Happy 14th birthday Elizabeth

Today our baby girl turns fourteen, she is heading to high school next year and it hardly seems possible that she will be 18 in four years. The past year has been a difficult year for her, moving away from California and her friends was a test of strength and faith.

E with her younger cousin Peyton

Elizabeth and her pal Oscar

She spent a lot of time very sad, sad she wasn't making friends in TN and sad her friends in California were far away.. We had a lot of tears, prayers and deep talks. I am so proud of her for overcoming her trial and moving forward.

Baking has become a new hobby, she can make a mean cobbler and sweet tea, she is becoming a southerner at heart.


She has been working studiously, helping immensely around the house even learning to cook dinners while I work in the evenings.

Her sense of humor wicked, she makes us laugh with her sharp and witty comebacks. Dr.Who is her new obsession along with Lord of the Rings and Sherlock. She may have a penchant for all things British......

We are so proud of Elizabeth and the young woman she is becoming!

Elizabeth's 10th birthday slideshow for a peek at her growing up.

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Growing Kids, Growing Garden

It all started the spring of 2006, after my grandparents dying eight weeks apart, my mom going through a major surgery, I was pretty worn out. When I came home from my extended stay in Whittier, my hometown the kids and I were wading through grief together. Death is hard enough, two deaths together is extremely hard. So one day, I decided that the kids and I would plant a memory garden in honor of my grandparents.

Many don't know, I am only a second generation Californian on one side and a first generation on the other. Three out of my four grandparents were from a small corner of southeast Kansas and my Grandma Brown was from Milwaukee, WI ( that is why my family are Greenbay fans for those who've always wondered)

I decided to plant sunflowers to honor my Grandpa's Kansas heritage and Zinnia's because they are known for attracting butterflies. Once in my grandparents backyard, a butterfly landed on my shoulder as my grandma and I conversed. She told me it was a good luck sign, so butterflies have always reminded me of her since then.

The first year, we amended the soil, tilled our little patch in front of our condo, planted seeds and waited. The first sprout poked through and we were thrilled. We came up with a plan to take a picture each week to watch our garden grow. Elizabeth was five and Conner was seven, so I would make them stand in front of the sunflowers to chart their growth each week. At this time, social media was a blog and Myspace, it became a hit with my ''online friends'' and a tradition to follow for many years.

2006

2007 ( look they are hugging)

2008

2009

Then 2010, Marty was really sick, we just stopped planting the garden. Our lives were just dark and tough, getting throug was the goal. The next year after his transplant, we were traveling so much and didn't have time. One year later found us planning to move so we took this substitute picture at Stanford on the first anniversary of Marty's transplant

Last year we just grew Zinnia's which attracted many butterflies, which we loved.

After a three year hiatus, we've planted our sunflowers again. We always plant the beginning of April and see our blooms around July. Sunflowers and I have become a bit synonymous, my friends always sending me gifts with sunflowers. I wait all year to watch the Tour De France which often goes through the sunflower fields in France, I wait all year for that picture on my television screen. 

A few days ago, I posted a picture of my new budding sunflower. I made the quip that I doubted that I could get my bickering teenagers to pose in front of the plants this year. My friend Andrea balked a that, she said the kids must pose, it is tradition. We shall see how it goes......

For my new friends, I wanted to explain the tradition and story behind the sunflowers. As you all know, everything I do has a story or a meaning behind it. One year, one of our sunflowers grew over 17 feet tall, we called it ''Poppa'' just like Conner called my grandpa.

Now I have a collage on my wall of my growing kids in front of the sunflowers. Truly some of our most precious memories have come from gardening together. I will keep you all posted on the progress of the 2014 Tennessee sunflowers.

 My Favorite picture of my garden

Leap Taken, Wings Grown

A couple of weeks ago, while shopping I saw a adorable leather cuff with a quote engraved in metal. The quote said, '' She took a leap of faith and grew wings on the way down.'' That has become my mantra during this past month. We've taken a leap of faith and we've grown wings on the way down.

This move was bold and courageous, one we knew had to be made but weren't sure it would work out? People have been angry, mad, disappointed and upset that we would make such a bold move.  Suddenly there are many people not speaking to me. We moved and left them behind for seemingly no good reason to them.

