Christmas Video

Scott put together and posted a video of the kids opening some of their presents, including those from family members. It's at gallery.mac.com/scottegarner, if you want to see it. We're enjoying a very relaxing break. The weather has been awful so we haven't been out much, but we've been playing foosball, ping-pong, uno attack, and dodging nerf darts. Also working on the puzzle that Beanie and Tallis gave us (it's hard!) I've already put most of the Christmas stuff away, kind of early, but good to get it done. I'm trying to organize as I go, including vacuuming up all the dead bugs (eww!) in the storage room.

Thank You Very Much!!!

Here's a big thank you to family for our wonderful presents. I have to say, the one I've enjoyed the most today is the Ogden Nash book of poems by Kim and Val. Who knew he was so prolific, or erudite (a little interjection of scholarly commentary). He's got a great one, "Allergy in a Country Churchyard." I foresee lots of Findelmeyer Proposition posts in the future. Fun!!!! We're also looking forward to digging into the Girl Scout Cookies.

Beebs and Scott, we are still figuring out the bean game (I'm a little slow) but it looks really fun. And the kids love Corduroy, Ethan had a copy when he was a little boy and he ripped it.

Mom and Dad, we're excited to use the veggie chopper, Ethan is going to have some fun reading ahead, and the kids loved the hot chocolate and new spoons in their stockings. I personally can't wait to see the cousins book and the calendars. Thanks to Hilary for the pretty container and the licorice (we have had so much sugar today you can't believe it!)

We've already used Heidi's early present, the "green bags." I've been working on the penguin puzzle off and on all day. I have all the easy parts done, and now I'm pulling my hair out working on the hard parts. And thanks to Kyle for the Amazon gift card, I'm really looking forward to using it!

Grandma and Grandpa Garner gave the kids "Wall-E" and "Prince Caspian," as well as some video games - - they're so excited! The only thing better would be if you could have been here yourselves!

It looks like we won't be making it out to Idaho, the weather there is too bad to risk the roads. So we'll hunker down in the bad weather here. This has been such a fun, lazy day, the perfect Christmas. We miss you all and love you so much!

Family Christmas Letter

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALI, SCOTT, ETHAN, AND NOAH

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . one annual Christmas letter from the Garners!

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . two front teeth. Noah's baby ones were knocked out in a sledding accident in February and his new ones have finally poked through!

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . three new appliances. Our dryer, refrigerator and sump pump all bit the dust this year and had to be replaced. We're taking bets on which goes next, the washing machine or the dishwasher.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . four hours a week, that's how much Ali continues to work at the dental office. She's also president of the county Down syndrome organization and secretary in her church young women's group.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . five fun family outings. We went downtown to see "Peter and the Wolf," and also a performance by the pianist Lang Lang. Over spring break we took a little road trip and visited the Virginia Zoo and Hershey, Pennsylvania. And during Thanksgiving we went on a cruise.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . one student in 6th grade. Yes, Ethan turned 11 and graduated from elementary school. He loves middle school and has made a lot of new friends. He keeps busy with scouts, as well as piano and guitar lessons. And he spends a fair amount of time playing his nintendo.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . seven times a hundred approximate hours of paperwork for our adoption. First our country (Vietnam) closed, so we changed to domestic. Then our agency went out of business. We're with a new agency now and have high hopes for a new baby sometime next year!

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . eight family visits, some here, and some in Utah, Idaho, Canada and Virginia. Also a great family trip to Disneyland with Ali's sister's family. Fun!

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . one nine-year-old Noah! Noah has made great progress over the past year, especially with speech and writing. He loves to carry a little notebook around with him and write down random numbers. He's always happy and smiling, and entertains us every day.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . ten family favorites: Monk (tv show), fresh guacamole, a snowblower that works, traveling, Costco, guitar music by Christopher Parkening, pirates (Noah especially), Yahtzee, the Simpsons, and french toast (Ethan has become very good at making it).

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . a new job with the 11-year old scouts for Scott! He's not super excited about the camping part, but enjoys spending time with Ethan and his buddies every Wednesday night. Scott also has been playing a lot of tennis with his friends at the new gym near our house.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . twelve months of happiness, and hopes for a wonderful holiday season and new year to our dear friends and family!

Random Stuff

I had to pass along a great website my friend Julie told me about - - stealsdeals.blogspot.com. I love it, every day they post great deals/coupons, etc.

Also - - the scrubbing bubbles toilet cleaner (it's a gel you stick on the inside of your toilet bowl) is cheap, easy, and very effective. A pack costs a little over $4, contains 6 applications, and each application lasts 2 weeks or more (mine lasted 3). It smells nice, too.

Lastly, I'm recommending 2 books. The first is "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery. It's translated from French, about a concierge at an expensive apartment building in Paris and a little girl who lives in the building. I checked it out from the library based solely on the unusual title, and ended up really enjoying it. I also recently read "Ghost Map" by Steven Johnson, about the cholera epidemic in London in the 1850s. Extremely interesting and very well written (the author is a genius, I'm sure.) It also made me so very, very grateful for indoor plumbing.

Hope you all are enjoying the pre-holiday rush!

Trip Pictures from Italy

Stained Glass in Rome Ethan and Mom by the Trevi Fountain

Scott and the boys on the Spanish Steps

By the Colliseum

More Pictures

Mmmm . . . Slanty

The gorgeous coastline in Villefranche, France

From the Chagall Museum

Noah, our little ham

Some Pictures from our Trip

Here's the church in Nice

Noah in Villefranche

The interesting statue in Frankfurt

Ethan with the penguins at the Natural History Museum

Best Buddies in Frankfurt

Back Home

We arrived last night (this morning) at 1:00 and all crawled into bed immediately. We'd flown from Barcelona to Frankfort, then to Washington D.C. and finally here to Chicago (and add to that the shuttles and taxis and car rides). It was about a 24 hour trip. And yippee, Noah stayed dry the whole time. Boy can he hold it! Lots of progress in that arena. Still more progress to be made. And it's about time because today is his 9th birthday! We're saving the celebration until tomorrow night when Omi comes. I didn't even get treats to take to his class today, I'll have to do it tomorrow. But he was just so happy to be home that he didn't care. The last 3 days of the trip he kept saying, "go home?" and that was the bribe we used to keep him happy on the way. Also the bribe of Omi coming to visit - - he's very excited!

