A very busy October

Wow! What do we say about October? Guatemala was an incredible experience for Mommy and a tiring experience for Daddy and the B boys! I am so thankful to my husband for supporting me on this mission trip and for my boys for letting Mommy be gone for a whole week!

The trip was very successful - 71 surgeries in 5 days. The surgeries were OB/GYN and general surgery and everyone seemed to recover by the time we left.

Thank you for all of your prayers. It is impossible to capture the moments in a blog but I thought I'd show a few highlights to share the experience.

The bus we took for a 3 hour ride from the airport to the clinic. We stopped at a gas station for a little break. There was a guard inside the little snack store sporting a huge automatic rifle of some kind. Welcome to Guatemala!

Clinica Ezell. This is the compound where we worked and stayed. The accommodations were excellent. Of course, I don't know if I slept well because the bed was decent or because I was so tired! We showed up on Saturday late afternoon and the docs began pre-ops immediately. Surgery began as soon as church was over on Sunday. By Monday all beds were full.

A view from the truck on our way to a mobile clinic in a town about 30 minutes away. People show up at the clinics for a kinds of medical issues. I treated a few patients for occupational medical issues - achy joints and sore muscles from their hard lifestyle.

This is Valentine. He works for Health Talents one week a month during the surgical clinics. He lives in the town where we had the mobile clinic and invited us (Mike Martinez and me) for lunch. This is his one room house with a cook house in the back and a wash basin in the front. Clothes are washed on a washboard in what looked like dirty water but apparently clean for them. Chickens ran around at our feet in the house while we ate. I felt so guilty eating their food as lunch is their big meal of the day and all they can afford. Other meals consist of tortillas and beans.

This is a Cacao Tree with the Cacao seeds in Valentine's hand.

In other words, CHOCOLATE!

They roast the seeds to make chocolate. This is in his backyard.

This is what Valentine does when he's not working with Health Talents.

No wonder they all have achy muscles!

That's about 100 pounds worth of wood that they hike down the hill. They use the wood to cook. The pay is around 1-3 dollars a day.

This is a common site everywhere.

These women can carry loads on their heads and chase after their kids at the same time.

A local visiting one of the patients. I had to take his picture for Mom and Dad. All in all, it was a great trip. Everyone asks, "Would you do it again?". The answer is "YES", when my boys are older and my husband can join me!

A Jack O' Lantern party at the neighbors.

Daddy's marvelous Bat O' Lantern. Unfortunately, it was too rotten to use on Halloween.

I warned the neighbors it was too soon to make them!

The boys as Spider man 1 (Bryce) and Spider man 2 (Brendan).

They had a great evening with lots of candy. They loved their costumes!

September (but it doesn't feel like it!)

Well, it's been a very hot end of August/all of September after such a decent June and July. We have been very busy with school for both boys, soccer, church, etc. I barely have time to check my emails let alone work on a blog for the boys. They sure miss their grandparents and Lindy. Hopefully we can see each other soon.

We've had some fun hiking. This was on Labor Day.

The boys love to throw rocks more than they like the hiking.

It was hot but they did great (with snacks, of course).

Bryce's first field trip. His class went to Apple Hill and he got to ride in the big yellow school bus. He, of course, thinks it's a treat. Daddy keeps trying to explain that the bus was the only way for him to get to school when he was little.

Another hike this weekend. We hiked back to a little lake called Granite Lake. The water was absolutely freezing but the boys wanted their swimsuits on. Bryce ended up with a cold and missed school for the first time. He was catching a cold before we left but we thought it was just allergies. He managed the hike and by the time we got back to the car he said he felt like he was getting a fever. Poor baby! He's much better today.


The mountain man.

A patch of thunderclouds passed over us and we caught a tiny sprinkle. We loved it as it was 96 degrees back in Sacramento.

Pretty obvious he doesn't feel too well.

Overall things are going well. Bryce loves school and has a new best buddy. He loves soccer even though he looks a little lost out there.

Brendan loves preschool. He is learning to read which is a little scary.

Jeff is very busy with work and church. Running the Adult Ed. at church is giving him headaches but hopefully we can organize it a little better soon.

I am leaving for Guatemala on Friday. I am very nervous and can't believe I'm going to do this. The reality of leaving all 3 of my boys really hit home last week. Hopefully the week will go by quickly for all of us but the experience will never be forgotten. I have typed out about 10 pages of notes for Jeff and my parents, detailing everything I could think of!

Please remember all of us in your prayers.

Pray especially that we are able to assist the people in Guatemala and that the surgeries all go well.

First Day of School

Today was the day, the day we've all been waiting for...Bryce's first day of Kindergarten!

He had a blast and can't wait to go back tomorrow. His only complaint is that there is 8 boys and 22 girls! (Yes, our class sizes are huge - welcome to California). His favorite activities were the free time in which he played with cars and snack/play time outside. Perhaps not the most academic interests but it's a start. Tomorrow he wants to ride his bike to school and lock it up in the bike cage. What a big boy!

