that those were odd hopes. It’s January in the great northwest. We would be at over 5000 feet elevation. Snow is a given. But then there is me. I have this odd way with weather. Perhaps it’s because I love the sun so much. Or maybe it’s because I have wanted to actually see it snow for the last decade but it never happens. But it’s more than just that. It has seemed over the past decade that I somehow manage to keep it from snowing. It’s become somewhat of a joke in our family. We would come home to Oregon for Christmas, and it would snow after we left. Even if the forecast was for snow before we even got there. ALl we would see is rain. Rain. And more rain.

It snowed in NC when we left and were on our honeymoon up to Canada. But no snow north of NC while we were on our trip. And then there was the year we left for Kenya for 6 months. It started snowing hours after we boarded the plane. And the year Eric’s sister got married. We flew out to Oregon from NC. It had snowed before we showed up, but was all melted by the time we arrived. Every day there was a chance of snow. But just rain was all we got. Then we left and it snowed.

So the day before we left to head up to the mountains, one of my son’s suggested I stay home for the first two days and then just come up on the last day. His motive was skiing. We had promised the children that if there was snow on the mountains, we would put them in ski camp at the ski lodge and they could learn how to ski. So of course rain would mess up their grand plans of learning the art of skiing. But the other children quickly said they would rather have me along than go skiing.

So suitcases, sleds, and food packed, we were on our way. Upon arriving, there was about an inch of snow on the ground. The children were delighted. The house we had was at the bottom of a hill on a quiet street. Perfect for sledding. The sun was shining and the snow was melting, but there was some snow. Then that night while we slept, it snowed another inch. We never saw a cloud though. That morning after the snow, the sun was bright and shining. Eric and his Dad took the older three and headed to the lodge. It was truly a perfect day to learn how to ski. Fresh snow, sunshine, and some awesome instructors. I stayed at the house with Josh, Maryann, and Gabe so I missed out on all the excitement of them learning. But Eric was very impressed.

By the end of the day, the boys were doing jumps and skiing all over the place. Laura was a little more conservative, but was flying down the slopes with the boys. They all came home exhausted but bubbling over with all the days adventures. The younger children, Eric’s mom, and I had a very quiet, relaxing day. We played games, went sledding, and took a nap. Oh, and ate cheesecake!

The next morning we awoke to dark clouds. It wasn’t long before it started snowing. First little flakes. Then bigger flakes. Harder and harder. We finished breakfast and bundled up. Then we all headed out into a snowing winter wonderland. We went sledding, made snow angels, and had snow ball fights. The snow was cold and stung our faces as we played, and slowly the little ones headed back in one at a time. Laura made everyone hot chocolate with big blobs of whipped cream to warm us up when we all came back in.

And so, after all the years, it finally snowed where I was at. I loved every minuet of it. The quietness of the snow compared to the rain. The bright white compared to the dull gray. It was beautiful!

It continued to snow as we packed up that morning. By the time we left, all our tracks from playing earlier were completely covered up. It was fun to drive in the snow.(At least for everyone except for Eric who was a little stressed driving down the mountain roads completely covered in ice and snow.) And then it was as if you blinked. We went around a curve and there was the rain. Dull, gray, and wet. And it stayed raining all the way home.

Maryann getting some air before landing on her sled and heading down hill. She was so fun to watch.

Ben trying to snow board on a sled.

Michael working on his jumps

Michael trying out Eric’s snowshoes.

The girls bedroom at the house we stayed in.

The main room of the house with beautiful views looking out at the mountains.

The views out the window on Saturday morning.

Game time. A favorite of the weekend!

The road down the mountain.

~cheryl

Today I am 16 weeks pregnant. Our little baby is about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His (nope, don’t know what we are having yet, but the boys are really wanting to keep the numbers in their favor, so for now we will say he) legs, eyes, and ears are close to their final position. His hair is just starting to grow. He even has little bitty toenails this week! And his heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood each day. Amazing.

I had expected to feel little one moving around by now. With Gabriel, I could feel him at 10 weeks. Even Eric could feel his little movements. But not this baby. No little kicks or flutters yet. Sometimes late at night I will lay on my back just to see if in the stillness of the night I can maybe feel baby moving, but somehow I always fall asleep before he decides to wake up.

I am feeling much better these days, but not due to my own body being on good behavior. I have hoped for each pregnancy to be better than the last. There is nothing that I dread more than waking up one morning, running to the bathroom, getting sick, and then spending the next 4 months doing this everyday, all day and every night. I have spent more time hooked up to IV’s than I ever care to remember. I have thrown up more times than one ought to ever have to in a lifetime. It’s called “being pregnant” for me. I have watched some women breeze through their pregnancy. A few waves of nausea, but nothing to even slow them down. I really can’t even began to understand this blessing. But, that’s ok. I have survived each time, and the outcome is definitely a miracle! Worth every minute of it.

So here I am, 16 weeks and feeling pretty good. Why? One single word. Zofran. A synthetic anti-nausea drug created for chemo patients. And for some reason, it works wonders for me. I have tried many different things over the past 6 pregnancies, from wrist bands on my pressure points, to vitamin K therapy. Nothing has worked. Each time I have hoped, waited, but still I am sick. Then, after a miserable 12 weeks with Gabriel, so sick that I had to call a good friend and ask her to fly to my house and take care of my children because I could not even get out of bed to take care of them and Eric was in school with no flexibility in his schedule, my Dr gave me a script for something I had never heard of before. Zofran. I researched it. But not much out there on this drug. Other than it’s the popular “morning sickness” pill to give pregnant sick woman. And everybody is taking it.