Since it's his birthday, a little update on Noah. His fine motor control has improved exponentially this school year. He often carries a little notebook around with him and writes little scribbles. But he also draws recognizable faces (sometimes they look like paramecia because of the hair all the way around the head). He also makes wonderful rocket ships, and he loves to draw numbers. His ones, twos, threes, fours and sixes are great. His nines look like lollipops. He makes letters sometimes as well, but right now he's really into the numbers. He filled an entire 100 page notebook while we were travelling. Cute stuff!

Noah is also becoming much more articulate. We're working with him on saying each word in a sentence, and sometimes signing the words as well. A couple of my favorite phrases: "of course," when I ask him to do something, and "I know," when I tell him that I love him. He loves to sing, too, and his favorite song is "Follow the Prophet." I can't believe my little guy is 9! I've been thinking back to the day he was born, and how thrilled we were with him. We've had challenges, but he has brought us joy every day of his life and we love him with all our hearts.

I've been up since 4:30 this morning (Europe jet-lag, I get up early and feel great, but by 6 p.m. I'm wiped out). I've unpacked everything and have about half the laundry done (there were no laundry facilities on the ship so we have loads and loads.) Wow, do I have a lot going on this month! And my house is a big hairy mess!

Thanksgiving Trip

(note - - I’ll upload pics after we get home).

As usual, we are spending our Thanksgiving far away from home. The kids have the entire week off school so it is often a good time to travel. Also we’d had our eye on a cruise in Europe, and thanks to the tanking economy, the price just kept dropping, until it seemed silly to not go.

Scott had to go to San Francisco on business on Monday morning, so he got as much done as possible before he left. I still had time for my usual pre-trip freakout before the kids and I left Wednesday after school. There was a lot to pack and do! We met Scott at the airport, but before he got there I’d already spent 30 minutes in the bathroom drying Noah’s pants. What a relief to get on the plane!

We arrived in Frankfurt Thursday morning, and after showers and naps we ventured out into the city. There is a very interesting statue there, some kind of man smashing something (communism?) with a hammer. Not sure what the significance was. We visited the natural history museum - - dinosaurs, plants, and so many animals! (As Scott put it, like a zoo, but all the animals were stuffed). We had dinner in a little German restaurant - - we had wiener schnitzel. The older couple sitting next to us kept smiling and telling us what a great place we’d chosen to eat. They didn’t speak much English, but they radiated good will. We always meet such nice people when we travel.

The next morning we took a flight to Barcelona. Ethan and I were hoping to practice some Spanish, and we did see a lot of familiar words on the signs, but everything was also in Catalan, so it was a little confusing. And we spent our entire time stuck in traffic in a taxi - - we barely made it on the ship!

We’re on the Celebrity Century, nice ship, about 1800 passengers and 900 crew. Everyone is always so sweet to Noah, the waiters especially. We’ve been eating extremely well - - dinner at 6 every night. Our room is small, but with a large balcony and plenty of space to store our stuff.

Our first port was Marseilles, France. We got off the ship, felt the freezing weather and bitter cold wind, and decided that we’d have more fun on board. I got a massage, the kids played in the kids’ club, and we all got over our jet lag. It’s a good thing, too, because it’s been non-stop ever since!


Isn’t it Nice?

Our next stop (Sunday) was Villefranche, France, and we went to nearby Nice. We got off the ship and took a taxi to church. It was in a nice little building and everyone was very friendly. Even though they couldn’t understand anything, the kids were good. I was glad we were able to make there - - it’s always fun to go to church in a foreign country.

Afterwards we walked to the nearby Matisse museum. I hadn’t realized he was so prolific - - he kept creating into his eighties. Scott and I kind of took turns looking at the exhibits with Ethan - - Noah didn’t last too long.

Then we had a long walk to the Chagall museum. This was our favorite - - huge paintings and many many studies for each of them. Also some gorgeous stained glass. I love Chagall - - I think it’s time we visited the Chicago Art Institute and saw the stained glass there again. The kids were good, Ethan especially. Then we took the train back to Villefranche but missed our stop (still not sure why but one of the challenges when traveling with kids in foreign places is getting distracted). We weren’t that far from the ship so we started walking back to where we thought the ship was. After about 2 hours we realized that we were lost. I dusted off my bad college French and we asked a friendly couple which way to go. They took one look at our bedraggled selves and said they were going there, and would we like a ride. They were so sweet! We had a very nice conversation on the way back to the boat, and it left us with very happy memories of friendly people.


The Leaning Tower

After walking our legs off yesterday, we decided to take it easy today. We slept in and then finally ate and went to Pisa to see its famous mistake. How’d you like to be known for something like that? It was actually very impressive, although in bad repair. I read that they have a special cleaning method for removing all the chewing gum. How sad! I was also depressed to see the amount of graffiti everywhere - - I’ve never seen it so bad. It was a disturbing juxtaposition - - the beautiful art and architecture and the ugly scrawls everywhere. I’d also forgotten that almost everyone in Italy smokes! I think I’ve inhaled half a pack so far. It’s disgusting. Fortunately the people are so friendly it makes up for the stench. We took the obligatory “slanty” picture. Today we took a shuttle, a bus and a train today. Lots of transportation! It was chilly and a little wet, but better than the day before.