Three years ago, Marty was sick, I was putting fluid into his stomach every four hours. He was having horribly low blood sugars which would result in me fighting him to sit still and eat glucose until it came back up. I once stood in the middle of our living room, holding him up until the paramedics got there. We didn't know if he would live or die? We faced many tough realities that so many of you will never understand. We planned for two futures, the better of the two was moving across country and starting anew.

We dreamed until his transplant came, then we started researching our option, traveling to see if we really liked it  and then planning our move. During the planning, we never realized that God had another plan for us that wasn't our own!

Last summer, when Marty suddenly changed moving locales, I was upset and fought him tooth and nail. Then we got the call that changed everything. Suddenly our plans went out the window and God's plan came into place. This plan has provided for our every need out of seemingly thin air.

Money to move, just appeared. Housing, just came about. Job for me, in one phone call. The actual move date, missed all of the major winter storms and tornado season! The list goes on and on.

We know now why we've ended up here. The last key was a job for Marty, we knew with his line of work it would take time for him to find a job. Funny enough, when Marty was sick we had several conversations about the future. One of them was about potentially adopting in the future, we have great kids and in Marty's words ''We have a lot to offer a child'' and another was maybe him working with Special Olympics or children.

For those who've never witnessed it, Marty is a wonderful dad. My friend Jen commented on that when camping with us a couple of months ago. She loved the interaction between Conner, Elizabeth and Marty, it is truly great to watch.  They have fun together, yet they know Dad means business and you better toe the line.

So when the call came for Marty to work in our local school district as a resource officer. We knew this is why we came. This is a far cry from the area he was working in before, polar opposite in fact. Before his job was a very dark job with ugly realities, he worked with the worst of the worst. Now he gets to work with kids and make a difference. We are thrilled, truly something he has been dreaming about and I dare to say, called for.

We knew coming, we would be taking pay cuts but the cost of living is less. I actually gained pay but true to our knowledge, Marty will lose pay. We were happy with the benefits, our cost of living is less, thanks to being debt free, we have no worries.

But guess what? We found out the first day of his new job, he will make more than we thought. He may be called for a promotion right away, there is overtime available, he gets a uniform allowance etc. Over all, we will be making what we made in California with a lower cost of living. Can you believe it?

We took a leap of faith and our wings grew on the way down.

The best part of this move has been the reaction of others. We've had so many people come to us and say they've been inspired to make a bold move. Our kids have seen true faith in action and answered prayers. We've all grown together and individually from this move.

We are thankful for the continued support. Especially grateful to our friend Anita who told me about the job opening for Marty, one day over lunch. Blessings have been poured out, God has faithfully shown us his love and mercy. It has been amazing, I cannot wait to update you more as things move along. We are hoping to buy a house before the end of the year. Next year, we are looking for me to carry out the next part of the plans for this journey.

Hoping you will continue to follow along on our adventures!

A/N: We've decided since our kids are nearly grown, we will happily wait until we are grandparents someday. There won't be anymore little T kids. So don't get all excited!

Conner has made so many new friends. Used to be he only had a few friends and E had a bunch. The shoe is on the other foot now. E is longing for her friends at home and a new friend here. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Happy 13th Birthday Snookadoodle

My baby is a teenager today, how is that even possible? Seems like just yesterday Elizabeth Helen came screaming into the world. Named after our paternal grandmother's on our father's sides, she came into the world with a big name and an even bigger personality.

E and her best friend Chocolate the dog

From the moment she came into the world, she let us know what she liked, how she liked it and how wrong we were doing it. She has kept us on our toes ever since.

From the moment she was born, she's been the girl of many names. Conner called her ''little bit'' because he couldn't pronounce Elizabeth. That morphed into ''bibbeth'' for the same reason and then things just went crazy from there.

Finishing her second triathlon

E is her online name given by me. It's easier to type E than to type Elizabeth, so many people now call her E when they meet her. We don't call her E ourselves, if we call her by name it is Elizabeth or Elizabeth Helen.

She loves her ''Moo Moo"'

She's been B.A. ( bad attitude), then that morphed into ''Stinky'' because her attitude stunk. That morphed into "Stinkadorfulus'' for awhile. We've called her ''pookie'' which turned into ''snookie'' BEFORE the Jersey Shore ruined it.

