Christmas 2011

This Christmas will probably always be remembered as the year we had the stomach flu, and not just the 24 hour stomach bug, but like the 48-72 hour bug.  Fortunately, the kids were all feeling much better by Christmas Day, but I was feeling under the weather still, and Keith was not feeling well at all.  It all started early Monday morning when Tori woke up crying in the middle of the night with barf all over her bed.  I picked her up out of her crib without realizing there was barf, so then it was in my hair and everywhere.  So, yeah, her and I had a bath at around 2 a.m.  I was up all night with her. Poor girl was puking about every 20 minutes for 5-6 hours.  By Monday night she seemed better.  Tuesday went without incident, so Wednesday I decided to take the girls to the Pt. Defiance Zoo.  Keith was home that day, and the boys didn't want to go, so just the girls and I went.  We had a good time.  It was fun to be with just them.  On the way home though, about 10 minutes after leaving, Anne Elyse started puking.  Good thing I had that sandwich baggie from Subway handy.  She was so good to keep the barf in the bag.  Can you imagine trying to get barf smell out of your car?  Actually, I can.  My brother barfed in our station wagon when we were kids.  My dad tried in vain to get the smell out.  It was down the heat vents and all.  We eventually sold it, because it stunk!!  The whole way home (about an hour drive), I was feeling queasy but just kept telling myself it was because she was barfing.  Nope.  About an hour after we got home, I started puking and, well, other things.  It was awful.  I had aches and chills too.  I was so sick at one point, I couldn't even get off the bathroom floor.  Keith was gone to work at this point, so Austin did his best to be the man of the house and help take care of the kids.  He was pretty worried.  He called Keith, "Dad, Mom is REALLY sick."  It was bad from about 5 p.m. until midnight at which point Tyler woke up puking.  He and I spent the night on the sofa taking turns running to the bathroom or using the "barf bucket."  By Thursday morning, I was feeling a bit better, or at least not puking anymore.  Thursday afternoon, Austin came down with it.  We thought maybe Keith had dodged the bullet.  He was working the night shift that week, and came home early Friday morning, around 5 am. and collapsed in bed saying he didn't feel well.  He never threw up, just had the diarrhea, but he was feeling yucky through Christmas day.  And Keith is a real peach when he's sick.  Can you say El Groucho?  He even gets the luxury of not having to take care of sick kids when he's sick!

We went up to my parent's for Christmas Eve dinner.  I could barely eat anything.  The kids were feeling fine though.  Christmas Day we spent at our house, and my parent's came down that night for dinner.  It was the first meal I'd had in days.  Ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, Marilyn's salad, and rolls.  Yumm!

The kids had a blast with all their new presents they got.  Austin got a bow, Anne Elyse an American Girl Doll, Tyler a Lightning McQueen remote control car, and Tori a tricycle.  The big, family santa gift was the XBOX with Kinnect.  It's pretty fun!

It could've been so much worse if we had actually been puking on Christmas Day. Thank goodness we weren't!  Our church was at 9:30 a.m., and I'm just going to admit right now that, yes, we are sinners and we didn't go.  If I hadn't been so wiped out by the flu/taking care of sick kids/and getting Christmas wrapped up AND if church wasn't so early, we probably would've gone.  I just didn't have the energy to deal with it.  However, I really did enjoy the spirit of Christmas still and enjoyed taking the extra time to reflect upon the birth of our Savior.  There is nothing else quite like the feelings you can hold in your heart at Christmastime.  I'm so grateful to have 4 kids that (drive me crazy) that I love and that make Christmas so fun and special.




This is the picture I used for our Christmas Card this year.  I only sent 25 this year and didn't get to send one to everyone I wanted to (trying to cut down on expense).  It turned out cute.  I did a press printed card that was 5x5 in size and cut in a scalloped shape.

The back of the card read:

Edmond's Beach

Montana

Keith's sister Denise and her family (plus Uncle Garret) flew in from New York at the end of June.  They spent their first night at Sara and Patrick's and the next day we met up with them off I-90 in North Bend to travel to Great Falls together.  Keith's dad and his wife, Sue, had just moved to Great Falls from Rochester a few weeks previous, so not only did we get to visit with Great Grandma Mang while there, we also saw them.  Sara and Patrick also came on the trip and Shane drove up from Salt Lake City.  The only Mang sibling absent was Kyle.  It was the first time everyone had been together (minus Kyle) in 3 years.