I spent weeks not wanting to take it. Feeling guilty if I were to use a drug to help me get through my pregnancy. But I kept loosing weight, and then started having a lot of bleeding every few days and was put on bed rest. At that point, I felt like there was just not much of me left to give this little baby. So Eric went to the pharmacy and filled my prescription. And I started taking Zofran. There were no immediate results. But after a week, I felt a little better. And the next week was better yet. And eventually, I could get up, take a shower, even go for a walk for a little exercise. It was such a HUGE improvement for me that I continued taking it for 2 months. Then, slowly I backed off, until eventually I was Zofran free and still feeling great.

So with this pregnancy, after the first few trips to the bathroom, I was ready to start the Zofran. It took about a month this time, before I felt somewhat normal. Whatever normal is! I still have a bad day here and there. Still get sick once in a while. The worst one lately was a few Sundays ago. Eric bought me a mocha on the way to church. And by the end of the service, I was in the bathroom, throwing that mocha up. Wishing I had just said “no thanks”. Let me state that throwing up in a public restroom has to be on the top of my “Worst things to ever do” list. But most days, I am feeling good. I can get out of bed, shower, get breakfast going, and do school with the children. Then there’s lunch and afternoon activities and then dinner and clean up and bed time. I really have no time to be sick. So because of that, I am very thankful that Zofran works well for me. It’s only taken 7 pregnancies to figure that one out!

Here are a few pictures of me this week. Thanks to Laura~ my upcoming photographer.

~cheryl

Wow, it’s Jan 6 2010. I remember 10 years ago, when it was the turn of the new Century. All the hype of what might happen as the clock turned to 12:00 am Jan 1, 2000. And now 10 years later, here we are. No real hiccups a decade ago. As I have thought about this new year, I can honestly say I never once thought about where I would be, or what we would be doing in a decade back in 2000. But now, here we are. Twenty-ten or Two thousand and ten. It’s crazy. So today I pondered where I might be in another decade. Twenty-twenty or Two thousand and Twenty. And honestly, I have not a clue. If I am still here, I will have children that might be in college or married. One will be learning how to drive. Possibly even grandchildren. I was 18 when I married Eric and 19 when Laura was born. And in 10 years she will be 20… But it seems like just last year that we all welcomed in 2000.

I hope that I will see life thru eyes that are wiser. That I will have learned to love more and care less what other people think. I want to forgive and forget and not be hurt so easily. I want to have 7 children that love Jesus more than life itself and serve Him every day. And that our home will always be one of their favorites places to be. And I want to be running this race hand in hand with my best friend and husband, Eric!

Years ago I gave up on long lists for New Years Resolutions. My parents required them of us and it was the usual scene. By the end of Jan, every one was forgot or broken. I always felt like a failure and dreaded the list I had to write up each year. But I continued to do it for years after we got married. And continued to never conquer them. So then I stopped altogether. But that didn’t feel right either. So a few years ago, I decided to choose just one thing that I wanted to work really hard at and either change or improve at in my life. And that has worked really well. So sometime mid-Dec I start thinking about what I will make my one New Year’s Resolution.

This year has been difficult to choose. I have considered many things. Much has come from the many life changes that happened this last year. But no matter what I thought about, it all came back to one thing…

To find Jesus again. To see Him and hear Him. I want my eyes and ears to be opened again.

This last year has brought many exciting changes and mountain top experiences for our family. But it has also been a very emotional roller coaster for me. I have struggled with depression and loneliness leaving behind my life in California. Not that I am not happy here, with where our new lives have begun. I am. But many of the events this last year that happened left emptiness in my heart or maybe I should say no closure when I thought it would. Eric and I spent over a decade running this race together. And now that it’s over, I’m wishing I could go back and keep running. Maybe it’s because that is all I have ever known being married to Eric. Being a student’s wife. Moving almost every year. Living on nothing, but having everything provided for us that we really needed and so much more. At times God was so real and so big. I remember our first Christmas that Eric was in Dental School. We had no money to buy Christmas presents. Not a dime. And yet, that year, there were more gifts under our tree than ever before. They seemed to fall out of the sky. And we had not even told a soul that we were not buying gifts. In fact, I remember coming home from church one Sunday, and a bag full of gifts was on our front porch. They were all signed Santa. To this day I still have no clue who left them.

God was so big and so real. And now, I find myself searching for Him. Really wanting to know Him. I have these six, almost seven little children that desperately need me to lead them to Jesus. To show them how real He really is. Not just go to church every Sunday and pray before meals, but to find Him every day of their lives.

It’s an eternity thing. And eternity is a very, very long time. And I want to spend it with Jesus. Not a doubt in my mind. And I want my children there too. But they need me to teach them and train them and to show them by my actions that I really mean what I say. That I am really walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

So that’s what my one and only resolution is. And I am pretty sure once I find Jesus, every thing else will just fall into place.

Here are pics from December that have yet to be posted. I am going to consider myself caught up after this post!

Laura and Gabe snuggling before bedtime.

Gabe eating his first Mango. He laughed every time it would slip out of his hand.

We spent a day in the snow with our cousins.

Frozen branch.

The Cousins

Our children all love the snow.

Except Maryann. Who would much rather be running around in So Cal with a skirt and tank top, barefoot. But she was a good sport.

Snow Angels

Elk that I spotted at Grandpa and Grandma’s Farm. Eric counted 35. It was fun to watch them. I have never seen wild Elk before.

Reading a special book with Grandma Beth and Grandpa Luke. Her new favorite. I think it’s because it has her name in it and even her baby doll’s name!

Lots of new cameo for a new year! A favorite clothing choice of the boys.

Grandpa Luke and Josh putting together his new “very own” wagon.

Happy New Year to all my friends. Thank you for all your posts and comments this last year. I love hearing from each of you! ~cheryl