Hurray, Bryce - We are so proud of you!

June was a blast!

Hello to our family and friends. Summer is here and we have been very busy. It has been nice to be out of the daily routine of driving to preschool and therapy. The boys seem to be enjoying their summer. They completed two weeks of swim class and Bryce is really learning to swim. Bren is much more comfortable in the water. We've been getting together with cousins and friends and spending a lot of time outside.

Here are some of the highlights of June.

The Saturday before Father's Day is Grammy Dixon's annual Father's Day reunion. We had around 50 people attend, some traveling from Atlanta (Uncle Doug and Aunt Duffie), Oklahoma, Idaho and throughout Northern California. It's a busy weekend and unfortunately I didn't get any good photos of the B boys with their Daddy.

The last week of June my dear friend Lori from Alaska came to visit with her two boys, Mitchell (6) and Quinn (4). They enjoyed thawing out as they are experiencing a very cold summer this year. Unfortunately, we are having EXTREMELY bad air quality from all of the forest fires in Northern CA. Our sun/sky has a constant orange glow. Some days there are no shadows because of the thickness of the smoke. Lori and boys didn't mind, though, and we played outside as much as possible amid the smoke.

Mitchell playing at a water park.

Scrub a dub dub, four boys in a tub.

Story time.

Lori and cousin Scarlett

Brendan and Quinn playing with sticks.

These two are a crack up with similar personalities.

What a smile!

Mitchell and Quinn at the community pool.

Obviously we had a water theme going on the whole week.

The stick boys playing at Funderland (a.k.a. Grammy Dixon's house).

Bryce on the water slide at Funderland.

Brendan crashed on the couch after a long day.

The boys really got along well and the mommies had a wonderful time catching up after 5 long years. It was truly a blessing to have the Guyers come visit this summer and we hope it becomes an annual trip.

The Month of May

Hello to all of our family and friends. It has been a busy month with some new adventures. We will recap it all with many pictures and few words.

The beginning of the month was birthday week for Mom, Dad and of course cousin Lindy. Mom's B-day was spent at the zoo with Bryce's preschool class. The giraffes were his favorite and the turtle was Brendan's favorite (he got to pet it). Mom got to go to her favorite restaurant (Piatti's) for her birthday, thanks to a special gift from Lisa and Don.

Daddy's 37th birthday

Bryce's spring sing at school. He sang loudly - it was adorable!

Bryce learns to ride on 2 wheels!!!! He was quite proud. We put him in full sweats to protect the elbows and knees in case of a fall. Wasn't necessary - he took off like a champ.

The boys run their first race! They ran a half mile (with Daddy) and each won a gold medal (actually, every kid won a gold medal and every kid had the number 1). Mommy ran the 5K ever so slowly. Oh well! It was almost 90 degrees by 8:30. The boys are quite proud to have their very own "sponsor T-shirt" - the race shirts with all of the sponsors listed on the back.

Memorial Day Weekend. Our annual trip to Camarillo to see our wonderful family by the ocean. We got to see (and hold, feed, change, bathe) new baby cousin Garrett. Erin was a trooper letting us bring our clan to her house with little sleep. The boys had a great time, especially playing with Noah. He is such an angel and easy to get along with. Baby Garrett is as cute as can be and seems to be a good, easy going baby.

The boys on a hike - trying to tire them out to take a nap.

Four boys to run around and play.

Approximately 2 weeks after big brother learns to ride on 2 wheels, little brother decides to follow suit. Can you say 'competitive'? Hurray! Mommy can now retire the jogging strollers!

May was fun, now summer is here. The boys are out of school (Bryce's last day is tomorrow) and ready for play! It's been a busy school year trekking 2 kids to 2 different preschools and Bryce to therapy. We are ready for a break. I'm sure after 1-2 weeks at home, Mommy will be ready to send them back to school!

What happened to April's Blog?

Hello from the B boys. We're not sure what happened to April's blog so we'll have to do a little back tracking. We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa. They were here for less than a week, we wish it was longer! The boys love spending time with them. Grandma gives the best tickles and of course they get way more attention than when it's just Mommy and the boys. We didn't have the best weather - it was a little cool for my taste (is 60's considered cool?). We at least spent an afternoon in Coloma, discovering a bit of the gold country. We learned about placers and lodes (i.e. Placerville and the Mother Lode). We even learned where the term 'shotgun' (as in to ride shotgun) came from. The boys enjoyed the special rock Grandma found for them (Mom would enjoy it on her countertops). Of course no visit would be complete without some illness. Bryce had a bout of asthma right before Grandma and Grandpa's visit and had a little fever while they were here. Brendan had a similar bout of asthma requiring a trip to the E.R. and a few sleepless nights of coughing. Overall, we had a great time. Please come again Grandma!!!!!!!!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

Yes, I know, I know - it's been a while. Not only have a not blogged, I have not read any blogs in over a month. We've been busy doing "stuff" that has taken all of our spare time. I miss you all and I feel so much more in contact when I'm able to email and blog. So, here it goes!

