What Next???

I swear it feels like we are doomed. It is just one thing after another around here. Ivan went to play at a friends house today and was bit by their dog. This is a friend that has played at our house several times but Ivan has never played over there. They are in our ward and they are very nice people. The mom brought Ivan home after she had cleaned him up and said that she had gone to the bathroom and the dog had bit him. She said that his hands and face had been covered in blood but she cleaned him up. I was not too worried about it because the cuts are small but then Matt reminded me about rabies. I had to confront the neighbors about proof of the rabies vaccination and luckily they had it. I swear it just never ends. I am glad Matt said something because I didn't even think of that and I would have just let it go. Man, I'm mother of the year aren't I???

What's the Secret...

All day my kids claim to be starving. I limit snacks because we simply cannot afford to buy as many snacks as they would eat. I make dinner and suddenly it's like they are completely full. 10 minutes after not eating their meal they are starving again. I swear I'm going to stop making meals and just buy crackers and water. Today has been an extremely hard day with the kids. Some days are just so much harder than others. Right off the bat, Claire threw such a fit that she wasnt' allowed to play with friends for the rest of the day. I hate that because it means that the rest of us miss out on going to the park or wherever but it's the only way. She really needed a nap but that child hasn't really napped since 6 months old. Ivan is just so full of energy that watching him makes me tired. We took a long nap this afternoon while Claire did her own thing. She seems to like to have the time to herself and she really is good, she never gets into stuff. We went out to ride bikes and swing on the new swings that Grandpa built but the whole time I was wanting to lay down wherever we went. I am just sooo tired. I am off of my medication for Fibromyalgia because switching doctors has left a gap between checkups. I didn't realize what a difference the medication made. It helped my function and now I just feel like laying in bed all of the time. It will be nice for Claire to start school again so that we can get back into a routine and get out of this funk. Well, gotta go bathe kids, Nora is covered in Potato's.


The dynamic duo. Ivan chokes down broccoli and Claire tells him "I'll eat it, it's healthy!" (She didn't get that from me!)



Above Nora has poored her water on her food...yum

Dancin' Fool!

We have discovered that our little Nora is quite the dancer! She was watching "Camp Rock" with us last night and as the credits rolled she broke it down! When the music stopped, her little lip started to quiver and she broke into sobs. As soon as we started the music again she dried it up and began dancing again! She is so funny!
I took this video on my phone and it is a little dark but it gives you the idea.

Nice to be noticed!

I received this reward from My cousin Lynnette!! Thanks for the recognition Lynnette! I love to blog. When I first heard of the whole thing I thought it was something I just couldn't get into. I have found that my blog is a way to help me feel connected to people that I love and a way to share myself with the world!
The following is a description of the award:
"I really like this award because of the way it says that these bloggers are not interested in lots of prizes, awards, etc.
I have been to some blogs, where the only goal seems to be snatching blog awards anywhere they can find them, whether they have been given these awards or not. The blogs I love are ones that I can relate to. The ones that deal with lifes joys, pitfalls & surprises with grace and laughter.The award states:"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I don't have 8 people to pass this on to so I am going to pass it on to Melissa and Tami. These gals do an awesome job keeping up with their blogs! Melissa is the one that convinced me to start a blog of my own. I love that Tami is not afraid to approach very hard and sometimes scarry subjects that we all experience. She is incredibly strong. Thanks gals!

Huge Owie!!! (warning, yucky pics)

Our poor little Nora has had a horrible week and we didn't even know it until yesterday. She has been a little cranky but we figured it was because she is getting her molars. Well, yesterday I was holding her while we were watching a movie and when I touched her foot she jumped and yelled "Owie!" I looked down and noticed that her big toe on her right foot was horribly infected! I thought it was an ingrown toenail and because I have had many of them, I started to drain the infection. As I was draining it, I pulled half of a sewing needle out of her toe. Claire and her grandpa had been doing some sewing last week and Claire lost a needle. I thought will all the vacuuming that it would have been taken care of but somehow half of it ended up in Nora's toe and that is the source of the infection. I took her to the Urgent Care where they x-rayed it to make sure the other half of the needle wasn't in there. We got lucky and it wasn't. The doctor told me that if it was still in there he would have to send her to a specialist. I thought this was extremely ironic. Here I am with no medical practice and I pulled the first half out on my own. Here he is with what, like 12 years of schooling and he has to send her somewhere else??? It just didn't make much sense to me. So they started her on a round of antibiotics and we just have to watch to make sure it doesn't spread or get worst. If it does we will have to take her into the ER for antibiotic treatment. What a mess! She has been such a trooper though.