With her best friend Huntar on moving day

Marty turned pookie into ''POOHHHNNKEY" which is mainly what he calls her these days. Lately I've stuck with ''Snookadoodle'' or ''Stinkadoodle''

with Crazy Rachel on their birthday last year

My Mom calls her Beth, My Dad calls her Liz and recently her friends started calling her Lizzie. Funny enough; with all these names when someone calls her Lizzie, it throws me for a loop.

Our beautiful girl!

Whatever her name may be, Elizabeth is grown into a beautiful young girl. It's been a tough move for her, she's missed her friends so much. She loves doing triathlons, being with the dogs is one of her favorite things to do and she recently told me she would like to become a librarian. She loves to read just like her momma though she refuses to read any book I like. She loves 1D, joking around with her Dad, fighting with her brother and listening to Toby Mac.

We love you Stinky, we hope you have a wonderful 13th birthday today!

Flashback Friday: Conner and Elizabeth Videos

Yesterday, I stumbled upon two videos of Conner and Elizabeth while searching through old pictures. I never knew these videos exsisted and had completely forgotten about them. Which is rare in my case because I usually forget nothing long term.

My cousin Sarah and I sat watching them. I had tears running down my face watching my babies once again. We didn't really take home movies when they were little and so these videos are wonderful glimpses back into time. So funny, that I remember living in that house waiting for our life to really begin, I remember the kids being so little but really didn't remember what they were like?

This video is Conner and Elizabeth dancing to "What a Wonderful World" and is so sweet. It reminds me of a time when they had fun together and enjoyed spending time together. These days they are two teenagers who love to bicker and stay away from each other. Truly was a wonderful world back then and I miss those days.

The next video was taken at the same time in the same house. We obviously had just moved in and things were a mess. Elizabeth was being five, cute and sweet while singing me "Hollaback Girl" and Conner...well this video is classic Conner. Some things never change and this is proof of that. You can hear Conner during the whole video whispering to E. I laughed so hard watching this video this morning and so did Marty.

Kids grow up so fast. You don't really realize it is happening while they are young and need more. I remember being so tired and overwhelmed during those days. In the midst of it all the kids grow up, life gets easier and then you miss those days. I remember so many moms saying that but never really understood until it happened.

Loved having a peek back into those days and wanted to share it.

Time Machine Tuesday: E's Choice

Very often late at night, I hear Elizabeth laughing in her bed. She loves to search this blog and read old posts about her and Conner. Last week, she was doing this once again and the thought crossed my mind to have her pick this post.

http://www.julesmpg.com/2007/11/another-long-busy-day.html ............................................. ( she wouldn't say why she liked this one)

http://www.julesmpg.com/2007/11/dinner-at-home.html I laughed at this one because Conner says "i'm turning the big 1-0" but his fingers were backwards!! 

http://www.julesmpg.com/2008/07/crazy-kids.html I like this one because it has shown how much me and my brother have grown since then

http://www.julesmpg.com/2010/01/guest-writer-elizabeth-timms.html This one is funny and it shows how MAD I got at conner. and my facial expressions are priceless.

Conner and Lizzie Halloween 2012

This year, we decided our kids were too old to go out trick or treating. We decided to stay home and pass out candy at home. They still could dress up to pass out candy to the neighbor kids. So they came up with their costumes which had to be from stuff at home.

Conner finally got to be "The Tramp" a dream come true for him. This picture doesn't do it justice, his pants a little to short, his shoes a little too small, the blue bow tie instead of black. It was great!



E wanted to dress up as "Chikin grf" a made up character her and her friend Huntar like to joke about. I really don't know, so don't ask. It was funny and she was happy.



We went outside our gate, set up our pumpkins with our basket of candy and waited. We waited and waited for about a hour and didn't see one trick or treater! It was such a bust, seems like more and more people are opting to take their kids to harvest parties instead of trick or treating.

We came inside and watched The Great Pumpkin, ate toasted pumpkin seeds, popcorn and feasted on our candy. We had a fun time together laughing and enjoying the evening. It wasn't a bust after all.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you spent your Halloween.

