Happy Halloween!

Oh Sandy!

We are alive and well, and completely unscathed. Sandy seemed to just pass us by, despite all the warnings for Richmond. I am worried about the rest of the East, and hoping they pulled through ok.

In anticipation of no power, here are a few of my preparations for Sandy-

Yes, I filled my tub with water. No, I am not sure why. Even though I cleaned it first, I am too grossed out by what we use a tub for to actually use that water.

I made 24 muffins. This is all that is left.

I made a batch of no bake cookies. 

I popped four batches of popcorn

I froze my last gallon of milk, and all the water I could get stored. Theory was if the power went out, I could keep the items in my fridge cool by moving the frozen items to the fridge. 

Before Sandy hit, I made two pizzas so we would have dinner.

I did all my laundry. (And I pay Tamsyn to fold. $.50 per load. So totally worth it)

I printed up my pattern for the poncho I am knitting Tamsyn so I would have something to do.

I got down my box of 100 minutes candles.

I bought brickettes and enough drinking water for 4 days.

I made the kids sleep on the floor next to their beds just in case one of our massive trees fell.

Thankfully, the only thing that fell in our yard is lots of leaves. So what do you think? Am I crazy?

I am super grateful that my family pulled through our first hurricane just fine. Prayers are being said for everyone in NY and Jersey, and everywhere else impacted! 

Update on the van

It PASSED!!!!! A friend of mine insisted I go to this one place to get it reinspected. I did, and I even showed him the paper work that explained why the previous place failed the van. He did the inspection and called me into the garage to show me what he saw. The rack and pinion are fine. He wasn't sure why they failed it. There is a leaky power steering hose, that will need to be fixed, but it isn't a safety issue right now. The brake pads are still good, but should be replaced in about 6 months or so, and the struts are fine. I told him that the other place said I needed new tires. He looked at mine and said that was ridiculous, they were in great condition. He charged me $16 dollars for the passed inspection and I could have KISSED that greasy, hairy, gruff 50 year old. Bless that dear man for saving me $2,000. And CURSE Merchants for the last week of stress induced insomnia, headaches (literally and figuratively), and for nearly putting me into more debt for a new car. And bless all my dear friends who prayed for me. Prayers were felt often through the week (in-between my moments of flipping out, I have to admit I had several of those) as I felt reassurances from the Spirit that all would be fine. Here's to just ONE more year of no car debt! (I hope)

Van shvan

Funny quote of the day- I was reading Lohn's facebook and I wanted to share what one of his friends wrote. "Thank Heaven it's finally breakfast time. My stomach is sucking on my spine and moaning." I laughed so hard when I read that, that I cried. Loved the imagery.

Onto a more serious note that has been keeping me awake at nights, making me grumpy and cursing cars, money and Virginia's policies.

I have almost been convinced of late that purchasing a used vehicle is the best course to take. (Confused? Read a few posts back!) If I knew for sure that our van, which has 209,000 miles on it, would last 2 more years after the necessary repairs, I would get it fixed. But I feel like that is such a gamble with as old and used as it is. So today, I talked to our bank, and they will only provide a loan on a '06 model or newer, and that loan will only be stretched over two years. So a 8,000 dollar loan on a used van will cost us 350 dollars a month. As I said to Lohn, "We now have but one choice. To walk the dark, deep path of Moria. i.e. get the van fixed." (It's okay if you don't get it, not everyone is a  LOTR nerd...) I guess in a way, there is a little comfort in knowing the course we need to take. Lohn is going to make what repairs he can, and then we will have to pay to get the rest fixed.

I am getting Lohn's car inspected tomorrow. Heaven help us. Please.

Psychedelic pumpkins, Bobcat award, and Frankenstein.

Sylas got ahold of my camera and changed the settings on it. Thus the crazy colors at the pumpkin patch. We had a fun day picking out pumpkins, and I found out they are just as cheap as the ones at the grocery store. 

Hay ride

As I wandered through the field following the kids, I kept singing my version of a Beatles song. "Puuumpkin fields foreverrrrr..."

I'll bet your pumpkins aren't that cool color. 

Ander got his Bobcat award at Pack meeting this week. 

 Part of the award is painting their face symbolic of something. (hehe, can't remember.)

 And painting mine too.

I decorated my front door this morning. It's made out of crepe paper and I have 3 boys. Not a good mix. We will see if it lasts until Halloween. Lohn did the arm coming out of the chest. I like this chest, it is super cool looking, but it smells like death, so it gets to adorn my front step. 

My van- RIP????