I Heart Roma

We got up early this morning and left the ship a little after 8:00. The port was Civitavecchia, not too far from Rome. We took a shuttle and then a train (Noah pulled the emergency cord on the train and made a big noise. We pretended not to know what had happened.) First we saw the coliseum and Noah fed the pigeons his fishy crackers. Then we took the subway to the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps. Finally we went to Vatican City. It takes forever to get to the Sistine Chapel because there’s only one way to go and that is through the museum. It’s a great museum, but with Noah we sometimes need to rush a bit to keep him from getting bored and difficult. Ethan was pretty tired by the time we finally got to the chapel, but he liked it. In some ways I wish he were a little bit older so he could appreciate it more. But he (and Noah) had no problem appreciating the very authentic pizza we had for lunch or the gelato we had yesterday!

So that was Rome at a run. Ethan and I also saw the Pieta by Michelangelo. Both the kids were real troopers with all the walking we did and stairs we climbed. We hurried back to the train station and barely made it on the 4:00 train. So did everyone else, there wasn’t even room to sit down, so it was a less than comfortable hour-long ride. It was great to get back to the ship and enjoy our lovely dinner.



The Amalfi Coast

Today, Wednesday, we stopped in Naples. Scott and I went on our honeymoon to Naples (Florida) 15 years ago. This time we got to see the real thing! It was the warmest, most beautiful day so far, with sun almost the whole time. We shared a cab with a couple we met on the ship, Kim and Paul from Vancouver. It was so fun to spend the day with someone new - - we really enjoyed getting to know them. Our driver first took us to Ravello, a charming town on the Amalfi coast. Scott and I had fallen in love with it when we were here 4 years ago. The architecture and landscape was stunning. Even just driving and looking out of the car windows was lovely. We stopped and did some sightseeing in Amalfi and had gelato (a must). We also stopped in Positano and Sorrento. Our cab driver was very pleasant and friendly. We did some shopping and had pizza in Sorrento and then drove to Pompeii. We didn’t have a whole lot of time there, but it was close to closing and there were very few other tourists, which was nice.

New Fridge

This has been the year of dying appliances. Our sump pump and our dryer both broke in the spring (leading to a big wet mess and no way to dry it!) The dishwasher has been unsatisfactory for quite some time, the washing machine is leaking, and recently the refrigerator has been making a funny noise. We decided the fridge was a top priority - - we didn't want to come back from a 2 week vacation to a lot of spoiled food. So last week we bought a new one. We put the old one in the garage for now (Scott is planning on fixing it! But I'm not holding my breath!) and Ethan helped me transfer all the food. It's a beautiful fridge - - silver and smudgeproof. But somehow it just didn't look right. Then I figured out what was missing. Noah's magnet letters, our family calendar, school papers, coupons, receipts, etc. Now it's perfect!

Lang Lang

We went to a concert downtown at the CSO today. Lang Lang is a marvelous pianist - - we saw him once before, 5 years ago. He was just starting to become world famous, and Scott had recently read an article about him in Time or Newsweek. We were on our 10 year anniversary trip to Italy, and lo and behold, there he was on our airplane! We introduced ourselves and he said he was performing in Milan and Florence. We were lucky enough to get tickets to one of his concerts, and it was amazing. The performance today was for families, only about 80 minutes. First was a beautiful piece by Schubert for 4 hands, he played with a 14-year-old prodigy. She was great, so graceful! Then a few solo pieces, and then the last few were with 3 other musicians. One played the double bass (which is huge!) and the other 2 played the ehru and the pipa. I'd never heard of them before either. They're stringed instruments, from China, and with that distinctive Chinese sound. It was so fun to watch them all play together - - they were just so obviously having a great time!

It's always great to cram a little culture down the kids' throats.

Down Syndrome Halloween Party

Here are the pics from our Halloween party. The girls with Noah are his best buds in the world, Leah and Vanessa. They're in his class at school, and they are all like the 3 musketeers. I didn't have a good picture of Ethan, but he was a big help with setting up, cleaning up, and running the fog machine.

Finally, Some Pictures

Here are some pictures of the 11 year old scout camp-out. Ethan is with his buddies Luke, Kirk and Hyrum - - they had so much fun! And they got so muddy and stinky!

Crazy Busy

Yesterday was one of my busier days. The kids had no school (not sure why, maybe security since they use the schools as polling places) so that made it all the more hectic. I got up at 6, wen't to vote at 6:20, then to the gym. Back home, shower, and clean house until 10, when Ethan's friend Eric came over. Worked on projects until 12, then took Ethan and Eric to Eric's house. Then errands - - grocery store, office supply store and 2 craft stores. Got home, fed the kids, and took off for the church (Scott and the kids came too). I was in charge of getting supplies for the yw activity (making temple ornaments) so I helped get that set up, then went with the ym to give a presentation on disability awareness (one of their merit badges). Noah had pack meeting, although he didn't last long (there was a hair pulling incident and he had to be forcibly ejected - - I'll say no more). Scott is the new 11-year-old scout leader, so he worked on 1st aid kits with Ethan and his friends. Once we all finished we went home and helped Ethan with homework and got the kids to bed. Whew!

Blog Book

A friend sent me a link to this site - - you can make your blog into a book (blook?) and the prices aren't bad. For those of us whose scrapbook collections are collecting nothing but dust it's a viable alternative. The site is www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook. What do you think?

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all had a happy day. We had amazing weather, in the seventies. The kids were actually able to trick-or-treat without heavy coats! This morning I packed up Noah's pirate costume (including his batman cape, which is part of the costume) so he could take it to school. I had a red and white striped shirt for him to wear, would've looked great. But he wanted to wear a button down, tie, and his sport coat (which is way too big). Why argue? When I went to his little class party he was wearing his pirate vest and cape over the sport coat. Quite the look! His class is so cute, I enjoyed seeing the kids in their costumes and chatting with the parents (there are only 6 kids in the class, so it's nice and small).

I spent most of the day in the car, ran errands, had lunch with friends (fun!), shopped, went to Noah's school, went home and picked up Ethan, went to the other side of Crystal Lake to pick up Ethan's buddy Adam (who spent the night), and raced back home to get Noah off the bus (didn't make it, I had to call my neighbor Bob and ask him to watch Noah while I fought traffic.) Thank goodness for good neighbors!