The End of the AWANA Era

Today is the end of an era in our home, a true sign our children are growing up faster than we would like.  Tonight Elizabeth will receive her Timothy award one of the highest honors in AWANA. The AWANA program has been a part of our lives since our son Conner was four years old. Elizabeth was three years old when she started AWANA.

Elizabeth age three in her first year of AWANA

Through this program they have learned to study, plan, meet goals and memorize large portions of verse. They have done different service projects in each book, learned things like how to handle a American flag, joined quiz teams and played games on the game square. It has been a wonderful addition to our homeschooling. In some ways AWANA gave them a classroom/school experience and brought the “socialization” that many non-homeschoolers often mention.

Every Wednesday since 2002 our family has driven down the road to our church. Some Wednesdays for many years I stayed and worked in the store. We would serve snack and assist the kids in buying things with their earned chapel checks or stars. That is where we saw our friends Matt and Tammy for years, we loved those weekly meet ups. It was the first place we went after my Gramie died on Wednesday in 2003. It was the place we went and had people pray after Marty got the call from the doctor saying something was urgently wrong with him. It was the place my kids went the day their dad got the call for transplant. After we came home from transplant? The first place we went was AWANA to take our kids.

It was a place to see our friend’s mid-week standing outside or sitting in our cars waiting for the kids to come out. I loved meeting Alyce and Jerry in the breeze way to chat. Often a great place to ask someone to pray for you if you had a need. Even our dog Oscar looks forward to riding in the car to get his kids on Wednesday evenings.

We met Helen the first night of AWANA; she raised five boys in the mountains of the Philippines’. She took Conner’s hand and off he went. Elizabeth was taught by my dear friend Heather in cubbies, she’s a Kindergarten teacher and Elizabeth loved it. We met Scott who quickly became a huge part of Conner’s life, a real mentor for him. Elizabeth and Conner both loved Traci who directed Sparks for years. Traci truly helped Conner overcome some real struggles with learning. Of course, they both loved Del and Colleen who directed the program for years.

As you can tell, this was a huge part of my kid’s formative years. Tonight is the real end of their elementary school years. It will be weird when the next school year starts to not go to AWANA on Wednesday nights. We are so thankful for this program and the impact it has been had our children’s lives. We are truly sad to say goodbye forever.

Elizabeth on her last day of AWANA

Happy Birthday Elizabeth

It's hard to believe Elizabeth is 12 years old today. I think to myself, "Where has time gone?" it has flown by in the blink of a eye. Seems like just yesterday we were anxiously awaiting her arrival and bringing her home from the hospital.

Now she is twelve, her personality hasn't changed much since she was born. She is still the same fiery, strong, independent girl. I think the biggest change has been her sense of humor, she is hilarious! She is always coming up with funny jokes,stories or characters for us. Just last night she had Marty and I laughing with one of her characters "Gospel E" which is hilarious. She is smart, driven and knows what she wants from life. We are excited to see where she is going and what she will do in the future.

Here are a few pictures from the past year so you can see how she has grown up right before our eyes

She still is B.A. after all these years

She loves her "Moo Moo"

Joking with her Dad

Always silly

Loves stuffed animals

Our Beautiful girl

"You Just Talk, You Talk too Much"

Oh how I love the sound of my own voice, this isn't actually true. Some may think it is true by the way I talk and jabber on incessantly. I suppose that I have always loved to talk from a very young age. This may be because I was the first grandchild and niece, so they would put me in the center of the table and let me hold court. Rarely, if ever at I am a loss for words.

My parents aren't big talkers, they say I inherited the trait from my grandfathers family two of his sisters namely. Of course, my Gramie loved to talk even more than I do frequently chatting up strangers in the grocery store line. How she loved going to the beauty shop for her weekly chat session with Debbie.

Very often, she would have me play this game. She would give me her hand held mirror and tell me to pretend I was walking on the ceiling. It would keep me amused for quite some time and always fascinated me. I figured out this morning, she probably did that to keep me quiet and give herself a break.

One year in school, I was forced to sit facing the wall or a filing cabinet for half of the year. A young student teacher couldn't handle my jabbering and I wore her weary. I didn't mind because that let me be in my own land of imagination alas that is a story for another time.

