All 6 of us got sick......

Friday was probably the worst day/night of our entire lives. I got super sick in the afternoon and could not stop throwing up. At first we thought that I had gotten a little over zealous with my pain medication, but then Kamden started throwing up. So I was basically done for and crawled into bed, because I was so weak and couldn't use my crutches. Then Kenyon woke up screaming in the middle of the night because he had puked all over Kamden and their whole bed. So Akoni had to bathe the kids, did about 4 loads of laundry and didn't get to bed till 4am! Then Saturday comes and Adriann starts throwing up, Akoni gets sick and Monica keeps blowing out her diapers every hour! What a mess. Then last night Akoni had to stay up and put together some presents for the kids. The poor guy, I feel so bad for him. He feels aweful and I am unable to carry anything, so he has to keep getting me things and taking care of all the puking kids.

I am finding it hard to get in the Christmas Spirit with all of this going on. Such bad timing to get surgery, but who knew that we would all be sick at the same time?

We were very lucky to have my good friend Lisa run to the store for us and get us Apple Juice, Apple sauce, crackers, chicken noodle soup, and Gatorade. Such a life savor. At lease everyone was able to keep that down yesterday. And we had some friends drop off cookies so we had to use those for our Santa cookies. None of us felt well enough to bake cookies for Santa. How sad is that?

I am hoping that today, Christmas, will go a lot smoother and that no one will be sick.

Like my Mom and Mother-in-Law said, this will definitely be a Christmas that we will remember forever!

My foot surgery

I have been having foot problems for years. I have Plantar Fasciitis and a bone spur in both feet. A few years ago I walked down some stairs and ripped the Plantar Fascia ligament in my left foot. Luckily it was if I had surgery without the surgery and I have never had a problem with that foot since. Well over then past 3 years, my right foot has gotten worse and worse. I have basically exhausted all my options for trying to fix it without surgery. Multiple cortisone shots, a night splint, and shoe inserts. It was so bad that I would walk the kids to school and the next few days I could hardly walk on my foot. So since we had maxed out our insurance this year having Monica, it seemed like the perfect time to go ahead and get the surgery. The kids have 3 weeks off for Christmas Break, so it's good that we can all just relax and home and not have to worry about having to take them to school and whatnot for a while.

Here is my before X-Ray.

And here is my foot after. I had the surgery on the 21st and I have to be on crutches for the next 6 weeks. Let's just say that the past 3 days have been a huge eye opener as to how much I am not going to be able to do. I am kind of a control freak in my own home, so it's going to take a lot to let other people help and hope that the kids don't destroy the house. But I have faith and the house is still standing today! Already I have had some great help from friends. I must brag that I have the best friends ever. I could seriously not ask for better friends. You would think that with this being my second surgery this year they would be sick of helping me, but I am so lucky to have these amazing women in my life. And I have to give major props to Akoni. He has been the greatest Dad and Husband. I could not have done this without his support. The kids and I have had a few minor breakdowns while we are figuring this all out, but I think we are going to make it thru!!

So wish me luck for the next few weeks and if anyone wants to come and vacuum, do laundry or just talk, my door is open!

Seeing Santa

After Thanksgiving we always take the kids to see Santa at the mall. Well Kamden would have nothing to do with Santa. He wouldn't even go into the house that he was in. So I got a quick photo of the other kids.

Then I tried to get a picture of them together outside at the mall. This was the best I could get.

Thanksgiving!!

We started a new tradition this year. It's an "I am Thankful for" jar. We set it on the counter with little pieces of paper and all month long whenever you were thankful for something you wrote it down and put it in the jar. At dinner on Thanksgiving we read all the papers. It was so much fun.

These are two of Kenyon's, Gumballs and a DS. At least he was giving thanks for them!

This was our little gift that we gave to our friends for Thanksgiving. It is attached to a bag of microwave popcorn. "Corny", but it was fun!

I must say that I redeemed myself with the Turkey this year. Last year was a disaster because the Turkey hadn't thawed out all the way, so the whole middle of the turkey wasn't cooked. So this year I made sure to thaw it out good and it turned out amazing!

I finally got to use my gravy boat that I got for Christmas last year. Had to wait a whole year to use it.

I decided to use my China for dinner this year. We have never used all of it, so after 10 years I thought it might be time to start using it. I only have 5 place settings, and we had 3 friends come over, so it was perfect.

The kids table. Sorry no china for them...

Delicious Costco Pumpkin pie! Thanksgiving was amazing. I cooked all day, everyone got a nap, and Turkey sandwiches for days!

This Thanksgiving was great. I am so thankful to be blessed with such an amazing family. I have the best husband who I love to pieces and that works so hard to support us and give us all that we have. I have the best kids and even though I want to pull my hair out sometimes, they are truly gifts that I am so thankful to have. I couldn't ask for a better life.

Lost Teeth!

