Pineda Family Blog: April 2019

Well. We have had an eventful few weeks. My sister Sam came to visit for one, and it was fun talking with her and showing her around our new digs-the kids especially were over the moon to spend some quality time with her, at the library, parks, malls, etc; she is a great Auntie so that was fun. We also got to go Lester's school Easter egg hunt, and visit the newly re-opened farmers market which we love. All in all, a good start the the week.

During her visit though, our Ms. Isla took a bad fall while playing and had her first [and hopefully only] ambulance ride and hospital visit. She walked away from it with a nice bump on her head, and a fractured leg, which all things considered was a miracle. For one thing, it was helpful that Sam just so happened to be in town to stay with the other kids. And it was a miracle that I was able to get a hold of Lester and have him meet us at the hospital too, and ready and to give her a blessing, considering-you know-medical school life haha. And the fact that she handled everything so well, and came out of it fine has been miracle. They don't make crutches small enough for her, so for now she is going to be rocking a wheelchair to go along with her hot pink cast. She has been a total trooper through out it all, and we so relieved and proud of our little huckleberry.

Since then, we've been spending alot of time indoors, doing lots of fun projects and little activities. Easter brought a fun change of pace though, with my sister Hillary and her family coming to visit and help cheer Isla up. It was a quick, fun packed visit that did worlds of good for all of us! Throughout the day, we feasted on Grandma Chandler's traditionally decorated Easter cake, a delicious pavlova [courtesy of Hillary] and dinner, went on Easter egg hunts, dyed eggs, frosted sugar cookies, and made our own little booklets on the days leading up Christ's resurrection while we ate candy outside on the blanket in the beautiful spring flower trees.

The morning of Easter was especially memorable for me as we attended church. For us, this is a typical. But with the week we had just had, and trying to figure out how to manage Isla in her wheelchair with her roller coaster emotions, an oldest who was feeling a bit neglected with all the attention her sister had been getting, and a suddenly clingy toddler, I was thinking we were going to opt out this week.

But Isla wanted had been practising for weeks on a song she was going to sing in sacrament meeting with the rest of the kids. The thought of missing it after all that work brought her to tears, so I decided we could make it happen.

If I'm honest, I felt a bit like we were a three ring surface juggling the kids, wheeling her around, and then carrying her up in her cast to sit on my lap-I felt like all eyes were on us, and I was kind of wishing I had stuck with our original plan and skipped it.

I felt this way even as the music started and she quietly mumbled the words she didn't know. But then I glimpsed her earnest expression, saw her eyes light up and felt her little body tense proudly as she sang her favourite line 'Gethsemane-Jesus loves me. So he gave this gift to me. In Gethsemane....' and all the stresses-all the worry and guilt melted away and it all became worth it again.

Jesus loves her, and is proud of her-he gave his best for her. She could feel that. And she was doing everything she could to give her best to him-through her singing, through her attitude and through her love this week.

And bc she could feel that-so could I. And honestly guys-I'm trying to teach them that. But sometimes I need to be reminded of that too. Sometimes, when hard or stressful things happen, its hard not to just put our heads down, and try to push through-and in doing that, focus on the negative. I love Easter bc its a season on focused on new beginnings and hope-not endings, like his death, but on his life and resurrection-which is the whole point. Eternal hope, eternal joy, eternal families, and eternities of growth. I love him-and I love these kids and this man of mine. And I am trying to give my best to them-bc Jesus always has, and always will give his best to me.

I'm grateful for that. Happy Easter everyone. Lets make it a great new beginning.

Disclaimer/Random Thought: Blogs are great, bc at least for me, they serve multiple purposes. For one thing, they are great for documenting memories. I also love using it for reference purposes, like if baby Addy had symptoms of something that Bear now has, or if we found one food place better then other and can't remember the name; I can look back through my posts here and remember what I need to know-and lets be honest, after the 3 kids, the Mom brain is real, so this is a real asset haha. I also love that I can blog about things like my hopes, dreams, realities, strengths, weaknesses, hobbies lessons I'm learning and beliefs. But then also about the simple, day to day things that life entails at this point in time. So at least this time, it will be what is probably another unimportant-to-everyone-but-me posts about things we've been up to lately and memories I want to keep. So feel free to scroll through, catch the pictures, and skim if that all you want! This blog will serve me and the kids more then anyone else, and I am at peace with that.

So-on to said updates!

-We often miss city/beach life, so when we every once in a while have a chance to do something uniquely 'Idaho' if you will I jump at it. I felt this way with the Birds or Prey reservation I talked about recently, and now, with this. So when some friends texted us about something called 'animal days' we were all in. In a happy surprise, Lester was able to join us and we love every second of it haha. Whenever things like snow falls, or farm experiences happen, I think people think we're a little ridiculous bc we [me] are SO interested in it. Everything seems magical and different. Each of us enjoyed different things.

Addy enjoyed holding the snakes, and the Giant jump pillow thing they had for the kids to play on most.

Isla loved the baby chicks and the cotton candy most of all. [Fun Isla note: Her favourite song right now is Simple by Florida Georgia line. I love it too-it is her in a nutshell. She is happy with the simple, easy, non complicated life, and it rubs off on all of us. ]

Bear loved the tractors best hands down, but also getting filthy in the corn pit, his first pony ride, and petting the alpacas.

And I don't care how embarrassing I am, I LOVED cuddling with the little puppies, and holding the baby lambs. It is a a miracle I didn't walk out with one haha.

Lester loved just not being in school for a hot second, and spending time with us-and holding a fish for the first time haha.

- We went on the quickest little road trip ever, per Lester's request [which is super rare] from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. Lester served a mission for our church [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints] almost 10 years ago, and some people had set up a reunion for it. It was pretty special seeing him visit with people who made such an impact and difference in his life, and hearing about his impact on those around him- I loved that we were able to give him the chance to do that. So much has changed in our lives since then, but some things are the same. Family still means everything to us, we believe in working hard and playing hard, and that Jesus Christ and his gospel is for everyone, anywhere, at all times, no matter where we're at on our path. We are living our lives on that belief, even when things get tough. So over all, the trip was worth it, even with the almost 10 hr road total round trip drive haha!

-While we were there, we got a super quick visit w my sister and family [and somehow I didn't get any pictures of that..] and the chance to revisit our obsessions with artisan bakeries, craft chocolate, Iberico ham and hand made burrata and Tulie bakery and Caputo's deli. It was nice to feel more 'ourselves' then we have in a while. Boise/Idaho is great for any kind of possible chain you can imagine, and it does have lots of small ethnic markets if you want to make your own-but I think its still in its 'infancy' if artisan food. Just like maybe Salt Lake is in its preteen years haha, and SF [and I imagine other major cities] are in their established years. So it was nice to enjoy that for a hot second.

-And lastly, I've been able to keep trying some fun things in the kitchen lately, like when we had a bunch of friend over Sunday night for games and tarts. That is the upside of living somewhere like this-it forces us to cook and bake things we wouldn't normally, bc otherwise, theres no other place to get it haha. So I've been trying to improve my skills and get out of my comfort zone. Sometimes it turns out perfectly, sometimes it doesn't [I'm looking at you rockfish haha-NEVER again!] but I think lifelong learning and hobbies are important and good for the soul and what we can bring to our community. So thats been fun!