Steven and Janell plus 3!

2010 in a nut shell

2010-09-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

We've had quite the year so far starting with helping to remodel the house we are in, moving, school starting for Steven, preschool starting for Aukai, getting pregnant (baby is on the way!), great summer, and now Aukai has started kindergarten! We have had lots of bumps along the way as we are still learning how to be together again plus other problems, but it is working out. The kids are doing great with letting daddy back in the family. Daddy has good days and rough days. A lot of his problems are stemming from PTSD, moderate Traumatic Brain Injury from a concussion and a few bombs that were too close, plus injuries head to toe that are making "normal" life more difficult. Luckily the VA has been quite good with all of this and now the Army is going to start their own paperwork for a possible medical retirement or discharge. I am trying to keep up with all of the processes that we have to jump through as well as 2 very smart kiddos that never quite stop. At times I get very frustrated but the kids give me lots of hugs and kisses and help me get through it all.

Aukai loved being in preschool so we went ahead and enrolled him in kindergarten. The only worry I had was that he would be the youngest in his class as the cut off date in August 31, but that worry was completely unfounded as he is doing great making new friends and learning so much. Now my only worry would be that he get bored, but time will tell on that one.

Keli'i is hoping to start preschool soon but we'll have to see if she gets in the one that Aukai was in last year. If not, we will be looking at gymnastics once a week or ballet. Both activities fit her interests very well. She is growing so fast and can't wait to be a big sister!

The baby is growing well and should be joining our family at the end of October. We have already found out that it is a boy and as his older siblings were so on time, we can anticipate October 29th as his birthdate...yeah right. Lol

Steven has been doing well in school and he is getting help for some memory problems through the VA and has had some great teachers that have helped, so he has had 3 very successful quarters and is looking forward to fall quarter to start in another 1.5 weeks.

I am trying to get everything unpacked (yes I still have plenty of boxes around) and settled plus get out my baby things so I can see what we might need. Our last baby boy was 5 years ago now and I did get rid of some stuff since our apartment was so tiny.

So, this may not be as good as a daily blog, that would be a bit of our year in a nut shell. Here are some pics to enjoy!

He's HOME!

2009-12-01T15:07:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that it's true, but Steven has been home now for almost 3 months! I am so very grateful for him getting here safely, and besides a few injuries that the VA is going to take care of (we hope) he is whole and well. I was anticipating a difficult readjustment period and in many ways it has been hard, but some others he was able to just slide into our life here and just be home. He started back to work for security a short time ago and is working (which is very very good) his shift is 12 hour graveyards (which is not so good). He is hoping and aiming for school starting in January and we will have the GI Bill and some other financial aid stuff, so he will only have to work part time as he will be a full time student. I am happily getting us ready for a move from our small 2 bedroom apartment in to a much larger 3 bedroom house, yes...I said HOUSE. It has a huge fenced back yard. We will be renting it for a very reasonable price and we are all excited to have the space. The kids are growing and adjusting to having 2 parents again. We are hoping to put the kids into a preschool either through Clark College or through the school district as they are ready to learn outside the house and have adventures. We are still debating whether or not to send our boy to kindergarten next fall as he will be barely old enough to start.
Life is non-stop and oh so fun!
I'm just so grateful that Steven is home for all the holidays, even if he does have to work Christmas Eve, Christmas day, New Years Eve and New Years day. At least he is home and safe, we can deal with anything else now that he is here.

Getting sneaky!

2009-05-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

This is to be a very random post but I had to share! I have been introduced to something called the Sneaky Chef. It is a way of cooking that adds vegetables and fruits, minerals, vitamins, and proteins to your everyday foods! Now my kids and my husband do enjoy vegetables and fruits of nearly all kinds but the problem I face is that I don't serve them very often, or at least not nearly as often as we need to have them in our diet. I was also looking at different diets that I can do to change the way that I feel, one is the Flat Belly Diet, but as I look through the food and stuff I realized that I would never be able to keep it up on my own. So, when my sisters started talking about chocolate choc chip pancakes that have spinach and blueberries (Iron and vitamin C) hidden and all of her kids AND her husband would eat them, I decided that I really need to look into it. I got the kids recipes book and the manly recipes. I am SOOOOO excited to get going with this and just tweek the recipes that I already do all the time and make them healthier. Thanks for listening to my ramblings!
Oh on the home front, Steven should be returning before Aukai's birthday!! We'll let everyone know as the day gets closer, but as his extension was denied, he is returning on time and with his unit! The countdown has begun!!!