My cousin Brianne came along and rivals me in the talking department. She would ( and probably still does) go to sleep talking and wake up talking. We both tend to be very loud when talking to one another and often our voices resemble a loud shouting on the phone.

Oh the telephone, how I have loved thee. Since I was about 12 years old, I have had long telephone conversations almost daily. I used to come home from school and call friends after doing my homework and spend hours on the phone. This carried over into my adult life.

When I moved away from my family and friends, the phone was my lifeline. I called my grandmothers and mother everyday for probably six months until I made new friends. One of my favorite antidotes to share is that my Grandma Brown taught me to make a whole Thanksgiving dinner over the phone. Even my Grandpa who was a rather quiet man would chat with me on the phone.

As a stay at home mom with young children who are homeschooled, I often spent hours on the phone talking to other moms. This was my life line of sorts for many, many years. It provided adult interaction while my husband was at work.

Since my grandparents are gone, I talk to my Dad on the phone at least four to five times a week. He gets anxious when I don't blog, Facebook or call him. Suddenly he thinks there must be something wrong with me!

Since Marty has been well, I spend very little time on the phone. Conner has inherited his momma's tongue and often chatters me ear off all day long. I now am the teach trying to focus the student and stop him from talking. I am the person handing him the mirror to go play a game for a moment of silence.

Marty will come home and usually he asks, " Who did you talk to today?"  and I answer, "Nobody" and he looks at me as if I have grown another head. I just have little time with exercise, teaching, and chores to talk on the phone. Plus I have been reading Anne of Green Gables aloud to the kids and teaching, that is a lot of talking time.

 I recently spent a week calling some of my long lost phone pals and catching up with them. I had to explain that its nothing personal, I am just busy and actually do miss them. Twitter and Facebook help provide the much needed adult interaction. I can easily send off a missive from my phone and go about my daily routine.

Sometimes change is a good thing, I think in this case it has been a bit of both. Of course, with my constant blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting there isn't much end to the talking. Now I talk in the written word instead of out loud. Sometimes its nice not to hear my own voice.

A/N Thank goodness Elizabeth has inherited her father's quiet gene. Sometimes if Conner is gone and we are all home alone the house is very silent.

Loose pants, Planking, and Bike Geeks

It's been far to long since I updated on the goings on in our house. Seems as the kids get older, the harder time I have sharing stories about them. They are at that age when they get upset when I share stories about them on the blog. I'm navigating the teen years now, a fact I was made aware of this week.

I've been doing a plank a day challenge. I was explaining my planking to Marty and Conner overheard. He says, " Yeah, she's all into that photo planking craze now Dad!" Oh dear! When I actually showed him a plank he said, " Your supposed to lay flat" ......only from a teenager. ( if you don't know what a plank is: Planking on Youtube)

Today, I wore a skirt to church that I bought six months ago and it was loose. What a great feeling to finally start seeing some results. I came home and changed into a pair of pants that I haven't worn in two years because they were too tight. Feels really good.

We were talking to some friends after church in the parking lot. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car with a road bike on top. Of course, I wanted to get closer and see what brand it was and what bells and whistles it had on it. Conner comes strolling up to me and my friends,  he says, " Hey Mom, did you see that road bike over there?" I turned to him and said, " Yeah, I want to go check it out." Our friends started laughing and I explained that since we've become cycling fans we are always checking out bikes. We are such bike geeks!

Elizabeth is more and more a Daddy's girl. Those two are always giggling and laughing with their wacky senses of humor. Tonight I was trying to get her to watch a movie with me and she refused per usual. I told Marty she refuses to have things in common with me. She looked at me and said, " At least Conner is like you mom. He will read Anne of Green Gables for you." Sharp witted girl.

Always a barrel of laughs around here with a pre-teen and teenager. They keep me on my toes constantly. Lately we've been fighting the battle of bickering. Somedays are long with lots of playing peace keeper as they argue over things such as "micro managing" the dog. Don't ask, I have no clue either....

Just a brief look at life inside of our house these days. We all are starting to train for our triathlons this coming spring. Conner and I are newbies and Elizabeth will be competing in her second. It should be a intense few months around here as we prepare. I will keep you posted on our progress.

