Haiti

Last year while John and I were visiting the Dominican Republic, I really wanted to see Haiti. Some of my family had been there, and said it is indescribable. They were right. The border bridge had just closed for the day, so we couldn't cross over (it closes at like 2pm on Sundays), but people were going back and forth across the river, which serves as the border, and you can see right into Haiti. It was incredibly sobering to see the living conditions in Haiti...it's hard to comprehend unless you've seen the poverty first hand. And to see it is life changing. Over the course of the past 4 weeks as I've watched the tragedy of the earthquake I have been so sad. The newscasters have tried to show the poverty - and it is just as they say. They are not sensationalizing the poverty at all....there's no way to over-dramatize such poverty. I've seen just a small glimpse of it myself.

I have wondered over and over (and talked to John about it) why Heavenly Father would allow something SO tragic to happen to people who already suffer more than most of us will ever have to. Why? It seems so heartless, so callous. And the only reason I've been able to come up with is that now the world is aware of Haiti and the plight of it's people. And now that people are aware, perhaps in years to come (none too soon), the rebuilding of Haiti will allow Haitians to live in better circumstances than they did before the earthquake, and certainly than they do now. That is the only silver lining I can come up with...that it has caused us to stop and think about others and has allowed us to serve...and in turn, the lives of the Haitians will be blessed in the long run.

And, just another thought - a tangent, really - aren't Americans amazing?! When I've seen on the news how much $$ Americans have donated to Haiti - especially in comparison to any other nation on earth, it is astounding. Americans have compassion that doesn't seem to eminate from others around the world. Even as our economy suffers, we are a generous people. It has made me proud to be an American.

My heart has always been with, and I've always felt a kinship for Africa (I served my mission there)...and I've always wanted to do a humanitarian vacation there. I still do...BUT, now I feel such a strong desire to do the same in Haiti. I feel like because I've been so close to where such tragedy has taken place, I have a connection there. Silly, I know. But, I'm going to start saving my money to go back to Haiti and do a humanitarian vacation. Help rebuild wherever I can. The past several weeks, I have wished I had medical training - to be able to help so immediately. It will likely be a couple of years before I get to Haiti, but I am determined to go. And it's interesting, because we hear about the poverty in Africa - which is very real also, and I certainly don't intend to minimize it - but it's a half a world away. Haiti is so close...It's closer than Puerto Rico! And yet, they live in conditions comparable to the poorest countries in Africa.

The following pictures aren't great - as I've said MANY times, John and I are terrible photographers - and I don't think they capture what we saw, but they do show a little.

This little girl was so cute. Her mom was doing their laundry in the river right below the bridge, and her dad was bathing. We saw several people bathing in the river.

Disneyland

Last week I took the kids to Disneyland. By myself.

Within 5 minutes of arriving at the airport, I had three people say, "Wow. You're brave! Are you alone?". I know they were really thinking, 'She's nuts!'. With each of our carry-ons (we didn't check any luggage), backpacks, a double stroller, a carseat, and a booster, it was A LOT of crap. It took us at least 15 minutes to make it through security. Thank goodness we were the last people in our line. Security probably could see how long it was going to take, and just closed down the lane :).

Anyway, it was a lot of fun! John was in LA the whole week working, so we saw him at night after work. And my brother Nate was there one day, and my sister Emily was there too! Emily's kids are a lot older than mine, so unfortunately we didn't see them too much...but when we did, it was a lot of fun.

I promised myself to be good at taking pictures, and so I even started with one on the airplane. And then my camera battery died. I was so ticked! Thank goodness Ellie had her Mickey Mouse camera we gave her for birthday - it's a great little camera for a little kid camera...as you'll see by the pictures.

Ellie was just getting over being sick when we got there, and Jack was in the middle of a cold, so that was kind of a bummer. But we had beautiful weather, and a wonderful time. And yes, I renewed my annual pass :).

On the airplane - Jack's 1st time in his very own seat.

Jack was so funny about the characters! He'd see them, call out to them, run up to them, and then get really mad and run away. He was TICKED I made him be so close to Minnie.

He did however, LOVE Lightning McQueen. He thought he was AWESOME standing next to him in ELLIE'S sunglasses. Isn't he cool?! He sure thought so!
Ellie took this picture...

