Trials & Blessings

I've been thinking about trials a lot this week, in fact our lesson in Relief Society this past Sunday was about trials. We all go through different trials at different times in our lives. Some of them are enough to knock the stuffing out of us and others are just little bumps in the road. There are many people in my life that are enduring really hard trials at the moment. My heart goes out to them. I wish there was something I could do to make the pain go away and to fix their problems. It was a trial for us losing our home and there are times that I feel so haunted by the mistakes we have made, it's such a suffocating feeling. When I am feeling sorry for myself, I try to look at the people around me who have a much heavier cross to bear. I also try to remember that trials make us stronger and we really do learn so much from them, after all is said and done. One of the ladies in Relief Society compared trials to riding your bike up a hill. You have to push yourself up the hill in order to get down the other side. It might be the toughest thing you have ever done but you must experience the hill and conquer it in order to come down the other side, wind blowing in your hair, feeling the thrill of speed. I never really thought of it that way. The saying "This too shall pass" also comes to mind. I am grateful for my blessings and some days I can even admit I am grateful for my trials. They have made me the person I am today.

On a lighter note, we got our tax return last week. We paid off some debts, started a savings account and decided to buy a camera. We have gone through about 4 digital cameras in the past 2 years and they have broken or we were just not happy with them. We decided it was time we invested in a good camera. So, I did some research online and went to my favorite store....(where they have everything).....Walmart! We bought the Canon EOS Rebel XSi. Here is a picture of it.

We are very excited to start taking tons of pictures of everything. We have a lot to learn about how to use it but we're having lots of fun.
In other news, we took Niamh to the doctor this morning. She has had a double ear infection for about 3 weeks. She just started her 3rd dose of antibiotics. It's hard for me to understand how she can get sicker while on an antibiotic, but it's possible. She has a terrible cough and a sore throat. She is miserable. It's so hard to see your babies in pain and not see them getting any better. Hopefully this last antibiotic will work, if not the doc mentioned some shot they give three days in a row and if that doesn't work, we may be headed to an ear, nose and throat specialist. Fingers crossed that this medicine works.
We are headed to San Diego for my little sister Beverley's wedding this weekend. We are so excited to be heading to California. I'm also so happy that my sister has found the one for her. Her fiance Lewis is a great guy and makes her so happy. It will be a special day. Here's a pic of them. Aren't they the cutest couple?

Here are some pics taken with our new camera. Enjoy!

Our dog Duke after a shave (he's normally very hairy)

(Tyrone, being The Hulk)

Long time.

It's been a while. I haven't felt very motivated to blog. Our computer is having issues and I can't upload any pictures. Very annoying and I'm finding out just how ignorant I am when it comes to computer issues. Time to call the Geek Squad I guess. One of the reasons I haven't been blogging is that I have been on a reading marathon. I discovered a wonderful Irish author; Marian Keyes. She has been described as one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time. Her books are entertaining, witty and at times emotional. She uses a lot of Irish lingo and I really get completely taken in by the characters and plot of each story. I have read 6 out of the 12 books she has written. Lets just say not a lot of housework or any other stuff is getting done. Oh well.

Lucas celebrated his 28th birthday on January 28. We had a little get together with family for cake and ice-cream. Unfortunately he had to work that night, so we celebrated over the weekend. We went to our favorite sushi restaurant "TA TA's." it is the best sushi in town, we think so anyway. Lucas had a great birthday. His favorite gift was a "Real Salt Lake" Soccer Jersey. He seriously wears it everyday, he loves it that much. Whatever makes him happy! Lucas is so easy to shop for he has so many interests and always gives me a list. He is my lobster :)

Gavin and Tyrone are my little explorers. They love exploring the backyard. We bought them some Galoshes(Wellingtons/Wellys in Ireland)and they put them on everyday and spend hours outside. Grandpa Abbott has an old boat at the back of the house. This is Gavin & Tyrone's new toy. They spend hours out there pretending they are sailing a pirate ship. I love how they make up games that keep them entertained for hours or until one hits the other and the fighting starts. They both ask me "why/what" questions all day long. Gavin asked me today "Mommy, what do farts taste like?" Just to give you an idea of the stuff they ask me. I wish there was a book that told me the answer to all these crazy questions that kids come up with. "Go ask your Dad" only works so many times.

Princess Niamh is as wild and tenacious as ever. She is such a tom-boy. She loves to be outside. She tries to wrestle our dog, Duke (an old English sheepdog.)She loves to wrestle her brothers and Dad. She loves to brush her teeth and has to grab everyone's toothbrushes and have a turn. It is such a battle every time she needs a diaper change. She won't stay still for 2 seconds. She loves making her brothers laugh. Today she decided to drink water and then spit it out, making Gavin & Tyrone giggle.

Lucas and I are hitting the gym hard this month. We've been slacking a little since moving in with my in-laws and over the holidays. My youngest sister Beverley is getting married in San Diego at the end of February. So for this month we are hitting the gym hard and sacrificing nights of indulging on chocolate, ice-cream, cookies, brownies.....I can go on forever. The withdrawal symptoms stopped after about a week. We decided not to weigh ourselves until the day before we leave for California. 2 more weeks to go.

My father-in-law, Garth has had his second dose of chemotherapy. So far he is doing pretty well. He continues to live his life. Some days are worse than others, but he is doing great. He was losing his hair and shaved it all off. He looks like a tough gangster now, I think. We are so grateful for the answers to so many prayers that have been offered on his behalf. It is so amazing to see everything fall into place and to see miracles happen. Garth found out last month after having a Pet Scan that the cancer is contained in his breast and a couple of lymph nodes. We are continuing to pray and have faith that the chemo will kill the cancer and that Garth will recover and continue to live a normal life.