Scott came home early and we all took turns handing out candy. I love the little kids the best, I'm not so crazy about the scary teenagers roaming in packs, demanding candy. I'd tell them to just go buy some, but I'm afraid I'd get egged! Actually they were all very polite and looked like they were having a lot of fun. And we have an 8:00 curfew, so we weren't up late answering the door. We had at least 150 people come. Noah did a little trick-or-treating, he doesn't care for candy so he wasn't too motivated. Adam and Ethan stayed out a little longer. Then they stayed up late playing the wii, and slept in sleeping bags in the basement. Scott is taking them golfing this morning.

So nice family day! I hope everyone else had a lot of fun!

My Fashion Sense (or lack thereof)

Scott just doesn't trust my ability to pick out clothes for myself. Not that I am a fashionista in any sense of the word, but several times when I've brought new clothes home he's given me "the look" - - a mix of befuddlement and horror. The first time was when I was pregnant. I'd bought a pair of maternity jeans at Target, liked them, and asked him to pick up another pair for me on the way home. He called me from the store to ask, was I really sure this was what I wanted? Yes. Really really sure? Yes! I was a little impatient. He described the jeans and I assured him that those were the ones I wanted, with the jean material legs and the nice soft stretchy tummy. When he got home and presented them to me he gave me the look and said, "Ali, those are going to look awfully weird when you tuck your shirts in." Poor guy, didn't realize that when you're pregnant you just don't tuck!
Another time I bought a pair of bright pink scrubs for work. I came out of my room and Scott gave me "the look" and said, "that's a nice outfit, very . . . pink." Later I discovered that he didn't realize I was going to work, he thought the outfit was just a regular going out on the town outfit. See what I mean?
And last week I came home with a new pair of jeans. They had a big cloth sticker on the front, a red star (which, if you looked closely, bore the words, "can you cinch an inch?"). Scott gave the jeans the look and said, "are those your Hannah Montana jeans?" Once again doubting my ability to shop for myself, he thought the sticker was part of the jeans. Good grief!

Continued

I stink at the technical part of this, could only upload a few pics with that post. So here are a few more.

Disneyland

We spent last weekend in Disneyland with my sister Brittany (fondly known as Beebs) and her husband Scott, and boys Weston, Aidan, and Brennan. We had a great time! We spent the first day at the main park and the second at "California Adventure." Both have fun rides. Noah was so happy - - Disney is his favorite place on earth. We waited in line for almost an hour to go on the Toy Story 2 ride, which was pretty cool (although the wait with 4 little boys was pretty brutal!) Disney has some nice restaurants too, and I ate the best fries of my life - - seasoned with parsely, garlic, and parmesan cheese, with a thousand island dip. Amazing. My pants seemed a little snugger when I got home, I can't imagine why . . .

We also went to church and visited the LA Temple. We ate in a cute little diner nearby, and the hostess was born in Pocatello! Small world. I had so much fun visiting with Beebs, who I rarely get to see. She is darling, so patient and so fun (she didn't even lose it when Weston threw up chocolate donut all over the back seat of the car). I wish we could have spent more time together. We had to leave Sunday night, didn't get on the 6:00 flight so ended up taking a red-eye to Baltimore and then a morning flight to Chicago. Noah got a fever and didn't feel well part of the time, but he's fine now.

I'm also posting some gorgeous pictures of Lake Louise (when Scott took the boys to Canada). I told him that next fall we're going, just the 2 of us!

You Never Know . . .

Yesterday I was sitting in the TV room watching Ethan play his Wii game (Mario Party 8?). He was really doing well, as far as I could tell, and I told him what an awesome player he was. Later he came upstairs (after I'd hollered at him several times to quit playing and do his homework) and said, "Mom, when you complimented me on my video game skills that really got to me." I tell him I love him about 50 times a day, and constantly try to build him up, saying what a good brother he is, how nice he looks, making specific mention of nice things he's done or good schoolwork. But what made a difference to him was knowing I thought he was a good video game player. Isn't that funny?!

Canada

Scott took the kids to Canada this morning. I really wanted to go, but I've been recovering from a 2 week cold and was so buried in paperwork that I didn't feel I could do it. Plus next weekend we're going to Disneyland with Beebs and Scott and their kids. Now of course I'm missing the Scott and Ethan and Noah like crazy. They were all so sweet this morning. But I'm attacking the mess in my office and hopefully over the weekend I'll be able to get everything so organized that I won't be a stressed mess next week. Amazing how paper just piles up, coupons, schoolwork, mail, junk mail, adoption stuff, church stuff, FINDS (Down syndrome group) stuff, etc. So I'm making about a hundred little piles and trying to throw out as much as possible. The weather is great, cool and crisp, and tomorrow I'm going to attempt to clean the rest of the garage and do some yardwork. Scott's parents are going to be in Canada too, so he and the kids will have a great time. They're staying in a beautiful hotel on the shores of Lake Louise. I wish I could be with them! But I was really suffocating in backed up to-dos. So I'll unbury myself and be a better wife and mother when they get back.

Updates

Life is going on, busy and chaotic as usual. We're working on new adoption paperwork, which is a huge pain in the neck. Trying to coordinate between our new agency, our old agency, and our homestudy agency is not easy. Our profile is being showed around though, so at some point we may actually have a baby.

Ethan is doing very well in school, and recently ran for class president. He didn't win, but that's mostly due to the fact that there were 4 boys and only 2 girls in the running. What 6th grade girl would vote for a boy? But Ethan did a great job with his speech, misquoting Patrick Henry ("give me lunch or give me death") and JFK ("ask not what your school can do for you . . .). He started out, "In this time of political turmoil, vote for a candidate who cares more about having fun than about the issues." He got a lot of laughs and his teacher loved it. I'm really proud of him, he did it all on his own and it was a good experience for him.

Noah is doing well in school. Every day he gets a paper with smiley faces or thumbs down stamps for each of his classes. Thumbs down is for disruptive behavior, not listening, etc. Monday he got all smiles! Now the goal is a whole week of smiles. He does love school, and he's working hard.