Unfortunately, I started getting a REALLY bad sore throat while we were there. I felt pretty worn down, but was still able to enjoy it. We flew home on Saturday, and by Sunday I was as sick as I have ever been. Ever. I couldn't even get out of bed. It was TERRIBLE! I'm pretty sure it was the swine flu...chills, aches, worst sore throat I've ever had, cough, congestion, runny nose...the works.

What's funny is that I NEVER get sick. John and I were just talking the last week (before I got sick) about how we're hoping our kids will get a good balance of our immune systems. My immune system is awesome and I can go years without a cold. Even when my whole family gets sick, I'll somehow not get sick - kissing and all :)! So, because I never get sick, I never get a flu shot. BUT, we decided Ellie and Jack should get the H1N1 vaccine and since it's a mist, Ellie wanted me to show her that it didn't hurt. So, the sucker that I am, I took the bate. And wouldn't you know, I started feeling worn down right after, and then ended up sicker than I've ever been. I think I'm done with flu vaccines!

I'm feeling 10 times better than I was on Sunday and Monday. Now I just feel like I have a NASTY cold. But at least I can function.

Thank GOODNESS John had his swine flu vaccination way back in October, so he's been just fine. I can only imagine what would happen if he ended up with this.

Okay, enough whining.

I'm embarrassed to say that the reason I took Ellie & Jack to Disneyland is because I made a deal with Ellie about her binky. I'm such a sucker! She's over FOUR and still had a binky. So finally, I told her if she gave it up on January 19th (we chose the date together and put it on her calendar), I'd take her to Disneyland. I waited WAY too long to take it away, I know. And it hasn't been a big deal at all. The only thing I felt bad about (and almost caved in!) was that she got sick the very day she gave it up, so she cried for it that night. And that was it.

While looking at Ellie's camera...I came across some super cute pictures of her.

Ellie's 4th Birthday party!!

Weekend Rendevous

Sooo....Last week John had to spend the week in Atlanta, so I flew to meet him there on Thursday night and then Friday morning we hopped on a flight to the Bahamas for the long weekend! Yes, it was just for the weekend - and it was JUST PERFECT! There wasn't a lot to see or do, so I did EXACTLY what I wanted - laid by the pool and read my book. The weather was perfect. It was sunny and beautiful. Church on Sunday was touching - there were two confirmations, and many tender feelings about Haiti. Apparently there are quite a few Haitians living in the Bahamas, and several members of the branch had family members in Haiti. My emotions got the best of me...it was a very sweet meeting with a beautiful spirit. Of course, maybe it was just such an unusual experience for me to actually be able to listen peacefully at church that I was caught off guard! If you read my previous post, you'll understand what I'm talking about :). John and I are lame - we're both terrible at taking pictures. So I took one of the darling primary kids, one of the church, and we took one as we were leaving for the airport...it's a terrible picture of both of us - but you get the idea of the beauty of where we were. Such a fun - and much needed - weekend! I feel so renewed!



Here's the latest update with John. He has another sinus infection (surprise!) that he's been on antibiotics for since the beginning of January. Yesterday, they brought out the "big guns" of antibiotics to try to kill the infection. Hopefully it will work. When we saw the immunologist, we decided to try a long term oral regimen of antibiotics to keep him from getting sick rather than start on IV therapy every month (he has IGg 2 deficiency). We're hoping it will keep John healthy and he won't need to start the plasma replacement therapy. But with this latest infection dragging on and on and on, I get kind of nervous that his body just isn't going to respond to oral therapy. But, we'll keep our fingers crossed! The IV therapy would suck. Bad. The side effects are terrible, and it's very expensive (the likes of $5000.00 a month!!!!!). Yes, insurance would likely pay for it, but still it would be a lot out of pocket. So, we're really hoping John's body will respond to the oral therapy and will start feeling better so he doesn't need it!

He really started feeling better when we were in the Bahamas...maybe we need to move to a warmer climate because as soon as we got home, he crashed again. I could handle a warmer life :).

