Life is precious...

Today was one of those days I will remember for the rest of my life. I have learned a lot about witness recall from my schooling and have read that memory is heightened and the imprint, although distorted, can be prompted to recall vivid details. I now know this to be fact. The girls and I were downtown today changing buses and coming home from seeing Max, when right in front of me I watched a person get hit by a tram. We were waiting for the light to change with about 50 other people at the crosswalk (it was lunch hour) when out of nowhere they scurried across and the tram didn't even have a chance to hit the brakes. I heard the sound and watched the body distort in the air and land in the same position on the curb in front of us. The crowd screamed and thankfully the girls were in the middle of the crowd too low to have seen anything, but as I panicked I realized the only thing I could do (having the girls with me) was to get them across the street without knowing or seeing and pray for the guy and the people who could take care of him. I don't even have a cell so I was left with a sense of helplessness. What horrified me still though was what happened next. Everyone was sitting on the curb gasping and screaming, but nobody moved, they all just sat there looking at him until the light changed; then they went on their way. No one ran across traffic to him, when the light changed no one stopped at his side. They hurried past craning their necks, but too busy to care. There was no crowd that gathered. The fifty on my side who had clearly witnessed it kept going and as the other side mixed with ours they gave a curious look as to what the others might be looking at and kept on going. I numbly walked across and held my tears back. Thankfully one woman who had crossed with me grabbed a security guard from the bank across the street and pointed and told him something in Chinese as she hurried along her way. The girls and I waited about five minutes for our bus and as it pulled into traffic I was able to see that the security guards were talking on their phones and setting up a perimeter. The man was laid out in a more natural position, but I am still anxious as to find out his fate. As I sit here tonight pondering it all I have come to some conclusions. Life truley is precious. I've heard it lots, but today it hit home. How many of us have made plans for the holidays with special gifts and thoughts. How many of us put off telling someone how much they mean for that special time or instead we hide our feelings afraid they will not be reciprocated or received for what they are. Did that guy have people who put presents under the tree or a family that was counting on him for Christmas dinner. Did the people he affected in his life show him how much they cared or were they fighting as he walked out the door. I was frusterated at Brielle, whose going through a bad stage, and a guy looked at me like I was a horrible mom for chastising her so strongly and he had no idea that it was the tenth time she was throwing a fit for just this outing, but what if today was her last day? Life is so final and when it's over you don't get a second chance. My Grandpa sent me an inspirational email the other day an one of the sayings that really stuck with me was something like "when you are feeling frustrated stop and think...will this matter in five years" and it's been helping me put things in perspective, but this really compounds the thought. It makes my life feel so vunerable to outside influence and so much like a drop that can ripple through the world and people I affect. One action can have such a chain reaction to the people we know or don't know. Was his purpose finished and how many people, that he didn't even know, on that corner will now be forced to consider their own conscience and life like I am. Well, to all those I have met along life's way, thank you. Merry Christmas and may you make everyday after it special and meaningful. Everyday brings a chance to change and make a new ripple. I hope yours eventually reaches the shore it was meant for.

A Moment

One of the ladies at the Christmas party snapped this picture of Brielle and forwarded it to me. It is just such a sweet moment that I had to pass it along to you!

Disneyland Pictures

We had the park to ourselves! There were no lines that day!

How funny is this face when she is supposed to be posing with them!

Even the windows and handles are shaped like Mickey mouse!

We went out to Disneyland again (we have a pass) and I snapped these pictures of the girls on the Disney train that takes you out there and posing with at the park. I just thought they were cute. See, I was trying to keep up and thinking of the blog...I just haven't haven't had time to post!

Christmas PIctures

Here are some pictures from Hoss's company work party. We had a really nice time and the girls were ecstatic to see Santa Claus again. I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays as much as we are. We are so thankful to be in a country that celebrates Christmas, and they do it in such a fantastic and big way. I think next week we are going to see the Christmas city light show from the ferry and I will try to take pictures so you can see how cool it is to see these giant buildings coordinate in a light show. Also, I am SO excited to take the girls to The Nutcracker Ballet this weekend. I have fabulous memories of seeing it with my mom in Salt Lake and looking at the window displays on our way. Ash is such the little dancer right now and I know she is going to be mesmerized. I can't wait for the weekend so we can take them both. I hope they can follow along with the story. We've been watching two different cartoon versions, but we'll have to see.

Max is here!!!!!