I'm putting together our Down syndrome Halloween party. The kids love it, we do a pinata and it's always a big hit. I love seeing the costumes. I'm really looking forward to it. We also have the National Association for Down Syndrome conference in Chicago in November. They always have great workshops. Needless to say, I'll be attending the potty-training one. Still working on that.

Scott is busy with work and planning lots of trips for us. That's his stress reliever. I just curl up with a good book. I've been getting through an awful lot of pages lately . . .

Potty Training Update

NOTE: Contains material that may be unsuitable for adults with weak stomachs! So we took Noah to the dr. a couple of weeks ago and talked about his seeming inability to feel the need to poop and to control when he pees. He suggested a specialist, a pediatric gastroenterologist. So off we went, and when he did the exam on Noah he said Noah was chronically constipated. I never would have guessed, because believe me, he poops every day. But it turns out that he's not pushing out the poo (low muscle tone) and it's just kind of leaking out (sorry this is so gross). Anyway, he's got a (please excuse the pun) backlog in there. So this past weekend was the colon cleanse, he took large doses of Miralax and Senecot. And for the next month he takes a low dose at night. And guess what. Yesterday on his own he twice stood up and peed in the potty! He has almost never done that before. And he doesn't seem to need warm water to make him go anymore! All that fullness in his belly was interfering with his ability to make himself go. He peed again the "big boy way" this morning! Hallelujah, maybe after 5 years of potty training we are finally getting somewhere!

Happy Anniversary to me (and to Scott)

Believe it or not, it's been fifteen years since we tied the knot. My gift to Scott was very unromantic, but much needed, I started cleaning the garage out (I would have liked to have finished but it's about a 3 day job, at least!) I found that more and more stinky shoes were collecting on our small shelf in the back hall, so I bought a large shelf and put it in the garage and now most of the shoes are there. I also de-cobwebbed about 1/4 of the walls and ceilings and completely swept/cleaned the area closest to the door. And I put away a bunch of stuff from the FINDS group. Now I just have to clean the tool shelves, gardening supplies, sports equipment, and the rest of the walls and floor. Thankfully it's cooled off quite a bit here so at least it's not as sweaty a job as it could be.

Scott's much more romantic gift to me was a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a gift card for Borders (I can't wait to go buy some books!) We're planning on going out to dinner as soon as we get a free night! With scouts and young women and piano and guitar and work for both of us, we're pretty packed.

One more thing, you may have heard of a lot of flooding in Chicagoland, but we escaped any problems, thanks to our new sump pump and back-up sump pump. (It only takes one good basement flood to make you buy a back-up!) This has been the wettest September in about 200 years, but this week things are supposed to dry out a bit.

Back to School!

Yesterday was the first (half) day of school. Ethan is now in middle school and his bus leaves at 7 a.m. so it was an early morning for us. Fortunately Ethan is a cheerful morning person. He was very excited about his new school, and his day went well, except for a bloody nose. But he said people were nice to him about it so it wasn't too bad (at least he didn't throw up!) Anyway he has a nice homeroom teacher and said his other teachers seemed fine as well. None of his close friends are in his classes, but there are kids he knows, and he makes new friends pretty easily. Also one of his friends is on his bus, so that's great.
Noah was so excited about school that he ran out the door 45 minutes before his bus came and I had to drag him back inside. He also wore a jacket, even though it was plenty warm outside. He wanted to wear gloves as well, but I put my foot down. He was so happy to see his bus driver and when he got home he said he'd had a great day. I'll be going in to talk to his teacher later and make sure we're all on the same page. There are only 7 kids in his class, and his best friends Jacob and Vanessa and Leah are all in it, so Noah just couldn't be more thrilled to be at school!
And I'm pretty happy about it too!

Nice Weekend

Kyle flew in to visit this weekend! Actually we asked him to come and babysit for us on Saturday, there was a High Priest Group party that we had to go to, and since there was a stake dance that night there were no available babysitters. Great excuse to have one of my favorite brothers come to stay. He got here Friday afternoon and we immediately pulled out some board games and started playing. Noah was so excited to see his "Unky." Noah had camp all last week, going to farms in the morning and swimming in the afternoon. His buddy Vanessa was at the same camp, so he loved it. Anyway on Saturday morning Scott and Kyle and the boys went swimming at the gym, and then in the afternoon Kyle watched the kids while Scott and I went to our party. A member of the ward has a huge, beautiful house on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin and every year we have our HP activity there, dinner at the house and then dessert on a boat as we cruise around the lake. It was so fun!
This morning we had a special fast for Aidan. I was so proud of Ethan, he didn't even hesitate about joining in. We've been praying for the Daws ever since we learned of Aidan's problem. Instead of regular church we had a special stake meeting with Richard G. Scott as the main speaker. The stake center was just crammed with people, all of the big classrooms were full, as well as the chapel and cultural hall. We ended up sitting on the stage. Ethan's favorite part was advice from Elder Scott: "If you want to wake up with a smile, go to sleep with a coat hanger in your mouth!"
After the meeting we had a brief picnic lunch and then took Kyle to the airport. I wish he could have stayed longer, but it sure was fun to see him!

Sign the Petition

Many of you might be aware of the controversy surrounding the movie "Tropic Thunder." In the movie the characters make fun of people with special needs and use the "r word." Since no one I know would go see the movie I hadn't really thought about getting involved, but then I heard that they're selling shirts on e-bay with lines from the movie that use the r word. That did it. There's a petition you can sign, by going to ipetitions.com and clicking on the Tropic Thunder petition. The text for the petition is a letter written by the mother of a child with Down syndrome, very moving. I hate the thought of Noah someday understanding how cruel people can be.

Dancing Videos

Here are a couple of videos of Noah dancing. You can see why the kids love Miss Lisa! Check out Noah hitching up his shorts!