Kenyon's tooth had been hanging on by practically nothing, so at church a few weeks ago, I pulled it out! He was so excited, now we just have to get the other one out before Christmas! "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"

The next day at school Adriann pulled her tooth out! Breaking the tooth fairy's bank kids!

Random happenings

Movie night with our favorite neighbor boys!

The kids lemonade stand box. I love how they have a sponser!

The boys and their mustaches.....

End of Soccer - Adriann

Adriann had such a fun season on the All Girls soccer team. It's only the second year of an all girls team and they had such a high interest from all the other girls in the league that they are hoping to have more teams next year. I hope so because they had to play different leagues all girls teams and so we had to travel for their games. But they had a blast and Adriann made some really good friends and learned a lot.

Her whole team. Guess I should have been in the picture since I was team mom, but I wanted to get a picture. Our coach was actually gone. He coaches a college basketball team and they had a game the same day.

Adriann with her two new best friends on the team. Both happen to live really close to us, and one goes to our school!!

End of Soccer - Kenyon

We had another successful Soccer season! Kenyon ended up scoring 5 goals this year. He is loving soccer. He played in the U8 league this year and will play on it again next year, so he did very well for being the youngest.

They had the CSUMB Soccer players come and give all the kids their medals this year.

His whole team. They were a pretty good bunch of kids. They were undefeated! But they don't keep score, so whatever! Their team rocked!

Everyone gets a medal and a trophy for playing. Lots of people think that they shouldn't all get medals and trophies. I think it is fun. These are the years they are learning to play and see which sport they love to play. If getting trophies even if they are horrible gets them to keep playing then give them trophies! Get the kids out playing sports instead of inside not getting exercise. I see nothing wrong with everyone at these ages getting rewarded for playing. My kids love their medals and trophies and can't wait to play next year so they can get another one!

Kenyon's buddies. We are gonna keep an eye out for the kid on the left, he is amazing! He's going to the U10 league next year, he's actually in Adriann's grade, but has a late birthday. Sad that he won't be on Kenyon's team next year, they played really well together and actually made Kenyon play better.

Halloween

Halloween was fun this year. Akoni got into the spirit again, and we were bakers while Monica was our Cupcake we created!! And I made those hats! So fun and so easy!

I forgot to get a picture of Adriann at our Ward's Trunk-or-Treat, she was so busy I hardly saw her. I can't even remember what she was! So I got a picture of her dressed up for school. She liked our costume so much that she wanted to be a baker for school.

Kamden decided to be a Pirate. This costume has paid for itself beyond what I could have imagined. Kenyon wore it two years and now Kamden is wearing it! Old Navy costumes are the best, inexpensive and great quality!!

This is another costume that Kenyon has worn twice, maybe three times? It's a wrestling costume. There is a padded muscle body piece that he is too tall for now, but he just wore the robe and had Akoni's boxing gloves and the black eye! Perfect!

This Halloween was full of too much candy, tons of Hair spray and Hair color, plenty of face makeup and smiles and laughter galore. I couldn't have asked for a better Halloween!

New Favorite Website

I am now hooked on this new website thanks to a friend. It's called www.woot.com. It has daily deals and they are only there for one day. You have to check it out. We actually did buy something on it a few days ago for Kamden for Christmas. Can't wait!! It was one of those ride on powered trains. Originally $99 at Walmart, but it was listed for $39! And there is only $5 shipping on everything!

Ganir Family Reunion in Disneyland!

BEWARE: LOTS OF PICTURES!

For our Fall Break we met up with all of Akoni's siblings and their families for a Family Reunion. There was a total of 32 people. Akoni's parents were the only ones missing because they are on a mission for our church in the Philippines right now.

We went to the park for 3 days and each day we had a theme. Our first day was Family Colors, so we obviously picked Beaver Orange! Here we are outside our hotel before heading to Disneyland. It ended up being 105 degrees this day! REDICULOUS!

Kamden got this Woody Hat and wore it EVERYDAY! It was sooo cute!

The boys favorite thing to do was play the boardwalk games at California Adventure Land. Can you believe that they won all these? And this was only the first day. They won a ton more on the last day.

The Second days theme was FREE DAY. I got my kids these cute Minnie and Mickey shirts.

The last days theme was: Black shirts with the last name and number of when you entered the Ganir family on the back. I made all the shirts for everyone and had a blast doing it. We got a picture of everyone but we had a Disneyland employee take it and I still have to buy it, so when I get it I will post that.

Here is Kenyon on the Storybook ride. He was dying to go on this ride the whole time, not sure why, but we finally went on it the last day.

Anywhere we go where there is face painting Adriann always wants to get it done, and we never do it. But we broke down and let her and Kenyon get it done. They were both so excited.

Sound asleep!!

Akoni's brother got a ton of more pictures, so I will post more of those when we get them. Overall it was a crazy, insane, hot, fun, amazing trip. We are so glad we did it and have tons of fun memories!