Christmas Letter 2011

As long as we have been married and sent cards, I've written a Christmas letter. The last few years, I 've just posted the letter on the blog. I like having them all in one place. Here is the 2011 version:

D- is for donor. January 11 at 4:45 pm came the phone call we were waiting for. A donor that matched came available for Marty. Almost a month to the day that God had told Elizabeth the call would come. We rushed to Stanford scared, worried and excited. 8 am on January 12th Marty was transplanted with a new pancreas and kidney from a 18 year old donor.

Nothing could have prepared us for the changes and joy this would bring to our life. We are so thankful to all the people who prayed for us, waited with us, stood by and held our hand. This Christmas day pray for the donor family who will be missing their child. We are eternally grateful to them for giving the gift of life to our family.

O-Old. Conner is now 14 years old and in 8th grade. He played Water Polo this summer and loved it. He enjoys watching Cycling, going to pro-cycling races and riding his bike most of all. He is always making us laugh and a very handy young man. He can fix almost anything around the house and is a big help. We find it very hard to believe we are parents of a teenager who will be able to drive in two years. Makes us feel very old even though we are still very young.

N- Normal. We just love normal everyday life. I can never get tired of saying that life is boring, normal,mudane and slow. We don't miss the dialysis, worry, sadness, dark times at all. We enjoy each and every day Marty is well.

A-A new endeavor. I ( Julie) have recently started swimming with a local swimming club. This all started after meeting Janet Evans on Twitter. Her endeavor to return to the Olympics at 39 inspired me to get fit. I get up every morning workout after Marty leaves for work. In the evenings I go swim with  kids that are 12-15 years old. I have been enjoying being back in the water and working out.

I've also been working very hard on turning this blog into a job. Inspired by a friend who blogs for a living I have been trying to follow her plan to gain advertising. So far its a lot of hard work that I hope soon pays off. Now that life has changed I have several goals and plans for myself to accomplish. I feel as if life is a blank slate and I can do anything I want.

Another highlight was seeing my first favorite band Tears for Fears in concert on my birthday. I had waited 20 plus years to see them live. It was such a magical, happy moment.

T- Travel. Oh how we love that we can travel. We now understand why we couldn't travel before, we had to get to Stanford as quick as we could. We lived at Stanford for a month, then traveled once a week for a month, once every two weeks for a month, then once a month until August. In October we took our first family vacation in 7 years.

We traveled to Texas,Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Colorado. We had a great time seeing friends, family and new places none of us had ever been. It was so fun to be free with not a worry in the world. Marty's favorite part was the Georgia Aquarium, Elizabeth's favorite part was the Georgia Aquarium, Conner's favorite part was seeing Hincapie sports and World of Coke, Julie's favorite part was seeing her friends, Sarah,Kim, Melissa, Danielle and her family in Tennessee.

E- Elizabeth is 11 years old and in the 6th grade. She competed in her first triathlon in May something she decided to do all on her own. I helped her train and she did great on the big day. We couldn't have been more proud of her. She also played tennis throughout the summer something she really enjoys doing. She loves to read books, hang out with her friends and baby our dog Oscar. She is a very creative young girl with a sharp wit. She comes up with the best one liners!


L- loving life. We are just living life to the fullest. Again, it may be repetitive, redunant and get old but I will NEVER stop enjoying saying it. We are trying new things, going new places and planning for the future. The minute Marty got sick our life changed. Suddenly we realized that in the past, we had let little things bother us and steal our joy. Now that Marty is well, we don't sweat the small stuff and just enjoy each day.

I-in March Marty and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We celebrated with a trip to Stanford for Marty's monthly check. We did go out to dinner and had Pinkberry for dessert though.

F- Family. We've been able to see our family more this year. We were able to see Marty's aunt Sheila for the first time in 5 years and meet her new husband Rick. We were able to travel down to Southern California just this month to see our family there. We've also had several visits from Marty's mom this year.

E- Every time we are happy, we remember that this is a gift from God and the kindness of a stranger. If you have never thought about being a organ donor we encourage to think about it. We cannot give back enough or say enough about how it has changed our life. We look forward to becoming ambassadors with Donate Life next year. We also encourage you to visit www.taylorsgift.org and register to become a donor.  We hope someday we can help another family like someone helped us.