I love my van. I love, love, love it. I bought it at the super awesome price of 1,500 and that sweet baby has been in our family for 4 years and traveled with us cross country 5 times, once even pulling a trailer.  And the last 4 years have been blissfully devoid of car problems until the last 6 months. Since our move to VA, we have had a replaced muffler, replaced ignition lock, replaced drivers door handle, and repaired drivers window. I am sure there is more, but I can't remember at the moment. And Lohn has saved us THOUSANDS of dollars by doing the repairs by himself. He is my super hero/stud/smarty pants.  I took the van in for inspection today and it failed miserably. $2,000 is what it will take to get it State inspection worthy. Which is MORE THAN WE PAID FOR IT.  Our sweet van is on its last legs, and there is no way I am getting a loan to fix the van. My super hero/stud/smarty pants is going to look at it tonight and see how many of the repairs he can do himself.  I also am going to get a second opinion from another mechanic. But in the next 15 days we have to figure things out. Right now our options are 1. Fix it ourselves as much as possible and pay the difference or 2. Get a loan and buy a used van from a dealership and pray they give us 500 for our van. Or 3. Get a loan to replace the car.  I am sending out a plea to my religion savvy friends/family to please pray for us that we can find a good solution to our problem. (And, no, Dad I don't think it will be worth the money or time to get your van out here. But I LOVE you so much for being willing!) And, no, we don't want anyones money either (that would cause weirdness). Just lots and lots of prayers that we can avoid more debt.

Thank-you my dearest family/friends. Prayer helps. It does. It can move mountains, but more importantly, it helps in little difficulties such as this one. Isn't it so totally awesome to know that God cares about my mode of transportation as much as I do???

Romney Rally in Richmond

It's kinda cool living in a swing state. Just a 15 minute drive from my home, I got to go to a Romney rally! Sylas skipped preschool just for such an educational event :)

 I also let him practice his photography skills. He really likes his shadow, and talks about it all the time.

His foot, my foot, and fingers

 My friend Linda came with me. We both wanted to shake Romney's hand afterwards, but neither of us are aggressive enough to get through to the front of the crowd.

 I made sure I held Sylas up and pointed Romney out to him. When Romney is president, I want to be able to tell Sylas, "You saw him, remember?"

Good luck Romney! 

The most beautiful place on Earth

Okay I like Virginia, I DO. But honestly, the most beautiful place on Earth is 2000 miles away from here. My Dad (and I suspect my mom too?) took these following pictures. And, no, they haven't been doctored. It really is this beautiful.

Thanks for the pictures dad. And thanks a ton for making me so homesick. :)

Happy 1 year to us!

Exactly one year ago today, our family arrived at our new home. It has been a great year, filled with many blessings and experiences.  Here is a small look of what the last year contained..

Lohn started his new job with Capital One, which he seems to really enjoy. 

We enjoyed a super mild winter. It only snowed two times, and one day in December it even got to 70 degrees. 

We learned all about Jamestown.

Ander turned 8 and got baptized. 

My mom and dad visited and we took them on a ferry ride on the canal in downtown Richmond.

Tamsyn earned a writers award and was honored at a council meeting.

Ruff was found. (This was a big deal folks)

We made friends. Here we are at the 4th of July fireworks.

Beloved Grandpa McKee passed away. We miss him.

The kids got to ride an airplane. 

Gunnar was super excited about going on a plane for the first time ever!

My parents gave the kids the traditional soul growing, character building opportunity of picking rocks.

We joined a pool for the summer. Gunnar learned to swim.

Tamsyn and Ander learned to dive.

Sylas learned not to be afraid of the water.

My mother in law came for a visit and we took her to Yorktown.

We joined the science museum.

We went on vacation to the Outer Banks. Tamsyn learned to boogie board.

The Wright Brother's museum. The kids flew kites to learn more about the art of flying.

We loved the outer Banks. We can't wait to get the Dahle's out here now for a family reunion. When it's my turn to plan our family reunion, this is where we are going (please????)

I saw my first lighthouse. In this picture, I am at the top admiring the view while trying not to fall to my death at the same time.

We got our very first pet. Her name is Lilli. She swallows mice whole. And the kids seem to think that is cute.

We got Sylas day and night trained. I am diaper free for the first time in 11 years. YAY!

Our ward had a temple day. The primary watched the kids on the temple grounds while the adults went to the temple. Isn't this the most amazing building ever?!

Please also insert pictures here in your mind of numerous trips to the Zoo,  playing soccer in the front yard with the kids, hours of helping kids with homework, our own McKee Family 2012 summer olympics, hikes around the James River and Pocahontas State Park, Ander and I sweating but having fun at cub scout Day Camp, Lohn becoming obsessed with reptiles, Me learning and perfecting the delicate art of budgeting, Tamsyn devouring novels by the library bag full and becoming more beautiful and graceful each day, Ander learning the guitar and finally getting A's and B's, Gunnar learning to read and still full of smiles, and Sylas going to Preschool and making buddies.  What a blessed year we have had, and we while we are incredibly homesick, we are so grateful to Heaven Father who I know led us here. This is where our family is meant to be, and I am so happy we are able to give our children all these great experiences.