Grateful

We have had two close calls with tragedy in the past week, and we feel so grateful that things have turned out so well.

Last Friday we went swimming at the beach on the St. Croix River with some friends. The kids were all out swimming and i was sitting on a dock talking to my friend. We were watching the kids from our spot and everything looked fine when I caught Grant's eye and saw that he had a look of sheer terror on his face. I squinted and realized that the water was up to his eyes and he was frantically trying to bounce on his tip-toes to get back in to shore, but the current was too strong.

I took off running as fast as I could and grabbed him out of the water. He came up choking and scared to death, but he was okay. It all happened so fast and I was so grateful that he was okay. 

So, fast-forward just a week to the Kid Fishing Contest at Willow River State Park. The kids were so excited to try and catch some fish and everyone was having a good time. We had a good set-up on one of the docks and Shayla and Garrett were fishing. The dock was handicap-accessible so there was a small (less than 12") opening in the middle of the dock with about a 3 or 4 foot drop down to the water. Well, Miya was bopping around the dock having fun when we heard a huge splash. It was as if time stood still while we peered over the dock to see what fell in. There was Miya who had fallen in and was slowly rising to the surface. I could see her eyes wide open, with a look of terror and her little hands moving in a small dog paddle movement, under the water. I tried to squeeze my pregnant body between the small opening in the dock (which was really funny after the fact), and Tyler in one swift movement jumped up and over the railing on the dock, being careful not to land on Miya on his way down. He grabbed her and lifted her up to the opening in the dock and a lady who was fishing next to us reached down and grabbed her and handed her to me. She was crying and really scared, but hadn't even swallowed any water since Tyler had acted so quickly. It was such a scary moment and I think we all were in shock for a while. Miya was crying and kept saying, "I no die, I no jump in the water." I don't think I took a real breath for about 1/2 hour after the whole experience. It was just so scary.

I feel like I have post-traumatic-stress syndrome as I keep replaying the scenes in my mind, and thinking through what could have happened. I've been counting my blessings much more than normal and feeling my heart swell with gratitude for a loving Heavenly Father who watches over us and helps us every day. Each moment of each day is such a gift with those we love, and I know not to take it for granted, but to cherish it. And if the unthinkable really happened and we were to lose of our precious kids to a tragic accident, I've been filled with gratitude for my eternal marriage and family and knowing that someday we would be together forever. I am truly grateful.

 Shayla practicing her balance beam at the fishing day

 Ty had to get in to free a hook from the tree...

 This is the space in the dock that Miya fell through

 This was Miya afterwards--her hair was full of moss, dirt and twigs.

 It's hard to tell, but this is Tyler after his rescue dive--he is soaking wet.

He lost his nice sunglasses in the water when he jumped, but was able to find them later by diving again, this time with his goggles on.

This was swimming down at the beach after all of the trauma.

Miya was a bit reluctant to get in the water at first, but Shayla was able to coax her out and they had a good time splashing around a bit.

We start swimming lessons tomorrow--better late than never, right?

The basement!!!

When we started finishing our basement on June 11th, our contractor told us it would take about 6 weeks to complete. It has been almost 7 weeks now and we are so close to being done! All that is left is a bit of painting/touch-up painting, and carpet.

It has been so fun to pick the design and style of things and to see it take shape. 

It also has been CRAZY and busy with more trips to Menards than I can even count.

We opted to lay the tile floor and do all the painting in order to save some money. It took us 2 weeks to do our part (which is why we are a bit behind in our schedule) but we are really happy with how it turned out.

We'll post final pictures when it is all done, but here are a few of where we are now.

Our neighbors had this beautiful Travertine tile leftover from when they tiled their bathrooms. There was just barely enough to tile our bathroom.

Tyler was amazing--tiling the floor with a broken foot. I was his trusty assistant :)

Our electrician wired for a ceiling fan in our living room on the main level--hooray!!!

(Notice the olympics on the tv--we were watching the opening ceremonies.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Olympics. I love watching it, and feel so inspired by the determination of the athletes and for their dedication to their sport, but by the end of 2 weeks I feel like such a slug after watching so much TV. Makes me want to go out and start training for something and peel myself off of the couch :)

Okay, here is the tour:

This is the view at the bottom of the stairs when you first enter the basement.

The door to the right is the storage room, the four cabinets are for additional storage and not pictured to the left is another closet for storage. Did I mention that storage was very important to us in designing our basement? 

The bathroom is just to the right of the storage room.

Then you enter the rec/entertainment room.

This is a view of the other side of the entertainment room.

And this is Ty's room/the guest room

 The day we tiled some good friends invited the kids over to play. They had built a "water blob" as they called it and the kids had a blast running and sliding on it and getting each other soaked.

We've had so many good friends help us with this project, from watching the kids, to lending us tools, and helping us paint.  On the day the sheet rockers were sanding we had to turn off the A/C in order to not get white dust all over our entire house (it kind of worked...) and it happened to be a 100 degree day. I think it got to 90 in our house. We have one box fan and were all sitting around it trying to stay cool, and we had extra kids we were watching so we couldn't just get in the car and go to Target to cool off :) Some good friends took pity on us and invited us to dinner that night to relax and cool off. It was such a blessed break from the heat and so fun to get out of our construction zone.

We are so grateful for good friends.

 The kids wanted to help me paint, so Garrett helped paint the under-the-stairs-kid hangout, 

And Shayla helped paint Ty's closet.