We wish your family a very merry Christmas. This year our family will have a VERY merry Christmas celebrating the gift of Jesus, the gift of life and the gift of love.

Parenting Through Crisis

One question I frequently get asked is how did we guide the kids through Marty's illness? Now that things are better I can blog about this topic and share our advice.

We were honest from the very beginning. Elizabeth was 7 years old and Conner was 9 when Marty was diagnosed. We explained in terms they could understand. Their first fear was that he would die. Of course, we couldn't promise that wouldn't happen but explained we had to trust God for everything.

I remember spending a evening with them in my bed crying. It was tough for them to process at first and we did a lot of praying. As time went on they as well as we accepted the diagnosis. We adjusted to our new life and took it all in stride.

There were times they worried, when they did they came to us and we prayed together. I think hiding things would have compounded the issue. That way they knew nothing was being hidden and they didn't have to hide their feelings from us.

Constant dialogue and open communication is key. They went with us to appointments, helped with keeping dialysis supplies stocked and understood times when we had to go away.

Truthfully, the hardest part wasn't until the very end. When Marty was transplanted and they had to stay away from us for a month. That was the hardest part and the thing they struggled with the most. Thankfully we had many family members and trusted friends who were there for them during that time.

Prayer, honesty and open communication are key. Hiding and sheilding them would have only compounded issues. It was something God ordained in our lives and they had to learn at a young age to trust in him and walk through difficult times.

I hope this serves them well later in life. I think they both will handle tough times in stride and weather storms a bit easier. They've learned life lessons that most kids their age haven't. They are still just kids who love to be kids. They just understand how to deal with difficulty situations when they arise.

Maybe this will help others facing trials and tribulations. We did the best we could under pressure and the kids seem to have survived just fine. We directed them to our heavenly Father and taught them he is sovereign and in control.

"Train up a child in the way he should go and he will never depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Four Years of NaBloPoMo in the Books.

The last day of NaBloPoMo year four. Seems like just yesterday I was starting out and a month of post seemed daunting. As the years have gone on and I have established the habit of blogging this task has gotten easier.

This month marks my sixth bloggiversary. This blog has seen me through some very happy times and the darkest of times. I have laughed,loved, made new friends,grieved, despaired, struggled and grown as a person. My kids were five and seven when I started this blog and they have grown so much. This has become a book about their childhood and the story of our family. I actually will find Elizabeth on here reading through labels sometimes. She really likes to read the Conner stories.

So many changes have taken place in the last six months. My traffic has gone through the roof and the blog is evolving and changing. It's a exciting year for me personally and a joyous year for our family also.

Thank you to my long time readers for taking the journey with me. Thank you to Di at Baja Bound for starting the NaBloPoMo crazy. To Andrea for starting me off blogging. Thanks to this year's blogging group, Darci,  Dan, Bethany and Felicia for joining in the fun.

This year has been a wonderful year to look back and reflect on where life has taken me. I am thankful that it has been pure joy to blog a day this time. Looking forward to next year already.

Wordless Wednesday: Midnight Mooey Trailer

Brought to you by Elizabeth aka My Daughter

Time Machine Tuesday: The Post Of The Year

The last time machine Tuesday of NaBloPomo 2011, so it is fitting to share the post of the year. I think we all waited so long for this post and I shook as I typed it. It was the last post on that side of transplant and I am glad for it! I was sitting on a little cot in a pre-op room at Stanford as I wrote it. At that point we weren't convinced Marty was really going to get the transplant at that point!

 So here it is: http://julesmpg.blogspot.com/2011/01/we-got-call.html

 There is a post that goes along with it. If you have not heard this story, you must read this post!!! You will miss out on a blessing if you don't:  http://julesmpg.blogspot.com/2011/01/god-told-elizabeth.html 

What do you think of the new changes to the blog? I love hearing feedback and would love to know what you think.

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday and that leads to Thankful Thursday. I have so many blessings to count and never quite know where to begin. Maybe one giant Thankful Thursday today. More like a stream of consciousness.