First, we have to thank EVERYONE for their continued prayers for Bryce. He is doing so well that he will no longer need any therapy services at the end of this school year! It is such an answer to prayer. I can't believe how well he is doing. Last fall we were beginning to think that his progress was beginning to plateau again. Lately, though, spring has sprung new growth in his personality. He now comes home from school telling me more social details, like "girls are mean" and "I want to be a fireman when I grow up". The other day he was upset because a little girl called him "smarty pants". I think most parents would be mortified at hearing their precious child called bad names. We however rejoiced and delighted that he understood that the little girl was being mean. Then, of course, we were mortified that someone would call our little darling bad names. We tried to explain that he could consider it a compliment and next time tell her "thank you - I know I'm smart" but he couldn't quite get that concept. Baby steps, right? His writing is improving and the other day he wrote Mom on the sidewalk with chalk without me spelling it for him or giving him a visual cue. I think he'll be ready for kindergarten! It's been a long haul and I know we may face more issues with learning deficits in the future but for now we are so excited with his progress and continue to thank God every day for this special child.

OK, now to Brendan. Hmmm, let's see, stubborn comes to mind. He is going through another difficult refuse to listen and obey phase and is driving us crazy. He doesn't like preschool as much as he used to and we're not sure why. His preschool just announced that it is closing this year so we've enrolled him at First Covenant where Bryce attends now. He used to go there with me on Bible study days and really liked it. He seems excited about the switch for next year and tells me he won't cry when I drop him off. He continues to be the funny guy and always likes to be silly. Sometimes we like it, sometimes we don't. He still hates buttons, and on Easter morning we woke him up and said "Bren, it's Easter!" and his first comment was "I don't want to wear my buttons". He is a typical little brother and continues to knock down anything that Bryce sets up which makes for interesting, long days. Most of the time Bryce and Bren get along very well and really enjoy playing together. When one's in school, the other one's constantly asking me how much longer before we get to pick the other up.

On to Jeff, I suppose. He is busy at work these days which is great. Last year things were a little slow and that's not a good place to be. Wells Fargo is taking over the brokerage where he works and soon the logo, business cards, etc. will all change. We were really fearful about the takeover but it seems that at this point there are no layoffs and in fact Jeff is picking up more business. Church is also keeping him busy as he coordinates all of the adult classes by himself. Every time he thinks he has a quarter all figured out someone calls and wants to add or cancel a class and he's back to scrambling to put it together. He does a good job, though, and I know he doesn't feel like it's much of a ministry for God but I'm constantly telling him it is.

Last, but not necessarily least (although it may feel like it sometimes!) -it's my turn. I have to confess some of the reasons I've been so busy aren't all bad. First of all, we decided to buy a new couch for the family room which escalated into a complete room makeover. I had no intention of doing so much furniture shopping last month but at least I can say we're done for now. I picked up our ottoman today and we have completed the furniture phase. Paint, art work, window coverings are all to follow but we are out of cash and so I'm done. I can honestly say I hate furniture shopping, especially with 2 boys! I feel a big sense of relief to have it done, though, and to finally have a couch I can sit on without back pain! We ended up getting a leather sectional and some Target accent chairs (who knew!) and I love all of it! I can now sit on the couch to fold laundry instead of the floor! I have also been busy working, picking up some extra Saturdays (gotta help pay for that couch!). My 9-10 pm hour of free time has been spent doing chart audits for the private practice clinic where I sometimes fill in. Again, picking up some extra couch cash! My other big news is that I'm going to Guatemala on a medical mission trip with some members of our church in October. I'm pretty excited, Jeff is hesitant. My mom and other family members have offered to help out with the boys. I will be gone for a week and will be attending a general surgery/gynecology clinic which means I'll be helping mostly with post-op - checking vitals, mobilizing patients and whatever else is needed. I've always wanted to do medical missions and feel blessed to be able to use a little of my medical skills for God! I pray that all of my paperwork/passport is processed and that the timing for travel to a third world country will be as safe as possible.

Well, I guess that's it. I need to get going, Bryce's leggos are calling for some help. I wish I had better Easter pics of the boys, but obviously the button shirt didn't last long on Brendan. Everyone is wearing a new outfit except me, I was wearing Easter Godiva on my hips but hopefully you can't see it. We love you all and hope to hear from you soon, in fact I think I changed the setting so that you can leave comments even if you don't have a Google account.

Take care until next month, and thank you again for all of your prayers for Bryce!

Love, Dani, Jeff and the B boys