Gavin's progress

I met with Gavin's teacher and some of the school staff this week for his annual IEP (Individualized Educational Program.) I was so impressed to see how much progress he has made since his IEP last January. Since that IEP last January, Gavin has attended 3 different schools. I was so worried that he would fall behind in all the moving and adjusting to the new school environment. I am so proud of my little man. He never ceases to amaze me. Because I am with him 24/7, I don't always see those academic achievements, great or small. As I think back to when we first got him in the Early Childhood Program at age 3, he could barely talk and was classified as "developmentally delayed." Because Gavin is our first child, Lucas and I always expected so much out of Gavin and got frustrated with him many times, without realizing that he needed some developmental intervention. I feel so guilty about this at times, but I am also so grateful to have gotten him into the program and his academic achievements are proof that the program works. I know that the Clark County School District has their flaws, but I am so grateful for this program and what it has done for Gavin. Academically, Gavin is pretty much on the same level as his peers. He struggles paying attention in class, which is also a problem at home. This is something we are working on. I may have to talk to his pediatrician about this. I feel like Gavin has made the most improvement in his speech. The Speech/Language Pathologist at his new school was amazed at how far he has come in his speech since a year ago. According to her observation Gavin is meeting the speech expectations for his age.
Gavin is getting so grown up. He loves to ask questions and is obsessed with skeletons and bones. We had KFC one night for dinner and after eating a chicken leg he insisted that we wash the chicken bone and carried it around for the rest of the night. I hope this means he'll be an Orthopedic Surgeon or maybe a Paleontologist :o)

Donations Information

For those of you who have inquired about a donation fund, we have an account set up at Wells Fargo in the name of "The Garth Abbott Cancer Fund." The account #5918001214 This is a 503c Charitable association. You can just call or go into any Wells Fargo Bank. There will also be a link on the auction blog(www.thedailyabbott.blogspot.com) in the near future, that will bring you directly from that blog site to the account so that any donations can be made there as well.
Thank you so much!!!

A Time Of Need

I mentioned in my last post that my father-in-law, Garth Abbott was diagnosed with IBC (inflammatory breast cancer.) He has been told that this type of aggressive breast cancer is automatically at a stage 3 or 4. Time is of the essence and he needs to start chemotherapy right away. Unfortunately he doesn't have health insurance. Chemotherapy for 4 or 5 months is about $105,000. My sister-in-law Rachelle has started an online auction on her blog. There are lots of wonderful items up for auction. If any of you would like to bid on the auction, you can go to www.thedailyabbott.blogspot.com or if you would like to offer up something for auction you can contact Rachelle Abbott at helpgarth@yahoo.com. No donation is too small.
Thank you!

A New Beginning

We had a really special Christmas. Santa was very good and brought everything that we put on our Christmas lists. This Christmas was a little different for us. We tried not to get caught up in the commercial side of Christmas so much. We wanted to teach our kids that giving is much more rewarding that receiving. We were able to do some fun secret santa things for people we know. I was reminded of how good people were to my family and I when my mam struggled to provide Christmas for my siblings and me when I was younger. This Christmas was also very emotional for us. My father-in-law found out, on Christmas Eve that he has inflammatory breast cancer (IBC.) Anyone who knows my father-in-law, Garth Abbott, knows that he is a fighter and stubborn as all get out :) I know that he will conquer this terrible disease. It has been so touching to see how many people love and admire this man. People are so good and it gives me hope. I was reminded of how important family is and that the family bond and love is more powerful than anything in this world.

Lucas and I spoke in church on the last Sunday of 2009. Our topic was about goal setting. It was a fun topic to talk about and it got me really motivated to set goals and more importantly achieve goals this year. Elder M. Russell Ballard said "I believe you can train yourself to become a positive thinker, but you must cultivate a desire to develop the skill of setting personal worthy and realistic goals. I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the technique of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When you learn to master the principle of setting a goal, you will then be able to make a great difference in the results you attain in this life.”

The first step to setting goals is to write them down, which I haven't yet done. I have lots of ideas swirling in my mind. In the last few days I have become very aware of how important it is to teach your children gratitude, hard work and unselfishness. I've tried to make sure my children have everything they want and then some and I've realized that maybe I'm doing more damage than good. I don't know how my mam raised 5 of us kids by herself. I know she did without many times. I am so blessed to have a husband to support me and provide for our family. I'm grateful that I can stay home and raise my children. This year, I plan to have more teaching moments with my children. I want to teach them that they don't always get what they want right away. That you have to work hard for what you want. Now, I know that my kids are only 5, 3, and 1, but sometimes I feel like I'm wasting so much time not doing my part in raising them to be grateful and well-mannered children. I found this fun website www.goalforit.com and I have put some chore charts together for Gavin and Tyrone. I believe that if you give kids responsibilty and teach work ethic from an early age that they will grow up to become strong, independant, exceptional people.

I'm so excited for this coming year. There are so many things to accomplish. I am turning 30 in July and I thought I would be depressed but I'm actually very excited about it. I feel like I have accomplished a lot in my life so far, but I'm excited to broaden my horizons and I feel like there really are so many things I have yet to achieve.

One True Christmas

"It is small wonder that angels sang at His birth and Wise Men traveled far to pay Him homage. He was the one perfect man to walk the earth. He fulfilled the law of Moses and brought a new canon of love to the world. His mother was mortal, and from her came an inheritance of the flesh. His Father was immortal, the Great God of the Universe, through whom came His divine nature."
~Gordon B. Hinckley