Ty helped paint the bathroom, but we were so busy painting I didn't get a picture of him.

Now the favorite activity is playing hide and seek in the empty basement. A favorite hiding place is the storage cabinets. Too bad they will be full of stuff soon and they won't be able to hide there anymore.

Hopefully we'll post pictures of the finished project in a few weeks. 

We can't wait to move back in to the basement and get settled!

odds and ends...

There is so much I'd like to blog about, but I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water just LIVING all of these experiences each day. Maybe someday when things slow down I'll go back in time and archive more of these event.

For now, I'm just going to post a smattering of fun pictures and events that have happened in the last 6 months or so. Enjoy!

 Ty was introduced to the sport of Lacrosse this spring by a good friend and instantly became a fan. It is part hockey, part football and very fast paced and physical. What's not to love about it? 

 Grant graduated from preschool in May 2012. Here he is with Ms. Angie.

This preschool was nicknamed "the farm" preschool and it's name did not disappoint. 

Everyday he got to help feed the goats and chickens, go for a hike through the woods and climb the best climbing tree a kid could imagine. He had such a good time and did great!

 Ty performing in his last elementary school concert. 

They were singing Oklahoma and even did some square dancing--I loved it!

 End of the year field trips--this one I took Grant and Miya to. It was a little town that had been restored to what it was like 100 years ago. Miya loved the old schoolhouse.

 Garrett, Grant, Miya and I after our picnic on the field trip.

 Shayla played traveling soccer this year and enjoyed it.

She had to give up gymnastics though, and is excited to go back to it in the fall.

She still spends time every day working on her back handsprings and flips on the trampoline.

She is SUPER excited about watching gymnastics on the olympics this week! (me, too!)

 My good friend painted this tree on the wall of our nursery. I love it and can't wait for our little girl to see her new room.

 Grant's first track meet! He did such a great job--everyone in the crowd kept pointing at him and marveling at how little he was, yet how fast he was running.

He didn't quite know what to do with the attention when people would walk up to him and tell him "great job!" He did a great job staying in his lane and loved everything about it (except the starting gun--it made him jump every time :)

 The fruits of his labors

 Shayla is fun to watch--she has great form!

 Ty, Shayla, Garrett, Grant and Miya. They had a lot of fun and each improved their time.

Ty and Garrett participated in the 1 mile run and got 5:56 and 7:32, respectively.

Too bad I can't run as fast as my boys!

 Soccer was fun--the weather was beautiful so it was fun sitting out watching them play

Grant loved his first season of soccer. Whenever someone on his team would score a goal he would run around the field high-fiving everyone and whooping it up like they had just won the world cup.

I love sports the best at this age!

Okay, next to come...

pictures of our basement-finishing project. It is coming along great and we should be finished in a few weeks.

They're home!!!

Welcome Home!!! Garrett and Grant getting reacquainted  with Nana and Grandpa. 

Thanks to Skype, the kids felt like they had seen their grandparents on a regular basis. Even Miya who met them in person for the first time ran right in and gave them both a hug.  It was a sweet reunion after being apart for 3 years.

We loved hearing about their mission and seeing the slideshow that their missionaries had made for them when they left. They now have about 400 more kids in their family :)

Celebrating Rob's birthday on the 5th with a cake made by Hannah and Shayla.

Happy Birthday, Rob!!!

Special treats from Colombia...

 Appetizing, aren't they?!! The kids were brave and tried them--then they found out they were giant fried ANTS! A delicacy in the northern part of the mission. I was not so brave to try one...

 This is what happens when Grandpa makes breakfast--chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

Cookie Crisp, with chocolate marshmallows, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, chocolate whipped cream swimming in chocolate milk. The kids were in heaven!!!

 Everyone ate their breakfast that morning :)

 Christmas in July with Nana and Grandpa. The kids are holding up their Tagua seeds from Colombia.

 Hannah on her baptism day--it was a beautiful day and such a neat baptism. 

We are so proud of you, Hannah!

 All the boy cousins

 Tyler--notice his stylish boot? His back has been feeling so much better lately that he has taken up running again. The only problem is that he got a stress fracture in his foot and now has to wear the boot for 4 weeks until it heals. No fun.

 Lots of competitive games of Bocci Ball in the backyard...

Grandpa and Miya had a lot of catching up to do.

Dance party with the kids--so fun!
We had such a fun time--the kids were depressed for a few days after we got home.
Especially Garrett. In his nightly prayers he would ask for help not to be sad because he missed his cousins and grandparents so much. It was so sincere and sweet.

Memorial for Grandpa

In June we went out to Chicago for a memorial for my Grandpa Wagner.

We had a great BBQ in the park with lots of water, games and great food and family.

All of the grandkids. It was so fun to see how quickly they bonded and became best buddies, even though it has been years since we have seen some of them.

At Grandpa's graveside we all took turns sharing special memories of him. It was a special time and I'm so grateful for my Grandpa and his great example of living life with no regrets each day and making his family the center of his life.

The kids all signed a balloon that we released into the sky to send to Grandpa.

Saying goodbye from the hotel.

Kris and Curt and their cute kids came to visit us, which made saying goodbye a little easier. Eating second breakfast with the gang. 

Curt, Ty and Garrett soaking up the sun at the St. Croix River

Grant, Shayla and Felicity

McKay grabbing a nap where he could

Super Curt!!!

We had so much fun visiting and meeting little Kiku. She is such a sweet little baby!

Come back soon--we miss you!!!