Alaina's last day of Kindergarten. This is her bus driver Sandy, (or YaYa as her grandkids call her), she is our neighbor and friend.
Sirena is turning 1 on Saturday and loves Elmo!
She becomes entranced by Elmo.
We just LOVE these 3. They are so fun and so sweet. Life sure is great!OK! FINE! I know it's been 2 months....what is my problem??? I don't have pictures because I am doing this at work. Which leads me to the update.....
Since my last post on December 23, 2009-
We had a great Christmas. The kids got some nice things from Santa, and a Wii from Mom & Dad. (Santa doesn't need to get all the credit for the good gifts ; ) We decided a Wii was a lot cheaper then getting our Disneyland passes....although we do REALLY miss going :(
Christmas afternoon we went up to Utah for some fun family events. First was Wesson's Blessing, (Tyler's brother- Byron & his wife Steffanie's 1st baby). It was SO fun to hang out with all our Martz people. We got to stay with some cousins/ Aunts & Uncles we hadn't seen in a while and that was such a treat for us....and hopefully for them. Before leaving Utah we drove down to Price for Breann's, (My first niece), Baptism. It was such a wonderful day...one that I will always remember. I asked my Dad if he could give me a Fathers Blessing while we were in Utah. I have been wanting one for a few years now. It was more then I could have asked for. I realized that it had been about 25 years since he gave me one....so it was that much more special. The spirit was SO Very strong that whole day.
After coming home from Utah, we got back into the swing of things. The kids went back to school after Christmas break. January is a month full of birthdays on both sides of our family. We even had a few of the kids friends birthdays to go to. Tyler turned 30 on the 23rd. It was a fun day. The kids and I went all out! Well, maybe not ALL out, but as much as we could on a budget. ; )
At the end of January (as many of you know), Rio Tinto/ US Borax locked out all their hourly employees, (600 employees). This was due to Rio Tinto and Tyler's Union (ILWU local 30) not reaching an agreement on the Union Contract. It has had a great impact on us as well as the entire community.
Even though this is a tough time, the blessings have been tremendous! The lockout began at 7am Sunday, January 31...at 4pm that day, we had a friend call to see if we could watch her 3 yr old son for a couple weeks. That would bring in some much needed cash. That was the beginning of the blessings that have been poured out upon us. The next day, February 1, I received a call from a young man in the ward, (Joshua Glass), was saying that his employer was hiring. So I typed up my resume and was getting ready to head out to turn it in when the phone rang and Josh said his boss asked me to come later that week. But I was already dressed and ready to go, so I decided to go to the local school district office and turn in my resume.
A sister I co-teach with in Relief Society is the head district secretary. She informed me that the District needs Substitute Secretary, Instructional Aides, Campus Aides and such. So I signed up for all the positions I knew I could do. I had to take some tests, a physical, and have my finger prints taken. With that all done, I have been called for 2 weeks worth of work. Hopefully, the calls keep coming for sub work.
As my Dad says..."Just keep your feet moving and the blessing will keep coming." Boy have they!
Our Health Insurance was cancelled with the Lockout. We knew COBRA would be too much for our budget,($680.00), so I looked into an individual coverage for our family and we were approved for a great plan at $352.00!!!
The Preschool that Milloy attends has stepped in to help the Locked out families with Tuition Assistance. Another HUGE blessing. We were going to pull him out because we knew we couldn't afford it, but now we don't have to! I am SO grateful! I didn't want this to rock my kids world. We are trying to keep a lot of the ugliness from them. They don't really need to be involved in the Drama, they just need to be kids and enjoy their childhood.
I cannot begin to tell you all how grateful we are for the prayers on our behalf. We feel them and appreciate them. THANK YOU!
All I can say is follow the promptings of the Spirit. Follow the council of the Prophets and you will be blessed beyond anything you can imagine!
We got a Gingerbread kit from Tyler's Union Hall at their Christmas Party. 
Tyler and the kids had SO much fun putting it together.
And it was Super Yummy!
The only healthy, happy one! ALAINA KAY!
Milloy waiting at the front window for Dad to come home from a meeting.
Here is Milloy when we got home from his surgery. 
This is the result of having a child in Kindergarten and another in Preschool. They bring home FUN stuff for you! Ahhh....I just LOVE these Priceless Gifts!
And then there is Tickie! That's one of her nicknames. Because she is SO Tickle-ish!
Milloy's Preschool took a Field Trip to the LA ZOO.
Mom, Sirena and Milloy on the field trip.
Milloy and his best bud, Ian. What these two don't know is that they were 
Milloy was the first one to the Zebra's. They are his Fav's! 
Sirena got to have her first baby food. 
Bumbo Boy!
Bumbo Girl!
We went with "The Little Mermaid" theme this year. 
For the Preschool party Milloy was Buzz because 
Alaina has been DYING to be Arial for a LONG time! I just couldn't find a costume that was modest enough to do it. Then we had her dance recital and this was her costume for the tap routine. I had to add the bottom part to the leotard so that it would work as Arial.
The next day was a baby blessing for my nephew, Jason Meyring. 