The F.I.N.D.S. Picnic

Last night was the annual summer picnic for the Family Ideas Network for Down Syndrome group (of which I've been president since December). So this was the first big event I was in charge of. It wasn't too bad, all I had to do was follow what we'd done in the past, and everyone had a great time! We had about 100 people there, half adults and half kids. We started out with games and face painting. A couple of young women from my ward helped out with the games. They were simple, like beanbag throws and a duck pond. I also had the kids pick up ten pieces of garbage to get a prize (in the past we've had scavenger hunts, but this was easier and more earth-friendly). The face painters were great, Noah had a zebra on one arm, and an elephant on his other arm, his head, and his tummy! Noah's two best buddies, Leah and Vanessa, were there and the three of them played together all night. They haven't seen eachother much over the summer, so it was a joyful reunion for them! We had a huge buffet dinner with sub sandwiches and then appetizers and desserts that everyone brought. After dinner we had door prizes (we won a croquet set, I'm excited to try it out!) and then dancing and music. Our DJ was Lisa Gomez, she's done parties for us several times in the past and the kids just love her. She plays fun songs like "the Silly Dance Contest" and the chicken dance and the kids just go nuts. Noah danced the entire hour. I wish I had a better camera but I did get a few good pictures and I'll try to load the video as well.

They're Back!

Ethan and Scott are back from a fun trip out West to visit our friends John and Cynthia Fulmer. The Fulmers are building a house in Sand Point, Idaho, which is near Coeur D'Alene (above the "spud line"). Noah and I were invited as well, but Noah has not been easy to travel with lately, and we decided to not risk it. So he and I stayed here and he went to camp (his 3rd year doing day camp with the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association), and I cleaned the basement. Not as much fun as Scott and Ethan had tubing and boating and eating pie in Idaho. They did get stuck out there for an extra day, due to some fierce thunderstorms here in Chicago, and didn't get home until this afternoon. Boy was I glad to see them! When we picked Noah up from camp he said, "Ethan, you back! Oh, so much," which I think meant Oh I love you so much. It was really sweet. And when Scott got home from work tonight Noah was practically doing backflips from excitement. I sure do love my boys!

Adoption Woes

We've been working on adopting a baby for about a year and a half now. We tried China first, then Taiwan, and settled on Vietnam. About 6 months ago Vietnam closed and we decided to stick with our same agency and do a domestic adoption. We just got word today that our agency is closing down and filing for bankruptcy. Those who have gone through the adoption process know the hours and hours of paperwork, home studies, doctor's appointments, fingerprinting, etc. that we've had to go through. Now another bump in the road. Our caseworker said she'd do her best to help us to transition to another agency, but of course there is going to be new paperwork and we are going to end up shelling out a lot more money (and the several thousand dollars we put into our old agency is gone for good.) Sigh . . . Well we know this is the right thing for us to do, and anything too easy wouldn't be worth it, right? We'll keep you all updated. I'm sure at some point things will work out.

I Love My Calling!

For those of you who might not know, I'm the secretary for the Young Women at church. I have really enjoyed getting to know the girls, it's been a long time since I worked with them. I also have a great presidency I work with, we have a lot of fun at our meetings. Well this morning one of the little beehives brought me a birthday present, a bag of candy and some lotion, along with a sweet card thanking me for the monthly calendars I make and wishing me a happy day. Earlier that week I'd gotten a card from her mother, so the apple didn't fall far from that tree! Oh I hope I can teach being that thoughtful and kind to my children. I was moved almost to tears from that sweet girl's gift. I love the new Beehives (12 year olds) because they are so enthusiastic. The older girls get a little bored sometimes, but never the young ones. A couple of the girls are helping out with the Down syndrome picnic which is next week. I know that not only will they be a big help, but they'll also be great representatives of the church. Anyway I hope I can be as much of a help to these girls as they are to me!!

Scout Camp

Ethan had 11 year old scout camp this week. On Friday I went up as a chaperone. The camp was in Wilmot, Wisconsin, and was put on by the stake. There were only about 15 boys there, and several great leaders. The days before Ethan had passed off swimming and knot tying and hiking requirements. The day I went we learned knife and fire safety. Ethan can now "legally" use his boy scout knife. The boys all made their own fires - - it was the first time Ethan had even lit a match! But he built a great fire. In the evening the boys in my group (3 of them) had to make another fire and cook dinner. We had that great taco soup (even better when cooked in a dutch oven!) and our boys were the first ones to finish. We had moved to an area with more trees and the mosquitos started to really attack us. Scott came to trade places with me and spend the night with Ethan in a tent (I had to go back and chaperone a pool party for the YW/YM). Anyway when Ethan came home the next morning the poor boy was absolutely covered with mosquito bites, hundreds on his legs, face, arms and back. He's been dealing with it pretty well, but he's not what you'd call a happy camper!

Long, long ago . . .

Following my friend Stacey's example (and inviting anyone else to do so) I'm writing about what I was doing 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago. If I can remember back that far. Five years ago Ethan was 6 and Noah was 3. Ethan had just finished kindergarten, and with both kids home all day during the summer I was probably going a little nuts. I think that was the year Scott was working in San Francisco for United - - he spent more time there than he did at home. I don't remember much more about that time, I think I've blocked it out.

Ten years ago I wasn't yet 30, and Ethan was just a baby. I was halfway through dental hygiene school, in the middle of summer semester. That was crazy, taking care of a baby and trying to learn about teeth, I don't know how I made it. Going back to school was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was sure worth it, I love my job. Also during this time Scott was working on a business deal on the side that took a lot of extra time and energy but it also eventually paid off.

15 years ago was the best summer of my life, I was engaged to Scott and getting ready to be married. I'd been home from my mission about 5 months and I was working in Salt Lake City for a discount LDS bookstore (Seagull Book and Tape). I was living with Lears, having so much fun with Katie and I'm sure talking her ear off about my fiance. Scott was in DC but he came out and visited several times and I went twice to visit him. Because we saw each other so rarely we always had a wonderful time whenever we were together.

