YW Update

Just thought I would update on Danielle's situation. Tuesday, Danny decided he would start going to Mutual with the kids from now on, this week was a combined activity with the Stake Patriarch coming to talk. As Danny was going in, the sister's dad stopped him to ask about something unrelated, Dan then asked if his daughters gave him our message since we had not heard back from either him or his wife. He replied no and asked if there was a problem. Danny broke it down for him and explained that we teach our kids that it's ok to not like everyone, if there is someone you don't care for, just leave them alone. He told him that is what he wanted his girls to do, just don't talk to or about Danielle and just leave her alone. No apologies were needed if they would just do that. Danny also told him that they are lucky this was done in church, cause Danielle can have a temper like him and in school would've just punched the girls in the nose and moved on with her life. The dad apologized about 15 times during the conversation and admitted that his wife and daughters can come across like snobby rich people. Danny actually told him that was how we had them pegged. He stated he would talk with the girls and nip it in the bud tonight! Danny felt that he was sincere, and admitted he was wrong at least about the dad. The dad also admitted that maybe a punch in the nose is exaclty what his daughters might need, he said he knows that when the 2 of them are together they can be out of control. I don't know what will come from it, but at least Danny feels a little better. I guess we will see on Sunday! I have been working on my own feelings, trying to read my scriptures every day and trying to not form opinions on people before I really know them. I realized that I have also unfairly started judging people in the new ward and even in our stake as I attend Camp Mtgs...I don't want to be the grumpy, complaining, person that people try to avoid. I want to be myself and make friends with as many people as possible. Where is the old Kristi that can be herself and no worry about what others think...I am going to find her and start to enjoy this new ward AND girl's camp. Even if I think they do it ALL wrong in this stake. hahahahaha Oh well guess I will start over again! Thanks for the opinions that were given, I do think that Danielle will start attending at least Sunday School with us.

Things I Love About My Family

Just thought I would boost my spirits. What do I love about my family?

~I love that each one them have a sense of humor.

~I love that each member looks out for the others.

~I love that they each care for others.

~I love that they each have taken the time to build thier own testimony, no matter how small.

~I love that we can talk and have good discussions.

~I love that even when I yell and scream they still love me.

~I love that they can all speak thier minds.

~I love that they are active in sports and other activities.

~I love that they all make good grades and enjoy gaining knowledge.

~I love they all want to be home.

~I love that they can recognize when they shouldn't be in a certain situation.

~I love that the kids can get along with others and try to.

~I love that we all go and watch as many of each other's activities as we can.

~I love that the kids are able to choose good friends.

~I love that we have family dinner.

~I love that the kids don't like it when we come home late and we are too tired for hi's and low's and prayer, so they whine until we do it.

~I love that we can tease each other, but still love each other.

Any Ideas...

If you couldn't tell I have been trying to get April caught up with everything that we have done. But I have decided to take a break from that to get some advice from any of you who are still out in the blog world.

Since we have moved, Kody and Danielle have had a hard time adjusting to the ward youth. None of them listen, not even the ones from the "good families". They talk through prayer, lesson or anyone trying to give an opinion. Today Danielle had had enough, when her Sunday School class was combined with the one younger than her. (Her teacher has moved and they have not called anyone yet) The kids made outlandish remarks, talked through everything, the poor teacher asked a few times for them to quit. The teacher actually banned anyone from leaving, since 2 sisters kept getting up and leaving whenever they wanted. Danielle started asking the kids to be quiet and listen. They would only laugh. She finally lost it and started getting mad, one boy who is plain out of control, made a pretty rude comment and Danielle yelled at him to shut up or she would punch him in the face. She ended up sitting by the 2 sisters who have gone out of thier way to be rude and make sure she knows she is not welcome in this ward. She overheard them talking about, "That goodie-goodie Danielle and her family" which was all she heard but it was enough. Danielle stated, "Hello! I am sitting right here, Do you not think I can hear you." They were shocked and were like, "We didn't think you would hear us..." She responded with "I don't know why people think you are the good kids in this ward, you are mean and don't listen." "We are good kids," They said. Danielle informed them that they had not ever welcomed her and made her hate coming to church. Then in YW, it continued, the Bishop taught, he actually had to move the 2 sisters to opposite sides of the room and they still contiued to talk and be disruptive. These girls I guess have been openly talking about Danielle in all their classes and activities. Danielle came home in tears, Danny was pissed, I am just sad. We tried to call the parents of the sisters, but they didn't answer, then we went by thier house and they weren't home. Short of letting Danielle go to class with us I don't know what to do. For 4 months I have asked her to keep trying and giving the girls the benefit of the doubt and they probably don't realize they are doing it...until today when I find out they know exactly what they are doing.