PS.
June 03,2009
Today I made Hamburger Helper with a sneaky twist and LOVED it! I used vegetable broth in place of the water and then added the sweet potato/carrot puree to the sauce plus added frozen mixed veggies to it at the end, and I got full off of about 1 cup of dinner and 12 oz of skim milk! Usually I can eat half a box which is 2.5 servings! I am sooo impressed and can't wait to try more! Especially the chocolate choc chip pancakes with hidden spinach and blueberry puree!

Family time!

2009-05-05T13:15:00.001-07:00

Well, R&R has come and gone and now we are back to finding our "normal". But before we delve back into that world...here's a little of our family time!
Steven arrived 4 hours early to PDX thanks to some very nice people who gave him their seat on an earlier flight from Dallas to Portland so he could get home. Debbie came with us, Ashley Paice and her son Tyson came and my sister Sheryl and 3 of her kids joined us too to wait and cheer and hug as my hero arrived. Contrary to my fears and the fears of others, Aukai and Keli'i knew exactly who he was and there was no hesitation as they jumped into Daddy's arms.

Over the next 15 days, we had 2 BBQ's with friends and family, with lots of meat and laughter. We went to 2 Mariners games (one we lost and one we won!), we played tons and thoroughly enjoyed every possible minute. We went swimming, played ball, messed up the house, the car, and generally had a blast!
Steven and I were lucky enough to have 4 days on our own as we went to Seattle and Bellevue to attend a seminar given by the Army Family Services, while the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Gold here in Vancouver. They took their first trip to the Children's Museum one day and the Zoo another day! They had lots of fun!
We had a wonderful visit and Daddy was able to recharge his batteries, he is now back in Iraq ready to finish his job and return home to us. Here are a few of our favorite moments from Steven's R&R. Enjoy!

R&R Here we come!!!

2009-04-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially over the half way point of this deployment. The original homecoming date of August has been pushed back to November-ish, so we have passed half way to November. Now we can begin to look forward to the end of this time apart. Right now, we have R&R to look forward to! Steven should right now be on his way home for 2 weeks' vacation. I say should because he can be bumped off the flight in favor of anyone of higher rank or for someone heading home for emergency leave. I won't know for sure until he has reached the States and calls me, so we hope he's on his way. My plans for R&R are very loose, so let us know what plans and activities are going on but please do not be hurt or offended if we don't come or if we are late. We have such a short time together that we are going to be selfish with that time. We are going to have a BBQ of our own here in our apartment complex, potluck of course and will be posting the time later when we see the white's of his eyes!
Our main plans include a Mariner's game and relaxed fun with the kids. So, we might be up Seattle way for a couple of days, but it's still up in the air until we see how Steven is feeling and what he can handle.
We hope that everyone is doing well!!

Incredible blessings...

