To Pee or Not to Pee? That is the Question!

Flashback: I'm hanging on the side wall of the swimming pool with five minutes to go before swim lessons are over. I can't hold it any more I have got to pee. My, "please can I go to the bathroom?," is turned down by my instructor. Extremely annoyed and ready to explode I turn to the girl next to me and ask, "how come you never ask to go to the bathroom?" She responds with, "I just pee in the pool." I ask the boy on the other side and he responds like wise. Shock and horror!!! All these years I had been swimming in a giant toilet bowl.

Today: I'm chatting with a lady when all of a sudden her thirteen month old snot rockets into the swimming pool. Instead of going to the bathroom to wipe his nose she says, "Ew, ca-ca's" and wipes it with her fingers, holds it for a second as if I would look away or forget, then washes it off in the water. (At this point I have visions of Fort Rucker and scooping up loogies during water aerobics running through my head followed by inner shuddering.) Seriously lady, ya, it's your kid but what if every other mother did the exact same thing? Gross!!! I had to put it out of my mind in order to continue swimming with Makena.

So friends...what are your thoughts about the cesspools that we so gladly let our children play in. Are we at peace with the fact that even though hundreds of people have peed in the pool they are able to balance the PH with a little chlorine and other chemicals? or are we dry heaving at the idea of swimming in recycled toilet water? Is it ok to wipe your nose, your kids nose or anyone else's nose in the swimming pool? Today I would say heck no!!!

Am I overreacting? Of course, but when I relive these past traumatic experiences it takes me a while to calm down. I'm just saying that it might be a while before Makena and I head back to the pool.

More Winds of Change!

So are you ready for this!

Troy's deployment was cancelled last minute. They found out in mid August, just 3 weeks before they were supposed to leave to Texas. Troy did just over a month of pre-deployment training before he got the news. When he came home, Makena wouldn't let Troy put her down for hours. Even after, every time he started to leave the room, she would immediately drop everything and stay by his side. Good news for us as a family but bad news in many ways.

In preparation for the deployment we had sold Troy's commuter car, moved Rebekah and Makena to Southern Utah and all our stuff into storage, and Troy quit his job. After the deployment was cancelled and the shock wore off Troy began aggressively looking for a job, a car, and a home. A month later, within a weeks time Troy was able to procure a job, a car, and a home.

The house we were trying to buy in the spring fell thru, but we have now found one in a central location that both of us are excited about. The inspection came up with a number of trivial issues and only 1 possible minor issue. Another bonus to this is that it has rentable basement.

The state's military command has been very helpful and placed all those in need on temporary orders for a month to buy time for job/vehicle and housing searches. What a blessing that was. They arranged job fairs, resume classes, VA reps to help with job hunting and numerous efforts to help all the students get back into classes on time.

It's hard to know the reasons why things happen the way they do, but we can take faith that Heavenly Father always has a master plan that someday we will come to recognize. It just takes the time and effort to recognize how he has manipulated the pieces to come into place and then we must be thankful for what He has done to help us.

It has been a very stressful, busy yet productive time since the news first broke. What a ride!

Hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you soon!!!

P.S.- Captions for the pics. 1st is Troy's bro. They came and visited while Troy was training. Makena took to him immediately and wanted him to put her in the car and sit with her the entire time. 2nd pic- Makena did not want to get off the horse, she absolutely loved every minute of it. 3rd pic-the tire only had about 500-800 miles on it. Didn't even find a piece of the tread. 3-5 seconds of thumping and almost lost control on the freeway! Glad it wasn't the front tire! Car prayers, yeah! 4th pic- Haven't had a family pic in a while. That's about as good a smile as you'll get out of Troy.

Winds of Change

It's time to get my blog on again. Sorry that I have been such a slacker for the last two years. Being so close to family and old friends has lulled me into a sense of carnal security and blog abandonment. But today I will throw off this cloak of passivity and join my fellow bloggers in keeping the world informed of our adventures.

Speaking of adventures, Troy is leaving for military training July ninth and will eventually end up in Iraq. I will be residing with my parents in southern Utah. Am I excited for this change? Yes and No. I have always loved change and adventure but this one is bitter sweet. I will enjoy being close to family and making new memories with my daughter. But I am not excited about being separated from Troy.

How are we going to bare it? As the teacher in Relief Society put it so nicely today..."I signed up for this but I do not have to do it alone." So that is how so many men and women throughout the history of the world have dealt with similar situations. Whether they knew it or not they were being watched over and blessed by a power greater than themselves. And so shall we!

Fair Winds!

Rebekah Wikle

Caterpillar

Makena brought home her first craft project from nursery a Caterpillar. It did have fruity cereal on it but Makena ate them off before I got a picture. Yummy!

Makena's Birthday

Makena and her friend Sophie went to Boondocks for an evening of adventure and fun.

Here's a picture of Makena and her Daddy licking the frosting of the beaters.

She asks to watch Shrek every day so I made her "Sprinkles the Ogre" cupcakes for her birthday.

Happy Second Birthday Makena!

Been a while!!!

Life has been busy the last few months. Makena's growing up so fast. Such a big personality already. She definitely knows what she wants, is stubborn and isn't afraid to let us know about it. But she is also such a sweet and beautiful girl. We frequently have song and/or dance recitals thanks to Makena, almost any time she hears music with a good beat. Makena will be 2 in May, just 2 days before our sixth anniversary. Oh what fun she's been.

I've been super busy with Makena, Relief Society counselor duties and being a mother and doing a pretty good job of it too!!! Troy has been busy with security guard work and then doing National Guard. He has recently been able to fly again, after sitting for 2 years. He's nervous but doing well and desperately wants to do a family flyover sometime ("negative ghost rider, the pattern is full"). We'll see how that goes.

The bank recently approved our offer on a home. Hopefully we will be moving around mid May. Troy will start full-time military duties in July in prep for the deployment in September. 1 1/2 months in the home before Troy leaves but at least we'll have a home, finally!