HELLO Hello hello hellohhhhh.... hello?

Is there an echo in here? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I've been gone for a while haven't I? Well, I've been busy and tired simultaneously and I have made a discovery. Being tired and busy does not lend itself well to blogging. Either does your husband's computer going kaput so he's on yours all the dang time. So I've got a lot of ground to cover. We left you at Easter and we were down and out. But we rebounded, well sorta. My iron levels are in the toilet and I have to get infusions again which suck but I don't have to start them until this Thursday and our parents, my Grandma and girls from church are volunteering for various things as I will be out of commission. I forgot how tired I get when I have anemia. It's like if you go to reach for the milk and you look at it way up on the top shelf of the fridge and it's just too high to reach and too heavy to carry and too much to pour and put back all the way on the top shelf that your arm is shaking by the time you are done. So basically, anemia makes cereal not even worth it. In other words, anemia is of the devil.

But some great things have happened over the past few weeks that I truly don't want to forget so endulge me won't you? Well, ahem, um, do you really have a choice?

The most important thing is that my babies turned 5. FIVE. I can't believe they are five. Mike took the day off work and we hit Fairy Tale Town and Funderland and of course they picked Osaka for dinner that night. This all happened on Thursday the 15th which is their "actual" birthday. Then, on Saturday, some kids from preschool, grandparents and their two Great Grandmas that live in the area all came over a BBQ and party. There was a big pink princess castle bouncy house and a pink, yellow and silver pinata. The kids had a ball. I've never seen Katie and Jessica that excited and happy. And the kids played so well together I was amazed. They took turns and bounced and ate their lunches on the grass and had the best time. I will post some pictures ASAP. I really will. I know I always say that. But I will.

My sister in law Heather had a birthday. And I forgot to call her. No it's even worse than that. I talked her that day and forgot her birthday all together. It's not because I don't love her because you guys who know me know I love her tons and I have no good excuse other than I suck at remembering stuff right now. I had to remind myself all week long not to forget my own kids birthdays. I'm sorry Heather. Your I'm Sorry gift is coming soon. If I remember. Heather's husband, Mike's brother, is getting ready to deploy for the military. This makes me very sad and scared. I'm not scared for Heather so much because she's like super duper stronger than me. But it's just so hard on kids and their daughter is Katie and Jessica's age and their little boy is the same age the girls were when Mike went and I just feel badly for that whole situation. And it makes me scared for us for Mike to get his orders because they are coming soon and he'll be gone again in the very near future. War sucks. For a lot of reasons, not just because our husbands are going away. It's just there's nothing good about it. It's sick really when you think about it. Killing people. But it's okay because it's war? That just doesn't make sense. Peace is awesome. Let's try it world!

Our stake just founded an official Marshallese branch of our church here in Sacramento. Our church is organized by geographic regions. Your immediate surrounding area is your ward, then if you go further out it's a stake (comprised of several wards) then district or area. This allows us to get to know our neighbors. We learn to rely on them and serve them. I really like how it's done because there's never a question about where you belong. The only exception is for certain cultures in which a different language is spoken, there will be a branch (a tiny ward) formed that services can be done in that language. There's a Spanish branch in some areas, Korean branches, Tongan branches etc. Well, our stake just formed a Marshallese branch. This is significant to us because Mike served his mission on the tiny Pacific island of Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Our Stake President invited us to this first sacrament meeting of the Marshallese branch and we were so excited to go. Mike served his mission from 1990-1992 and he's never been back to visit the island he grew to love so much. It's super expensive to fly there and he's been in school/residency pretty much the whole time. When we got there, it was just as they were welcoming people for coming out. We quickly found a pew and sat down. We sang the opening hymn and Mike cried. Then an older man got up to say the opening prayer. Mike tapped me and whispered..."I know that man, he lived in Rita when I was there." (Rita is a small village on the island) I got all choked up and as he prayed in Marshallese it was so moving and I was so happy for Mike. In our Stake President's remarks, he had us stand up and mentioned that Mike was a missionary in the Marshall Islands and that the members could test him on his vocabulary during the luncheon following the services. chuckle chuckle. During the time in which the sacrament was being passed this little boy (maybe 18 mos) was climbing like a monkey all over our pew. He climbed up me, then across the back of the pew, over to his mother who was obviously of island descent. Now this branch is 1/2 Marshallese and 1/2 Fijian. I didn't know if the family next to us was from the Marshall Islands or from Fiji, but their little boy was so cute and I enjoyed playing with him when I was supposed to be paying attention. After church was done, I noticed the mother of the boy was talking to Mike. I was trying to keep the girls occupied. They needed to go potty. So we went and came back to find Mike still talking to this family. I approached him so I could say hello and urge Mike into the gym where they were getting ready to eat. He explained that the mother that was SITTING NEXT TO ME was the daughter of a family he baptised 19 years ago. She was only 11 or 12 at the time so he didn't recognize her. But she recognized him as the missionary that baptised her and also her Mom had a photo album with the names and she's always known Elder Meeker as the person who baptised her. It was in the smallest village on the whole island called Laura and was Mike's favorite area he served. She came here to live with relatives that moved here for better jobs and education. I couldn't believe it. It was so cool. Mike was really choked up. I am so grateful that our Stake President took time in his super dooper uber busy schedule to think of us and be inspired that it would mean a lot to us to come to this church service. And the luncheon after? BoyOH! My family is from Hawaii so I'm not a stranger to how islanders cook but I've never seen so much food in my life. It was so good and Mike was so happy visiting with the people, singing Marshallese songs and speaking Marshallese again. He was in heaven! We are so happy the Marshallese people have this branch to fellowship together, it's awesome.

My baby brother in law Stevie (or Steve, whatever) graduated from COLLEGE on Friday. It's painful to me that I'm so old. He was 3 years old when I started dating Mike. I love Steve so much. He recently competed for a job with a bunch of interns and won the job. They gave them like 4 months to do various projects and then they would offer one person an actual job with their firm at the end. And Steve got the job! I'm so proud of him. And he's single. And so cute! I can't say he's hawt or fiiiine because ewww, he's just a baby. But if he wasn't my baby brother and will forever be about seven years old in my mind, I would be able to tell you he's not just a smart brain if ya catch my drift. He's a CATCH! Photos, resumes and bribes can be sent to email address on the side.

I'm going to do Happy Birthday letters to the girls in separate posts so I'll fill ya in on what they are up to in those posts coming up. Mike is busy at work but loves his job and we are praying that he'll go to the safest possible place when he deploys again. I ache just thinking about him being gone. We work as a team and when you live with someone for 18 years, having them gone feels like a physical part of your body is missing. It is painful and horrible. I can't explain it other than that. The idea of him leaving makes me sick in the deepest part of myself. And yes, I know we signed up for this life. And yes, I know it's what we are supposed to do. But I had no idea the impact it would have on my children and for that, I will always feel guilty and wonder if I am being all of the mother they need me to be.

The next few weeks are going to be spotty around here because of the infusion schedule and all the feeling like crap and sleeping that will be going on. I hope it goes smoother than last time. I am thankful that Mike is here this time. I am grateful for the offers of help and service.