20 years ago I had finished my first year at Ricks and was taking summer classes and working in the reading lab. Hadn't dated much, but was having fun in college. I still lived at home and I think I drove my parents a little crazy. But it was great having my dad working on campus, we used to sometimes have lunch together and we drove in together most days.

OK, that was therapeutic. It was fun to look back and think about those times, good and bad, and to see that I could get through the hard stuff.

Scott and Ali in Spain

We just got this picture from our friends we visited in Barcelona. The boy with us is Jimmy Carlucci, the son of our friend Kras. As you can see, we're having a great time!

Boys' Bedroom

These pictures are of Ethan and Noah's bedroom. The bottom picture shows the beautiful bedspread Omi (with help from all the girls) made (Ethan has a matching one). A cute print Beebs gave us is above the bed. The pictures of the elephant and penguin we bought in Bali at Christmas time. A man had a little gallery at the Bali Bird Park and these were just perfect. They really brighten up the room!

Minerva Teichert Painting

Scott and I finally got our Minerva Teichert print framed, it's the one of the Angels ministering to the Nephite children. I love it, and I love the way it looks in the dining room. We have her print of Christ with Mary and Martha in the kitchen.

Ethan in Utah

A few weekends ago Scott and Ethan went to a mini Garner reunion in Utah, they had a great time!

Ethan in Chicago

Ethan has spent the week downtown attending a day camp at the Shedd Aquarium. He and Scott stayed in a hotel and Scott worked from his downtown office. Noah and I have missed them, but I think they're having a great time. They'll be going to an airshow before they come home Friday night.

Potty Training Videos Can Be Hazardous To Your Health!

In retrospect it was foolish of me to think that 1 or 2 weeks would be enought to potty train Noah. He really is very willing but he honestly just doesn't seem to get it. I'm going to make an appointment with a urologist on Monday to see if anything else is going on. We checked 4 potty DVDs out of the library and Noah has been watching one of them non-stop. The tunes are horrific and catchy. In church today I found myself singing "I'm a hottie for the potty" under my breath. Several people came up to me and asked how the training was going (word has gotten around). I appreciate the concern. Anyone who thinks potty-training shouldn't be a matter of prayer hasn't tried training Noah.

A Great Story

I wanted to post this video but I couldn't figure out how so here's the link. http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=4e7679f8a731d6cce58a
It's a story from the today show about an amazing father and son team, very inspiring.

Potty Training

This is it, we're throwing away the pull-ups. After changing diapers for over 11 years I've finally had enough. Those of you who know Noah know that potty-training him is no easy proposition. I've wondered if he even can feel if he needs to go. He's exhibited some signs of readiness (he's dry all night, for instance) but in other ways he seems completely unprepared. He almost never says he needs to go, and he's never done #2 on the pot. There's a woman in Chicago who does consulting, she teaches 5 hour "booty camps" for $250. We spoke with her, but she's booked up until August 16th and I don't think we can wait that long. Plus one of the "testimonials" was less than encouraging (13 days in the kitchen and still not completely trained). So we decided to try it on our own, I'm just planning on staying in the basement until we're done. Noah is now in underpants, and we have 4 potty training DVDs (guaranteed to cause nausea within minutes to anyone over 9). I may be doing a lot of blogging this week, because I don't think I'll be going anywhere. Wish me luck! I may need to be hospitalized after this . . .

My Parents

I have the best parents in the world. Sometimes I take for granted all they have done for me, but I try to tell them and show them how much I appreciate them. The older I get, the more I realize the sacrifices they made for me. My mom is one of the most talented people I know. She can make just about anything - - I remember growing up how teachers would always say how lucky I was to have such an artistic mother. She made so many clothes for me, often staying up all night to finish. I know I wasn't grateful enough at the time, but I am now. (Especially since I don't make any of my kids' clothes and I hardly ever stay up all night doing anything!) My mom also has incredible stamina. She works so hard every day in the house and yard, and like the energizer bunny, she just keeps going and going. I remember when we catered a dinner for OneHeart and by the end of the day I thought I was going to just die from exhaustion. But Mom had been working right along with me and she was still going strong. Of course anyone who can give birth to and raise 6 children has to be pretty tough.

My dad can strike up a conversation with just about anyone. He has an exuberant love for people and they can feel it when they talk to him. I think his job at Ricks/BYUI was perfect for him, because he got to work with people constantly. When he retired I helped put together a scrapbook of letters from fellow employees and students he had worked with and it was wonderful to see how many lives he had touched. Dad is so fun to be with, I love talking to him about everything. He is always supportive of me, and always expresses his love for me and Scott and my kids.

The best thing about my parents is their love for the gospel. It is the center of their lives and the way they live is a beautiful example. They worked so hard to teach their children correct principles, by their actions and their words. I am so thankful for that, and for the fact that our relationship is so loving. I know they've always wanted the best for me, and they've done so many things to make a good life possible for me. As a child I thought all adults made good choices. Now that I'm "grown-up" I see so many other parents and adults making selfish decisions that negatively impact everyone around them. How lucky am I that my parents put their children's needs first - - and realized what those needs really were (not so much material things, but spiritual, intellectual and emotional things). Well I'm ranting and I'm not as eloquent as I'd like to be, but I did want to express my deep love and endless appreciation for great parents. Thanks Mom and Dad!

My Garden

We didn't plant veggies this year because we knew we'd be gone so much. Actually we ended up not being gone as long, so I might plant some now. But I did do a lot of flowers. Here in the front are my pots with bacopa, petunias, superbells, supertunias, osteospermums, begonias, and nemesia. I love the colors. We have a nursery nearby that is just like nirvanah. In the picture on the bottom you can also see my asiatic lilies (yellow, from Costco about 3 years ago) and my green hydrangeas which will turn white later in the summer. My peonies finally bloomed this year, after 3 years of waiting, but unfortunately the blossoms were so heavy that they just flopped over. Next year I plan to use them for cut flowers because they're so pretty and they smell wonderful. The picture on the top shows our back yard. We put in all of those flowers in one morning, Memorial Day (so the yard would look nice for our barbecue). I just ran through the nursery grabbing plants left and right, but we had exactly the right amount and I think they turned out very nicely. Now I have quite a bit of weeding to do but it's been so hot that I've been avoiding it. Also we have very bad mosquitoes this year. But I do love to garden!