A Painful Goodbye

Today Matt's family had to leave. Originally they were going to stay a little longer but Matt's dad is having his knee replaced on January 6th. It was so hard to say goodbye. Every time someone comes we are absolutely thrilled but when they leave there is something inside me that wants to leave with them. If only we could lock the doors and just go back to our old life. I wish there was a way to merge the two existences together. Paul gave Matt a very good blessing last night which helped us to understand that we need to be patient in order to see the reasons we are here. I just hate the ache that comes with watching them go. I wanted to chase the car but instead I cried.

"Father and Son"

It was so wonderful to have Matt's family come to visit. Matt needed so much to see his dad. One day we went for a "short" ride in the car to a nearby state park. It ended up being a 100 mile drive mostly on dirt road but it gave us a wonderful chance to be together as a family and sing songs the whole way. It poured rain the entire time and I was terrified as we drove through flash flood areas and near the edges of cliff's but now that I look back on it, it was a great time! Here is a picture that I caught as Matt and his dad stood in the rain together. I realized this week how much the two of them are alike and that is a good thing. I told Matt that it was a good thing I love his dad because the two of them are so much the same!I also caught this video of Granny Vicki letting loose and racing with the kids!

"Sit Down Grandpa!"

Paul, Vicki and Kirstin were here for a week and I don't think we saw Paul sit still the entire time. From mowing the lawn to riding his bike, re-organizing the garageto jumping on the trampoline with the kids, he kept himself very busy. He is just that kind of guy. His big project while he was here was to build a swing set for the kids. Now I know what most of you are thinking, he got a kit from the store and put it together...no...He built a swing set from scratch with no plans to look at, just an idea in his head. It's awesome. It's very permanent and cemented in the ground. The kids love it. Here are the pictures of his finished project!

Christmas at The Garff's

Well, if that was Christmas, we had it. It was a hard year. It was so good to have Matt's family here but I still wanted to just go home. I was not feeling well almost the entire time that they were here and poor Vicki did most of the meals and everything. I've started feeling better the last 2 days but I was just poor company to be around. Santa found our house but it just wasn't the same as other years...
On a lighter note, Ivan was very upset on Christmas morning because Santa had brought a Batman bike. Apparently because it was Jesus' birthday, Ivan said "Jesus wants a sponge bob bike!" Claire asked only for a guitar and when Santa brought it, it didn't work. Santa was just not on the ball this year! Nora got a stuffed dog backpack that has a "leash" that we can hold to keep track of her. She insists on walking everywhere we go but she does not follow very well. Well, it was a hit because she didn't take it off for three days. She slept with it on and everything. She is a very easy one to please. On Christmas Eve the kids got to open one present from us, Pajamas. Claire got Camp Rock, Ivan got Sponge Bob and Nora got Little Mermaid. They were so excited. We even spread oats and glitter on the grass in back so that the reindeer would have something to eat and glitter to light there way here.

Nora, Nora Lynn, Neut

These are the three names we have for Baby Nora. She is such a light in our lives and the past week she has really come into her own. She is talking a lot more and is developing a little bit of an attitude. Here is some video of her playing ring around the rosies in her own special way and then letting me know it was not time to go to bed!

The Cat Came Back!

Well, with a little help from an awesome friend and some awesome family our cat Polly is back home where she belongs! We are so excited to have her back! I thought she wouldn't remember us but last night after hiding from us for a little while she came out and slept next to me on my bed. She is even getting along great with our other kitten Chloe. They growl at each other but then the next minute they are batting at each other and pouncing all over the place. She is just so beautiful (and I never thought I would say that about a cat) and we are so glad to have her back in our family!

It's Official

It's finally official, I have nothing to live for...:) Grey's Anatomy will be re-runs from now until January 8th. For those of you that would like to mourn with me, we will begin a moment of silence now...

oh and PS. I am so not a Christina!