Our little family

I'm still trying to upload Ellie's picture. My kids may look sweet in this picture...and a lot of them time they are very sweet. BUT...they are both very naughty sometimes. Like yesterday. After church yesterday I marched right into my bathroom and locked the door and cried until my eyes were swollen and my makeup was all over my face. I looked quite comical actually! So our church is at 1pm, and sacrament meeting is last. By the time 3pm rolls around, my kids are not only grumpy, hungry, and tired...they are tired of sitting still. Yesterday was no exception. They were restless. I often feel like we are "that" family (every ward seems to have one) where the kids are out of control. Ellie had her feet up on the bench in front of us, and Jack was trying to run on the bench we were sitting on. Finally the lady sitting in front of us turned around and said to Ellie, "Shhhhh. This is Jesus' church.". At that I got up, took both my kids out and stayed in the foyer for the rest of the meeting - on the verge of tears. Then after the meeting a sweet woman sitting behind us in sacrament meeting found me and said how sorry she was that the other woman had turned around. That's all it took and the tears started flowing. She tried to convince me that my kids weren't loud or disruptive, but I knew better. I had to get home fast. I composed myself as well as I could, apologized to the woman who told my daughter off, and left. Mortifying. I hated yesterday. I went to bed at 9pm and slept for 12 hours! I feel much better today.

On a much happier note, John and I booked a quick weekend get-away to the Bahamas. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. It will be my first vacation since John got sick, and it is MUCH needed. I'm hoping to come home feeling like a new person!

And a quick update on John. He is sick (again!!) with another sinus/chest cold. He went in today for a ton of tests and we see the immunologist on Thursday. We are really hoping to learn more about his IGg disorder and what the prognosis is. I'll post when I find out more.

Christmas was magical. My kids LOVED what Santa brought and it was a sweet holiday. I spent Christmas Eve with my dad and New Years Day with our dog snow shoeing in the mountains, and it was good for my soul to be out in the clean air and sunshine.

JACK

"He is the delight of my eyes, and the darling of my heart."

Need I say more? Happy birthday, Jack!

Woodward Family Party

Last night was my family (Woodward) Christmas party. It was delightful. I have the coolest family. The food was divine, the entertainment was joyful (talent show from the grandkids), the gifts were too generous, and the pageant was funny.

The kids totally get into the pageant and talent show. My niece was supposed to be Mary for the pageant, but Ellie had her heart set on being her, so we had two...and I was the donkey for Ellie. I think I was pretty nice to participate :). The kids all get dressed up. I left my camera home, so my sister took these and sent them to me. Hopefully my brother will send me some of Jack. Ellie's in the middle on the little couch.Ellie holding our newest little cousin/nephew, Charlie. He's SO loveable!

Johnny

Happy Very-Belated Birthday to our Johnny! Poor guy has had a crappy year, so we were all very glad to say goodbye to 43, and hello to 44!! Okay, he's going to KILL me for being so open about his age...but I'm just glad he made it to 44! And, he looks AMAZING for his age...most people are shocked to know he's no longer in his 30s :).

Anyway, the first half of his "43" was full of fun adventures in Maui, Dominican Republic, and Alaska...and those are just the few that were not close to home :).

Then it all came to a crashing halt in July. Poor guy. I haven't been good about giving updates lately...I guess it's because it's not great news. He's still suffering from terrible headaches daily - yes, daily. We've had some good news that his brain abnormalities continue to heal. But last week we learned that John has "IGG Deficiency Disorder". Basically, John's immune system is compromised and can't fight off infections like most people. So, it increases his risk of getting meningitis again and other life threatening infections. However, there are good treatment options. John may have to start a monthly routine where they take his plasma out and replace it with someone else's infused with immunoglobulins. We really don't know much more, or what to expect, but John now has an immunologist (in addition to his infectious disease specialist, neurologist, etc...) who has run gazillions of tests on him this week and we will get the results the first week in January. Then we will have a better idea of exactly what we're dealing with.

I'm not going to lie. This has been rough. It's been so hard for John. He wants to feel good, and he wants to have the energy he used to. I actually think it's been years since he really felt good. It's taken huge a toll on him physically and emotionally. I'm just so grateful for good medical care. He has the best doctors.

It hasn't been a walk in the park for me either. But, I'm very optimistic. John will get better. He will feel more healthy once he starts treatment. Eventually, I hope to have the old Johnny back. The one I married six years ago. I'm confident that will happen.

Happy Birthday Johnny! I love you!