How do I handle this? Do I talk to the parents or let Danny unleash his fury? Do I just let her come with me and ignore it? Both the Bishop and YW leaders are aware of the kids feelings, I don't think they know what to do because they have been dealing with these kids for alot longer than we have. There are 2 YM that are WAY OUT OF CONTROL, hitting the other boys and things...it seems no one knows what to do and so they just don't bother.

Any ideas???

Just a Day in the Life...

Today, April 8th, everybody had an activity! Danielle and Kody each had a soccer game and Lolo had her gymnastics class. Just another fun day with the kids running here and there. I believe that Kody won and so did Danielle. Lauryn is getting good at her handstands. What fun!

On the seventh, mom and Walt were in town and decided we needed to have dinner, so she invited Jennie and the boys and we met at our house. What a fun evening. I love this pic of Walt playing with Sammy, they were so funny growling at each other with the dinosaur. We had rotisserie chicken, salad and taters. It was a good evening, we finished with fresh strawberries and mom made fresh whipped topping. YUMMY!!!

Cory is enjoying his strawberries! I love it when we can all get together and enjoy each others company!

DBacks Opening Day 2010

This year as a treat Janeen bought the whole Rainwater/Oquist fam tickets to Opening Day. We were so excited! Danielle could barely keep her hands on the steering wheel during the drive down! Even Danny was jacked! We had a blast! Other than Sammy getting carsick on the way down we had a geat time!

Woohoo, we made it!!! Sammy was still waking up so he didn't get that he should be so excited, but he woke up once we got inside! We all did just what the sign said, "Take the Day off!" It felt so good to have a family trip on a Monday.

One of the treats we splurged on was the helmet filled with popcorn! It was yummy and we knew that Sammy would have a great time with the helmet when we were done! All of the kids had a blast, I was so excited to get all 4 in the pic and happy!

I just wanted to see how far I could zoom in, thats not too bad.
Sure enough, once the popcorn was gone the helmet was a big hit. Not just with Sam though...
Grandma had to try it too and Danielle, but after awhile Sammy declared, "Mine!" and wanted it back!

Yep this was from my seat, but we had a great time and loved being there. Besides it was a great workout everytime someone had to use the potty or get a snack!

After the game we caught Lynzie's first softball game, luckily for us that put us right by Sardella's Pizza and Wings....so we HAD to stop and indulge. Sammy was tired of waiting and started putting his plate in his mouth and shaking his head. When he took the plate out of his mouth he would look over the counter and yell, "Pizza!!!" Thank goodness he is cute, the staff thought it was funny! I'm just glad that the rest of the kids didn't join in, that would not have been cute. lol

FINALLY!! He ate 4 pieces of pizza, I guess he was hungry.

I love taking a quick of Dan when I can. He hates it and that makes it so much more fun...especially if I get a "Really??!!" out of him.

We ordered lots, since we thought some of the fam was stopping by, when they didn't Kody and Danielle took on thier 40 wings and challenged each other to see who could eat the most! Danielle won with 24, Kody only managed 16, oh to have thier metabolism. It was a great day, we enjoyed the family time with everyone and of course having great food to top it all off! Thanks Janeen!

Easter

I uploaded the pics backward, so I am just going to tell you all about it and then you can scroll down and enjoy the days in reverse! lol We had a great Easter this year! It always starts on Saturday night when we color eggs. This was the first year that Sammy got into it and had fun. He would grab an egg and literally slam dunk it into the cup! Then smile and laugh, the pic that looks like him screaming is actually him laughing! Funny little guy! The other 5 of us had to fight to color eggs, since Sam was going crazy! Coloring eggs is pretty serious business around here, we use crayons and try to dye each egg like 3 different colors. It's agood time.

Then we decided to go through mom's Easter basket, for the 4th month of 24 months of Christmas. We had a great time asking all the questions and seeing what we knew of each other. Sammy loves opening the plastic eggs, so we once again had to fight for our turns. Eventually we got him to toss the egg to whoever's turn it was to read. This worked until the other kids started "tossing" eggs to each other. By the end we were in an all out plastic egg war, with the ottoman as a barricade, that was perfect for Danny to just walk up to and nail a kid with an egg. Then we set up for the bunny and put the kids to bed. The next morning guess who made it over?? Yep the Easter Bunny, he hid all the eggs and brought goodies. Sammy again thought his basket and candy was great. Then we jumped into our egg hunt. The kids love this, even the older ones so they had a blast. We actually woke the kids up EARLY!!! Like 5:30, since we told Janeen that we would love to attend 7:30 mass with her.

We made it one time to mass, then spent the day with the Oquists at Janeen and Mike's house playing wiffle ball and eating of course. It was a good day, everyone enjoyed themselves.

I love this pic of Sammy, he is so sad. He stared at the table as we cleaned up and just said, "MO!" (more) He had too much fun! I almost wanted to hard boil the rest of the eggs for him.