Mystery Smell...

I have been trying for over a week to find out what the heck stinks in my house. It's not the garbage, it's not the dishes, it's not the cat box and everything is freshly vacuumed and cleaned...Any Ideas??? I don't know where else to look.

Worn Out

It is official. I am completely worn out. I think that the happenings of the last 6months have finally caught up with me. I don't think this has been the flu, I think this has been life kicking my butt. I should never have slowed down. This whole move just seems so surreal. While we were in the hotel, it seemed impossible but we made it. When we moved in, it started to feel like just an extended vacation but now the reality of it all is setting in. I know this sounds morbid and a little suicidal (don't worry, no immediate attempts) but I am starting to wonder what the point of all of this is. Not just us and this move but everything. I watch everyone around us struggle, I feel the struggle on our end both emotionally and financially and I just wonder how much longer it's all going to last. It seems so obvious that the Second Coming is getting closer and closer and I am starting to yearn for it. You are probably thinking "she's lost it!" and frankly I am starting to think that too. It's not that I'm unhappy here, I'm just here. I've never lived away from Utah and now I am somewhere completely foreign. Matt and I had this plan for ourselves or so we thought. I guess we never really talked about where we wanted to end up because we just always figured we would be where we were. We never imagined we would have to move away from everyone that we love. We thought we had a choice and in all actuality we did. We could have stayed but we were struggling on what Matt was making and all the jobs he interviewed for started lower and didn't have the insurance benefits that we have with this job. So we felt like we didn't have much choice. We really feel like we are supposed to be here but now that we are here we have no idea what it's all supposed to be about. We may never know. It is a comfort to know that we have done what the Lord has asked of us but man it's hard to feel like the trials are starting all over again. We thought getting here would be the bulk of the burden but now that we are here we just don't know how to start a new life. It helps to have the Church to lean on but our ward is just so huge that I am overwhelmed. I have been called to the Activities Committee and I am hoping that it will be the push that I need to start meeting people. Well it's not meeting people that I need help with, I can meet people really easily. It's just that I need to find some really good friends here. I had so many awesome friends in Tooele, it just doesn't seem possible that I can do that again but I know I felt overwhelmed when we moved there too. The difference between here and there is that in Tooele when I was overwhelmed and lonely I had a familiar place to go. I could go "home" to SLC where everything was as it had always been. I could go to my mom's house or have my sister come out to watch a movie. Here, if we leave home we are lost in a very unfamiliar and overwhelming new world. I know it will get better, it just doesn't seem that way right now. I just long for something familiar. We had Mandy and Mark out for Thanksgiving and it was so awesome, I want them back. Well, I guess that is enough complaining on my part.

Thank Goodness For FHE!!!

Tonight we had a very good experience with our little family. We had a very long and trying day. I have been sick, Matt wasn't feeling well and the kids were just out of sorts. Claire was having an especially hard day emotionally. Claire has always struggled a little more than kids her age. She is very sensitive to her emotions, fears, challenges, etc. Today she was crying over things that had happened last summer and it amazed me that at 5 years old she could remember what we would think to be trivial things and worry about them. Tonight we came home from grocery shopping and hurried our way through dinner and sat down to have family home evening. Claire wanted to learn about money. She is always asking for treats and toys at the store and I am always telling her we don't have enough money. Well, that answer is just not good enough for a kid as smart as she is so she wanted to know where the money was! As we started our family home evening, everyone was crying and screaming. I almost didn't continue because it seemed like a lost cause. I started by just singing some Christmas songs. Ivan caught on but Claire just kept screaming. Finally I just started to pray. The kids quieted down as I plead for the spirit to fill our home. I prayed for each child individually and althought the Lord is aware, I voiced the troubles that each one was having. I finally admit out loud to Heavenly Father that we are struggling. I prayed that things would get better for Matt at work. I prayed that the kids could feel more love from Matt and I and that we could all show more love to one another as a family. I prayed that we would feel the spirit more strongly in our home so that we would not feel so alone. It felt so amazing to finally admit that this move has not killed us but that we are struggling a lot. I started to feel calm and loved. We ended our prayer and the spirit was there. The contention was gone. What could have been a very tension filled evening was suddenly a calm and collected teaching atmosphere where we talked with one another, said sorry for the things we had done to hurt one another this evening and learned just where in the heck our money goes each month. We ended our family home evening singing more Christmas songs and by the time it was over, everyone including Matt was asleep. We have needed that peace so much. We have needed to turn to the Lord and plead for his help. I know we have been relying on him but we haven't actually voiced our concerns and fears directly to him, only to each other. What a difference it makes to turn your problems over to someone who can actually fix them. I am so thankful for Family Home Evening and the difference that it makes in our home. I am especially thankful for the Spirit that it brought into our home tonight at this trying time in our lives.