I don't have any pictures, I know I need to get on it, but Max is finally here!!!!!! I am so relieved! He is still the same lovable dog and warms up to us a bit more everyday. We did have to stick him in quarantine for the next four months (poor buddy) but they are actually a great bunch of guys there and I feel good about his care. I was SO nervous about him being there, but the staff really is excellent and I am confident he is well taken care of in my absence. He is actually one of the reasons for my delay in posting lately. We go see him everyday and the bus ride there (with bus transfers) takes over an hour. Then we spend at least an hour with him, visiting hours are only two hours long twice a day, and then take an hour to go home. So three hours of my day is now absorbed with Maxer time. The girls have been very good about it as well. We tell stories and color on the bus and then they take turns playing with Max or digging around in the dirt when we are playing with him in the enclosure area. And let me tell you...for an anti-germ person like myself this quarantine business has me flustered. The yard we can take him to, to excersise in is about 150 square feet of dirt and a circular cement area and all of it is "marked" territory. Max sniffs and pees on everything there as I'm sure every dog has before him so the girls playing on and picking up everything gives me the shivers, but I figure we'll have a super immunity at the end (and maybe even a good case of ringworm!). Anyhow, it is too cute. Max is so happy to have the girls again that Brielle hooks up his leash and he patiently follows her around while she giggles and directs him. He stops and looks at me like do I have to go around with her again? Then I pet him and she tugs and he starts off again. He even came up to Ash, while she was coloring a stick she found for him, and put his face to hers for a quick snuggle. He is so affectionate. What a sweetheart. I was a little worried after the first day because he didn't have much energy, but I honestly think he was just jetlagged, because he's gotten better everyday since. Well, that's enough about our dear doggy. I could go on about him all day. I told Hoss he doesn't have to get me anything for Christmas this year I'm just so happy to have my dog back! You people have no idea how much he means to me or how he and the girls got me through some tough times in Tunis. I really love him and I'm glad he's here. It's such a relief.

Busy Week!

The girls at the softball game!

Pictures of Dad.

The girl's new bed!!!!

We picked a fairy theme. Ash wanted princesses and Bri wanted Elmo, it was as neutral as could be:)

Playing in the playroom today!

Sorry for not posting sooner. It's been a hectic week, but a lot of fun. We did playgroup at our house this week and had a great time with popcorn and playdough. Then I've been trying to organize a group for Bunco and that came to fruitition this week as well. We also got the kids bed in (finally, yipee!) and had a birthday party and softball game this weekend. Speaking of birthday parties...Ya wanna hear a bizarre custom? They don't open the gifts here in front of people?!?!?!? After two hours of birthday party and screaming kids I was ready to leave and I gave Ash her five minute warning and she said "mom, we can't leave yet; they haven't opened presents yet." So, we stayed for another half hour before I finally asked someone and they told me about the customs here. Boy, was Ash disappointed. How odd. Hoss said it probably avoids any kind of adverse reaction, but honestly I love seeing a kids squeals and eyes light up as they open gifts. hmmm....moving on...

I'm posting pictures of the kids bed. It is awesome! We love it!!! Story goes, when we arrived here we were grocery shopping at our first location and we passed this bed store everytime we went. Which was pretty frequent because I hadn't figured out the delivery process and I couldn't haul more than a bag without holding the girls hands and trying to make it home unscathed. Of course they had the perfect princess window display that pulled at the girls hearts and one day we appeased them by going inside. Well, we were hooked! They custom made any design and feature you could think of in any pattern or color you could come up with. I slept on it and decided it was too much but Hoss just couldn't say no to himself. His justification is "you're only a kid once" so we went for it. And it is better than we anticipated! There is so much storage we were able to get rid of the kid's dressers and it even has twinkling lights on the underside of the top bunk. The girls have had so much fun already! Now, before you go and judge...yes, the girls do have a savings account each and yes we do put money into it every month so maybe it was extravagant but we are thinking of their distant future and well being as well.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday hustle and bustle. I'm attempting to get the Christmas cards out this week. We'll see how it goes, I am hopeful:) Take care!

Mommy I look like a pretty picture...

g

Today Brielle came and sat next to me on the couch and said "Mommy I look like a pretty picture" then she posed. So I asked her, since she hates to sit still for pictures, if she wanted me to get out my camera. And she answered in her little voice, with a stuffed up nose (from a cold) Huuhhhhhhhhh, then she posed some more and told me to hurry. So, I grabbed out the camera and these are the pictures I took. Well, of course not two minutes passed before Ash wanted to feel special too and so I took some good pictures of both. Although, you can tell, Ash was again in a goofy mood. We love their personalities!