The kids did great in the car (it's about a 12 hour drive each way).  We stayed at the Hampton Inn, which was pretty nice and got to eat out for every meal (now THAT was a true vacation for me, not having to cook).  Denise and Ben stayed at the same hotel with us, so the kids got to see plenty of each other and swim in the pool in the evening.

We mostly hung out during the day at the park with a picnic lunch visiting with the Grandparents.  We took a trip out to Fairfield to see the old family farm and to visit Great Grandpa Mang's grave site.  Our last day there we took the kids to the waterpark, which was a blast.  It was a short trip, only there for about 3 days but a lot of fun. 

Denise and Ben drove back to our house from Great Falls, and by then it was the 4th of July.  Kyle and Lindsey drove up from Vancouver with their boys - we had a house full!  We did a picnic lunch on the river up by Mt. Rainier that day and then fireworks at the house that night.  The next day we went to the Woodland Park Zoo, then Denise and Ben headed back up to Sara and Patrick's.  Their last day here we met them at Edmond's Beach and then out to dinner at a yummy Mexi place before they drove to the airport.  Anne Elyse really enjoyed having her girl cousins Katelyn and Ashley here, and her and Ashley especially hit it off (they are only a year a part) and had a great time together.  Wish we could do it more often.  Next it's our turn to head out to New York!



Fuller Family Reunion

While my sister was here in June we had a get together with the Fullers so they could all meet Katie for the first time.  As has been tradition the last few years, we met at the spraypark near Uncle Bill and Aunt Diane's house.  My cousin Shelley and her family were also in town from Alabama, and Aunt Jane and Elizabeth came up from Chinook.  Sadly, my dad missed out since he ended up with the stomach flu (the same one I had when we were in Chelan).  Always fun to get together and let the cousins play.

Exciting Announcement

No, it has nothing to do with my reproductive system. :) I have a new blog for my photography work!! Part of the reason why this blog has been neglected is I've been working hard getting the new one up and running. I did it all myself (to save money). I had to teach myself how to use wordpress (sorry blogger), and it took longer than I thought it would, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 

I love doing photography, and when Keith was laid off from his job in April, it really got me thinking about having a little extra income. I'm not going gang-busters here, and I certainly will have to set some time limits on how much time I spend doing this, but even if I can earn just a little extra doing something I enjoy so much, it's worth it. Check it out!  www.katrinamangphotography.com/blog

Summer Bucket List

We are doing pretty good on getting some fun things checked off our bucket list for the summer. I don't know that we'll make it to Wild Waves this summer (the weather has been yucky anyway and who wants to go swimming when it's 65 and cloudy), but we did go to two waterparks already - one in Montana and one in Utah, so I'd say that counts. We haven't taken Papa's boat out on Lake Washington yet (although Dad did while we were in Utah), we're going to try to sneak in Mt. Rainier in the next couple of weeks, and of course, we're doing Roosevelt the last week of August. All the other stuff we've done, and it's been a blast! Which also means I have a lot of blogging and pictures to catch up on. Promise to get to it soon....

Fuller Grandkids

My mom has tried to get a decent picture of ALL her grandkids for years now. It's HARD to get them all looking half-way decent at the same time. She asked if we'd try again when I was down in Utah last week at my sister's house. It's probably the last time all the cousins will be together for awhile, and we know how fast kids change. I think this one turned out pretty good. It's a good thing I learned how to do head swaps in photoshop or Grandma might never get a good picture!

From Misc

I ♥ This

This picture has summer written all over it! Tori's first ice cream cone!

From Jul 11, 2011

Pasture Pics

The wild daisies and foxglove are in full bloom around here. I took these pictures out behind the house, in the pasture. Tried to get some of the horses too, but they weren't cooperating. :)

From Misc

Off To a Good Start

Our summer is on a roll! We've been on the go, doing a lot of fun things since school let out. Denise and Ben and their kids left yesterday, and we had such a fun time in Montana and hanging out here at home. Here is one of my favorite pictures from our trip to Montana, Anne Elyse with great-grandma Mang. I have a lot more pictures, but I have a feeling it may be a week or so before I can get anymore edited and up on the blog or facebook. I have a ton of housework to do and (and my sis says) the "un-fun" chores. Check back soon for an update!

From Misc