Two Milestones!

Wow, what a day, week, month, year...I could go on and on. Today we celebrated what we here in the Garff home consider major milestones! Today was our wedding anniversary, 7 years!!!! Matt stayed home from work but mostly because we are all sick. It was nice to spend the day together however, sick or not. It is so hard to have him gone everyday. I must be a very needy person because I would be perfectly content to have him home all of the time. The thought of him going to work tomorrow is very sad for me. We did not get to go out on a date but tonight as we were fighting children into pajamas and bandaging bite wounds that they had given one another I told him that next year we are definitely going on another cruise. We are going to enter every contest we can to win a cruise so if you know of any, send them our way! The other milestone that we celebrated is that Ivan is FINALLY potty trained! No accidents in almost 2 weeks now! He still wears "Big Boy Pull-Ups" at night but during the day he is in real underwear! This is a huge deal for us. I thought it would never happen. Claire was an extremely hard child to potty train and so I was dreading the deed with Ivan. Truth be told, after we moved into the house he just sort of did it on his own. He wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate a completed potty chart but changed his mind and went for a toy instead. We took him to the store and he picked out a Triceratops Diego Tree House. He is a huge Dora and Diego fan. It made for a hard night because the other kids wanted to take over his toy, especially Claire but he is so proud of himself and I am so grateful for a lower diaper bill each month! So it was a good day in the Garff house and after a week of being completely sick, I am starting to feel like joining the land of the living again.

Drunken Co-Workers!

We went to Matt's work party last night and by the end I was floored by his drunken co-workers and reminded again why it is I don't drink. It makes me laugh to think what they will have to face on Monday when they remember what they did. It was nice to go though. I have been so sick and so I didn't know if I should try and go or not but I knew I needed some time out of the house. I had a really good time meeting some of Matt's new co-workers and spending time with my hubby. The best part of the whole evening was the fact that I got to slow dance with my husband. We haven't done that since our wedding day and it was such a great moment for me. We also won a 50$ gift card to Starbucks so we are going to be able to go out for Hot Chocolate for our anniversary on Monday! We will be married 7 years! I am just so grateful that with everything that we are going through, we are going through it together.

HORRIBLE Idea

So...I..am..an..idiot. And to those of you shaking your head in agreement, I am sticking my tounge out at you right now. So we took in "Mister" the cat and we had him for a little over 24 hours and someone bought him. They had him posted for over 6 months in 2 different papers and not one call. We take him and within 24 hours he's gone. Now, I was right, I can foster animals because it was not hard on me at all to say goodbye even though he is such a sweet cat. Claire did not take it so well. She did not take it well at all as a matter of fact. There was over an hour of crying and screaming and calling me names before they came and got the blankety blank cat. So, live and learn I guess, we will not be fostering anymore animals ever. I do wish that we had the kind of money where we could have bought him though because he was so sweet and so mild tempered but so is the cat that we rescued from the animal shelter and she only cost $25. So I guess it was a horrible idea to say the least.

Our Foster Cat

So most people foster children but not us. I don't think I would be strong enough to do that. I get too attached to children so instead we are going to try fostering an animal. This is "Mister." He came from Claire's preschool teacher. He really belongs to her daughter but they have to keep him separated from the female. He is a pure-bred papered cat. They wanted to know if we wanted to buy him but they are asking 1200 dollars. I said no way but that we would take care of him until they found another home for him. He is the sweetest cat. He is ugly but I think he's great. He is a fat old man and so far he doesn't have a problem being around our other cat and dog.