You know lately I've been thinking; It's been a while since I felt young. I know you're probably rolling your eyes at this point as I haven't even hit 30 yet, but really I feel old. I feel like my mind is betraying my age and I shouldn't feel so responsibly ancient. So, I've been wondering why and this is what I can figure out: We start out with energy and a vibrant love for living. Then as we grow into teens we push ourselves and our limits to expand the world around us, challenging the truths we have been given. After this as we mature, or don't as the case may be, we may come across a time in our lives when we bring children of our own into this world. Now this is the stage I find myself at; This is where we are forced to redefine ourselves as parental role models, striving to not only set the example but be responsible enough to safely lead our children through life. I think this is where I have lost my youth. In trying to give my children a love for the world, and the energy to explore it, I have given my sense of adventure away for the comfort of their well being. I am now trying to find myself in this oasis of our existence. However, I now think I see where grandparents come in, for if we do indeed loose some of our vivaciousness then perhaps in grandchildren we rediscover the joys of innocence and living without the fear of responsibility that parenting brings. I don't know, it's just a thought...

Hope you enjoyed your weekend. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a fabulous group of friendly people. I attempted, for the first time, to brine the turkey I was cooking and it turned out beautifully. We had a great weekend, complete with a family movie night (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) topped by a hour of playdough tonight. We all had fun making some cool stuff, but I would have to tell you that Hoss's mouse looked remarkably like a pig. Although, he seems to argue otherwise;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a small world ride!

You people must think I'm joking, but people do really take pictures with them constantly and they always seem to take better pictures for these random people than they do for me...frustrating!

I thought this was cool because it was written in both languages

The train ride there.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We spent the day at DISNEYLAND!!!! It was awesome and we had tons of fun. I even got Ashlynn to ride Space Mountain with me as she's finally tall enough! Poor little thing though, she had her eyes shut the whole time:) Then when we went to the restroom after the ride she told me I needed to "wash my hands because the aliens might have touched me". I never even mentioned aliens...but I guess she just associated it with space. Anyhow, to make her feel better we went and blasted them on the Buzz light year ride afterward. She actually beat both Hoss and I with her score. And the best part was there were no lines, anywhere! We saw the parade, watched the Lion King show, rode the train and then did my favorite, Its a Small World! The girls loved everything. Oh, and too funny. We knew there would be camera-happy people everywhere and so we decided to count today; 21 different people took their picture with the girls. What are they going to think when they get around Caucasian people again! It actually gets pretty annoying. Ash was really good about it. She seems to take better pictures for them than me, but Brielle was not cooperative and we never make her.

Well that was our fabulous day! We are going to have our Thanksgiving dinner celebration with friends on Saturday (schools here didn't even give the day off today) so we are looking forward to that. And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share one of my favorites I've had with Hoss. It was when we first had gotten together. We hooked up in July and then seperated for different schools around the 11th of November. Now keep in mind that by the time we left each other we had already picked out rings, so we had gotten close. He was in North Carolina and I was in Florida. I was missing him alot, and as it was also my first year out of the house and away from family I was feeling bad about the upcoming holidays. Anyhow, he managed to borrow a friend's truck and drive down for the weekend. We explored Jacksonville together and he got me through the day. My most vivid memory of the time is our Thanksgiving meal. We both didn't have money and he had spent last dime on gas to get down and I was spending the rest of mine to get him back up. So our meal for the holiday was 99 cent tacos and when we got back to the room we shared a bag of oreo cookie poptarts. Ya know, Thanksgiving isn't about the food. It's about the company. I loved that weekend. You could have stuck us in a cargo container with a box of oatmeal and we would have never wanted out. I am thankful for those moments, they make all the hard times seem like a passing breath.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Playroom Fort

There's that "Paquette Scowl" again.

The girls recently figured out that the floor mats could be turned into a fort and boy were they excited! They insisted I take a picture of their first fort and this is before they figured out that they could use the blocks underneath of it as stabilizers so it's still a bit saggy in front. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a playroom! I love it and so do they. Anyhow, nothing else new to report. We went to a new playplace today at a club that one of our friends is a member at. The girls had a great time, but for some reason they still had energy left at the end. I was hoping for full blown exhaustion and a quiet afternoon, but these girls are the energizer bunnies! Ash is learning addition in school and we had a breakthrough with colored straws and circles...don't ask but it finally registered so I was happy. Thank God for the teachers on YouTube who give away their knowledge for free!