2009-02-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

I am not going into any details here, so it may be foolish to write it here, but I have to express to anyone who may read this that I have a testimony that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really loves us each individually. That they know each and everyone of us personally and knows what we need in our lives. The last week here has been especially hard for me, I had an important decision to make. This was a step-in-to-the-dark kind of decision that will affect my life, the kids' lives, and much more, so it was kind of big. I actually thought that I had made the decision Wednesday night, and I tried to go to sleep (pretty unsuccessfully,by the way) and on Thursday morning went back to the original decision to really think it out again from another point of view only to find that this point of view really did change the face of what I was looking at. I made the opposite decision from the night before and began implementing it right away. I had the decision confirmed to me the next day, it was NOT immediate people, I had to walk a few steps in the dark. Thursday I committed to my decision and in the middle of the day on Friday, I received a revelation for me personally that made me feel better about the decision. One that changed my point of view once again on the decision, the process I was to take and began to light my way forward. Friday, I had it confirmed to me that I had made the right decision and I was to move forward in faith, knowing that I had listened to the Lord's promptings!! I have never had that kind of confirmation before. Saturday was our Stake Relief Society Conference in which I played my flute with the choir. In this meeting, 2 of the addresses given confirmed my decision. The next day at church, it was confirmed yet again to me in the Sunday School lesson and the Relief Society lesson. Now today is Monday and Satan has already tried to make me doubt that I need to go to all the "trouble" that is in my part of my decision. That I can do it on my own without implementing my portion of the path that is laid out before me. I think that this decision will affect more generations down the road to receive such confirmation and such an immediate attack from the adversary! I have begun my part in this path, I will continue on the way that I decided on, I will hold to this incredible testimony, and we will be better than ok. We will be an eternal family!

Please keep us in your prayers as we go to battle against the adversary who already is attacking us on our new path.

My new old hobby

2009-01-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

I used to love photography but it was set aside as I leaped into motherhood. My loving husband had purchased my dream camera for me and I have regained my hobby! I was able to host a photo shoot last week, take my nephew's senior pictures and will be doing pictures for an old friend and her baby boy! I am loving taking pictures of the kids at every opportunity and am learning the photo editing programs! If you can't tell, I'm a bit excited to have something for myself while I am acting as mother, father, and dealing with all of the things that Steven used to take care of, including our cars. I am grateful for my talents that our Heavenly Father has blessed me with, including my music and now an art. So, here's a few pictures I've taken over the last 3 weeks...enjoy!!

Classic Hollywood photo shoot

2009-01-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

Hollywood ain't got nothing on us!
Come to a Classic Hollywood photo shoot!
Where?-Vancouver Hilton
301 W 6th St
Vancouver WA 98660
When?- January 24, 2009
10AM-6PM
What?- Photo Shoot in the style of the 1920's-1950's Hollywood starlets

This photo shoot is $200 total, $25 deposit to reserve your spot and $175 on the event date.
The price includes upwards of 100 pictures taken in many different poses, including glamor and tasteful boudoir shots in your favorite nightie, 10 of which I will crop, touch up and enhance in time for Valentine's Day! The pictures will be given to you on a disc with all rights so that you may print out your favorites as many times as you'd like! The camera being used creates pictures that are suitable for printing up to 16x32!
Some suggestions for poses, looks, and period attire can be found at www. moviemaidens. com

Session guidelines:
~Bring your own outfits and favorite props
~Boudoir pics allowed in your favorite nightie and/or glamor pics in your ball gown
~No sexual poses allowed or taken
~The attire must be at least as modest as a bikini for a family pool
~upwards of 100 pictures will be taken in many poses. I am willing to touch up 10 of them and then give you ALL pictures taken on a cd or your own memory card.

~Please bring your favorite treat or snack to share and have fun!

email me with any questions!

The price is not set in stone, I only want to break even, so the more people that sign up and come, the lower the price can get. I would like to fill the day and get the price down to next to nothing for everyone! I have some great pose ideas for men and couples, what a great Valentine's gift! Come and have fun! The more the merrier and the cheaper! Bring your friends and drive down the price!!