I am thankful for my hard working husband who works long hours and sacrifices for me to stay home and homeschool the kids.

Thankful for my two great kids who have big hearts and are very well behaved.

Thankful for my Dad getting better and on the path to wellness

Thankful my Mom has had good health the past few years.

Thankful for my Aunts and Uncles who are always there for me

Thankful for my cousins who have always been more than just cousins. Thankful we have wonderful memories of growing up together and are still close as adults.

Thankful for my wonderful friends who are always there in my time of need and beyond. People who go above and beyond for me.

Thankful for the family who gave the ultimate gift of love to a stranger. Who in their time of need thought of someone else and gave a gift they may never realize the impact of.

Thankful those who encourage me spiritually and help me grow in my faith.

Thankful to have wants and not needs. ( I borrowed that one from someone on Facebook, thought it was great)

Thankful for my faithful blog readers. Thanks for encouraging me to write and have a hobby, you make writing fun and exciting. It has been a wonderful year for the blog and I am really grateful to those who have been helping me take it to the next level.

Back on track

The Tour has ended and now I will resume my regular blogging schedule. I am looking to re-vamp my blog and network with other blogs. I got some advice from a old co-worker who blogs for a living. She gave me some helpful hints and I may be close to making some extra money here.

Life has been busy this summer. Conner is taking water polo and Elizabeth is taking Tennis. I've been cleaning all week and re-decorating my bedroom. We've gone swimming a few time. Just enjoying summer.

Time to start planning the school year is looming, I have most everything in place but have a few key items to purchase still. I also have to clean out the school cupboard and get rid of unused books. That's going to be a chore in itself. I also have thank you notes to send out from the time of transplant.

Speaking of transplant, Marty is doing well. We went to see Dr.H this week for his monthly check up and his creatinine was 1.3. What a relief and happy thing to hear. Talked to a old friend who had a kidney transplant 19 years ago, he is still going strong and is considered a miracle. Gives us great hope that Marty's can last that long also.

Elizabeth's triatholon

When we were at Stanford and the kids were staying at home, Elizabeth called us. She saw a listing for a triatholon in our city recreation guide. She thought she would want to do it. I told her that she would have to train hard.

We all came home in February and started training. We first started with bike riding two miles. Then we added in running and then had to wait..months to swim train. She was most nervous about swimming.

I was a swimmer in high school and tried to teach her breathing technique and flip turn to make her life easier. She was a frais she would forget how many laps she did.

The day of finally approached. 1.2 mile run, 100 meter swim and a two mile bike ride. We got her set up and ready to go.

Off she went. The swim was a struggle, her goggles came off and went around her neck. She also has a hard time not stopping to breathe. She made it through and went on to the bike.

She booked it on the bike. She came bake with kids who had left ahead of her!!  She took off on the run and did pretty good. She was tired at the end but finished strong.

We are so proud of her. First person in our family to do a triatholon. She set her mind to it and achieved her goal! She's already talking about next time.

The Mother Daughter Book Club

Elizabeth loves to read, a trait inherited from her Mom and Grandpa. She flies through books and always wants to go to the library.

I love wandering through the library with her. Running her finger down the shelves, scanning for new and exciting books. She has a certain silly girl genre she likes. Think Junie B. Jonesesque but for bigger girls. Humor is her favorite.

When I was her age, I fell in love with a book. The character became my favorite of all time.  Anne of Green Gables changed the way I read books forever. Her spunk, wit, and determination struck a cord with me.

Naturally, I've been waiting for the day Elizabeth would read the series. I have several copies and even a e-book for her. Once she hit the reading level, I tried to get her to read them and.......she refused.

She has no interest if desire to read Anne. She is judging a book by its cover. She doesn't know the content but she's sure she won't like it. I blame Junie B. Jones.

So on our trip to the library a couple of months ago, I stumbled upon this book. The Mother Daughter Book Club by Heather Vowel Fredrick. It's about mothers who start a book club to get their daughter to read classics. Guess what one of the titles was??? Much Ado About Anne. Finally, I thought to myself; she will read this book and fall in love with Anne.

Wrong! She still refuses to read Anne. Maybe someday, she will finally read Anne. The saga continues.