Summer (thank goodness!)

School's out! I'm so glad for Ethan's sake, he did not have a great year. He's a good student and a hard worker, but his teacher was terrible. Sarcastic, mean, belittling and unfair. Lest I sound completely biased, let me add that every parent of kids in his class I talked to felt the same. The principal has been contacted several times because of the teacher's behavior. Ethan would get back papers he had written with totally arbitrary corrections on them (seriously, he took off 10 percent once because Ethan hadn't tabbed over far enough on a letter he wrote). Anyway I just hope the experience hasn't soured Ethan on school! Fortunately he is done at the elementary school and is moving on to middle school in the fall. And although his teacher told him, "You're going to drown in middle school" I think he'll do just fine (and Ethan got the last laugh when he was one of only 2 students in his class to receive the presidental academic achievement award).

Now Noah, on the other hand, had a great year at school and was very sad to say goodbye. He loves his teachers and friends so much! I'm really thankful for all the hard work they put into teaching him, and he has really come a long way. He's much more understandable when he talks, he can read quite a few words, he learned to tell time to the half hour and do some basic addition. So we're making progress! He also can write his name and spell "Mom" (best Mother's Day present ever!) Most importantly, he's happy. And we have lots of great activities planned for the summer to keep him busy.

Implants!

No, not that kind. A couple of months ago I lost a contact and figured that was a sign to finally get Lasik. For the past couple of years my eyes have been so red and irritated looking all the time. I've worn glasses since kindergarten, contacts since I was nine. So it was about time. I found a great eye doctor (unfortunately an hour's drive away) and went for a consultation. He told me my corneas were too thin for Lasik, but I could do either PRK (which is like Lasik but on the surface of the eye) or implantable contact lenses. After many hours of research and talking to several people I decided on the contacts. Of course that was the more expensive option, but also it was safer, fewer side effects, less recovery time, etc. The office gave me a pair of soft contacts so I wouldn't have to wear my glasses all the time, but I could only wear them a few hours at a time and they'd start to bother my eyes. I got so sick of wearing my glasses, they're an old prescription. I went to the eye dr. for 4 total visits, each time having very specific measurements taken. 2 weeks before the surgery I had to have 2 little holes poked (by a laser) in my eyes to relieve pressure (so that the contacts wouldn't increase the pressure when they were placed). That was pretty scary! My surgery was this past Wednesday. Scott was out of town so I got a babysitter to spend the night and put the kids on the bus, and I took a very expensive cab at 5 a.m. Everyone at the surgical center was very nice, and since I was given some valium to relax I think they seemed even nicer! I was worried that I would be able to see the instruments going into my eyes, but because my eyes were so dilated I couldn't focus up close and really saw nothing. I had numbing drops and couldn't feel any pain, but there were some weird sensations. The whole thing only took about 20 minutes. Afterwards my eyes were sore, but only like I'd been wearing my contacts too long or crying for a long time. Within a couple of hours I could see pretty well. By my post-op the next day my vision was 20/15 in one eye and 20/25 in the other. It is awesome! I never realized how much I'd had to think about taking out my contacts or packing eye stuff to travel. I still feel weird going to sleep without doing anything to my eyes. I have drops I have to put in for a couple of weeks yet, and I have a couple of small burst blood vessels in my eyes, but they feel fine and I am so grateful that I can finally see!

Ethan's Guitar

Ethan got a guitar and lessons as an early birthday present this year. A couple of years ago he expressed an interest in guitar, but we told him he could only start playing after 3 total years of piano, and he had to continue with piano. Well he did, in fact he's doing quite well with piano, and we decided to go ahead with guitar. Ethan was in band this year, playing the trombone. He worked hard, but never really enjoyed it too much. Frankly, the trombone is neither a convenient or (unless you're really good) an attractive sounding instrument (in fact if someone breaks wind Noah says, "Trombone!") Also the band students missed some of class for their lessons, and Ethan's teacher was not very willing to let Ethan make up the work he'd missed. We made him stick it out through the last concert, but let him quit band a few weeks early. Anyway Ethan has had 3 guitar lessons now and is doing great. Because of his piano he has a good grasp of music theory has picked up the basics very quickly. I've always thought the guitar was such a great, useful instrument (and girls love a guy who plays guitar!)

On His Baldness (with apologies to Milton)

Noah had hair when he was born, and for the next almost 3 years. It was a beautiful silky blonde. Then one day I noticed that he was shedding a lot of hairs. At first I was worried about a thyroid problem, but it turned out to be alopecia, a condition (more common with Down syndrome) where it's like you are allergic to your own hair. Over the next couple of months his hair got thinner and thinner and finally all fell out. His eyebrows soon followed. Of course we saw a specialist, but the creams and ointments he prescribed didn't do any good, and the next step was shots into Noah's head. No thanks! Last summer Noah's eyelashes started falling out, which I have to admit was difficult for me, not just because they'd been so long and beautiful, but because they help protect the eyes. Anyway, Noah is pretty blase about his hair loss - - if you ask him what color his hair is he'll just say it's all gone. He's such a cute kid anyway, but his appearance does sometimes provoke stares and comments. Several people (including complete strangers) have asked why we shave his head. I'm tempted to reply that we shave his eyebrows and pluck his eyelashes out too! Other people have thought he was going through chemo. A friend of mine has an adult brother who has Downs and alopecia as well. Once he came to our ward and a little girl saw him and went running to her mom, "I just saw Noah but he was all grown up!" Anyway we love little Noah's smooth bald head. Sometimes he'll grow a hair or two and Scott will lather him up for a "haircut," which Noah enjoys. Bald is beautiful! And I must say Scott appreciates having someone in the house with less hair.