Our very nearly perfect Christmas

2008-12-29T16:34:00.000-08:00

I say nearly perfect for obvious reasons, the only way it could have been better is if Steven had been able to physically be here with us. We were able to have a quiet Christmas Eve with Omi and Auntie Sharon and then we went home so Santa could build a couple of things. Steven was even able to watch the building process and type advice to me via Yahoo web cam IM. Christmas morning I woke up at 0530 and the kids slept in until 0730!I was so worried that they'd wake up and get into it all before Daddy could get online to watch the excitement. So Steven was able to watch and we could even talk with him on the computer while the action happened before his eyes! It almost felt as if Daddy was really there with us helping open the gifts. Auntie Sharon came over to take pics for me so I didn't have to worry about missing anything and I could really be a part of it too. What a wonderful morning! A bit later,after Sharon left, I got to watch as Steven and his Battle Buddies, JP and Mondo were opening their gifts from us. What fun!
Next, the kids and I went back to the Nihipali's for brunch with Omi, Tutu, Auntie Sharon, Uncle David, auntie Leilani, and Ikaia. The missionaries sort of joined in after they had spoken with their own families. We had a great visit and we were a little sad to have to leave to go to the Gold's for Lunch/dinner and our White elephant exchange.
All in all we had a fantastic day!

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to quite a lot of snow, especially for Vancouver, so I decided that after lunch we would try and play outside. Last year Keli'i wanted NOTHING to do with the cold wet stuff around her, but today both she and Aukai had so much fun that I had to bribe them to get them inside to warm up! Aukai even figured out how to make a snow angel but where he got the idea, I'll never know. It was not my idea and I never have taught him about snow angels! What a wonderful day and how we miss Daddy!

Our $16 Christmas tree

2008-12-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

Our perfect little tree and our special stockings from Daddy. I made a killing on the kids' Christmas presents and was able to get EVERYTHING Steven and I wanted for them, I even stayed in budget and was able to get myself a beautiful necklace to wear! I am feeling very upbeat about Christmas now and can't wait for everything to fall in place for a wonderful day!
PS...the ornaments are nearly indestructible so the kids got to help decorate the tree!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2008-12-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

We are starting to get ready for our Christmas here now that Steven has received most of his Christmas for there. We were able to go and buy decorations, thanks to Sears' generosity, so now I have ornaments for the tree and an Angel for the top! I have lights, LOTS of lights, but until now had very little of anything else. The kids get very excited to see Christmas trees and I'm sure they will love having one of our own once we get one this week. All the new ornaments are as indestructible as I could find, wood, pewter, metal, and Plexiglas. Oh, and instead of glass balls, I have large jingle bells. So my plan with all of this is to let the kids decorate as much as they want, while of course I take pictures for Steven to see, and then fixing lopsided-ness once they're in bed. My brother hinted today about a tree, so I may wake up tomorrow to a Christmas tree on my doorstep so that I won't have to try and take the kids out in semi-arctic weather this week to get one.
Hopefully we'll have some snow to play in in the morning, I'd rather have that than a bunch of ice disrupting all my plans.
Our newest activity is going to the YMCA to play, workout and swim twice a week. The kids were VERY nervous the first time we were in the pool. It took me an hour to get Keli'i off of my neck and into the water, but the next time we went, she loved it. It's nice to have somewhere to go to play, but I don't think we'll get to go much this week due to ice. We'll see as the week progresses.
Both Keli'i and Aukai are getting more independent in their playtime, wanting to do everything by themselves. Aukai is really doing good with potty training and Mommy doesn't have to do nearly as many diaper changes. Keli'i is showing interest in the toilet too, so I let her have her turn and soon she should be training too. I anticipate them both being fully potty trained by the end of the winter. (I hope!)
I will be getting the fabric for the quilt I am making for Steven this week and will be getting going on that project. I am excited for it and hope that I can pull it off to have ready for him when he gets his leave. I have between 3 and 4 months, so wish me luck!

Christmas for 4 soldiers is all done!

2008-12-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

I've finally finished gathering and wrapping all the stuff I wanted for Steven, his room mate and his 2 battle buddies. Everything is wrapped and waiting for the boxes! I'm very excited to share Christmas with them,we are planning on watching them open everything on Christmas on the web-cam. It should be fun. My only worry is that they don't need the stuff I picked up for them, but that's a silly worry. I know they need and want everything in those packages!

A soldier's silent night

2008-12-02T22:41:00.000-08:00

Get your tissue ready and please pray for those away from their families this Christmas season.

New slide show, Enjoy!

2008-11-27T11:54:00.001-08:00

Lessons in Gratitude

2008-11-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

My Thanksgiving has extended to this entire week. Starting on Saturday with a potluck dinner with the family readiness group where we met with the other families of soldiers with Steven and had a briefing to give us information about how everything is supposed to work.I learned a lot that I need and met some more people. Aukai and Keli'i got to play with new friends.
My lesson continued on Monday when my friend, Sheena called to ask if I wanted the kids to go to her place to play and I could get things done. I had been sick and was really tired but I needed to get stuff done for Tuesday when my Home Teachers were supposed to come over and haul away anything I had ready to go out the door. So instead of trying to clean and pack stuff with the kids unpacking the same stuff, I was able to get groceries, clean my fridge, and get some stuff ready to go before I got too tired.
Then on Tuesday, my HT did come over just as planned. But, unlike the plan, they didn't just haul away the stuff I had ready, they stayed and helped me clean and rearrange my living room so it was exactly how I wanted it! They moved my TV to the other side of the room in mere minutes and that alone would have taken me an hour full of unplugging, unhooking, disconnecting and carrying. All they did was work together and move it all at the same time.
I have been able to talk with Steven, get my home warm, get groceries for the kids, clean, and play with my kids. It has been a wonderful week full of blessings for which I am eternally grateful.
I hope all of your weeks have been full of thanks too. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Love, Janell, Aukai, and Keli'i

Another week down...

2008-11-16T22:12:00.001-08:00

So another week is over and done. I am very glad. I want the entire time to fly but I'll take the days passing at a normal rate.
We had a pretty uneventful week last week. I had my book club on Tuesday, playgroup Wednesday ("group" is a loosely used term as we were the only ones there), Thursday I scrubbed down the kitchen and bathroom (it's actually still clean! Thanks kids!), Friday we talked with Daddy for most of the morning(!!!!) and Saturday we dealt with runny noses and coughs so we didn't do much. So there's our week!
Steven is doing well. He doesn't really get along with his roommate but he has 2 good guys that he spends most of his free time with, so I've adopted them for Christmas. They'll all get small stockings with Dollar Store toys, a utility knife, and a candy bar, not much but at least they have something to open. The official last day to send care packages for Christmas is Dec 11 around here, but to be safe, if you want to send anything for Christmas plan on sending it around Dec 4.
This next week, I'm hoping that I'll be much busier. Tomorrow we have free pictures being done through www.oplove.org (check it out and donate if you can, it's a wonderful program), Tuesday I have an FRG meeting, Wednesday is empty so far but I hope we make it to YMCA to play, Thursday we have a birthday party for my nephew, Friday is open as yet (see Wednesday), and Saturday we have a potluck Thanksgiving party with the FRG and a briefing on the soldiers. So the week should fly by.
Our newest project for the kids to do for Daddy is that we went for a drive after Stake Conference today to gather pretty leaves so that we can iron them between wax paper and send Daddy autumn. They were happy to do that. We're holding it together pretty well these days although Aukai still whispers to me that he misses Daddy and they both freak out when they see him on the web-cam. They are so sweet. I am very blessed.
I hope that everyone is well.

2008-11-04T22:11:00.001-08:00

Slight change of address

2008-11-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

There has been just a slight change to Steven's address. I don't know if it really makes a difference but why risk it!

Spc Steven Nihipali
B Btry 2-146 FA
COS Marez East
APO AE 09334

Thanks everybody!

Steven's address

2008-10-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

To send stuff to Steven,you'll need his address! Here you go...

Spc Steven Nihipali
B Btry 2-146 FA
FOB Marez-east
APO AE 09334

He is settled in Iraq and they're starting their missions soon. So they're getting busy, maybe the time will go by faster! Thanks all!

Love, Janell and kids

Safe and well

2008-10-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

As of 2 days ago, Steven is safe and doing very well with his group in Kuwait waiting to be sent into Iraq. He is learning everything he can so that he's more prepared and he is getting ready to sign up for some online classes to stay busy in a safe way. The kids miss Daddy very much and it has affected their sleeping patterns to the detriment of Mommy who is exhausted but still can't manage to get to sleep before midnight!