Spring Happenings

Life has been good lately -- Gabi is super healthy again, everything is starting to look a little greener, they finally started our new house, and we were able to make a trip to Golden to see all of our friends!

Just about all of the calves have been born and they are getting bigger! Here are some pictures I took during an evening outing to check on them. Maya rides in the box on the front of Papa's 4 wheeler -- she loves it and does a good job hanging on tight!
We have been getting a lot of moisture and it has been windy. There was one nice day last week that we were able to get outside to make and decorate a playhouse for Maya and Gabi. We bought a new deep freeze and the box that it came in is perfect for a playhouse. After I cut out the door and windows, the girls went to town decorating it! It will be a fun place to eat lunch and play in this summer.
We brought our little slide with us from Golden. It is getting too small for Gabi, so we are thinking about getting something bigger. We also need to find somewhere to hang our swing, since we couldn't move our huge maple tree with us. :) Maya is a little dare devil and scares the crap out of me sometimes. It doesn't help that she tries to do EVERYTHING that Gabi does. So, she has discovered how to go down the slide head first and thinks it is quite fun.
We still go on lots of walks and the girls have enjoyed going to the greenhouse to check on all of the plants. Gabi has also discovered a new way to cross the cattle guard. I guess she no longer needs my assistance!
Jackson is still loving life as a ranch dog. He has slimmed down a lot and just seems a lot happier than he used to be. He runs with me quite a bit, but can't go as far as he used to. Now that it is warmer, he enjoys daily dips in the pond and/or creek. Jackson has had some company lately outside the yard. A large herd of antelope has been happily munching away the green grass that is popping up around here (much to Dave's dismay I'm sure.) We have enjoyed all of the new life that Spring brings especially the meadowlarks and their beautiful songs, mountain bluebirds, ducks, Canadian geese, sand hill cranes, and wild turkeys.

Gabi is definitely back to her old self plus some. Both her and Maya have really opened up since we moved to Buffalo. They seem more comfortable being around new people and are growing more independent. I'm not sure why this is, but both Joe and I have noticed it. Gabi continues to ask questions non-stop, which wears me out but has also made her pretty sharp. She is very observant and notices things that the average person would overlook. She has taken quite an interest in writing and drawing lately. She can write her name, Tara, Joe, Maya, Papa, and Gio without asking for help. She will write many other words as I spell them to her. Her stick figures are hilarious and she never forgets the details (like curly hair when she is drawing Maya). We are working on letter sounds and she has been spelling words in some books.

Maya is still silly and gets spunkier everyday. She is almost potty trained. She will stay dry most of the day and has even gone #2 in the potty lately. She is really good about using public restrooms too. However, she is so independent and will occasionally have an accident when she is hard at work focusing on something away from me. She is very proud of herself, as are we! She is working toward wearing undies all of the time and a big girl bed when she goes all the time! :) This process has reminded us that we have to be extra patient with Maya. (Gabi was totally potty trained in 5 days.) Maya has always done everything in her own time (remember that 41 hour labor???? I do!!) She has been loving books and puzzles lately. She still loves to color as well.

We took a trip to Golden/Denver this week. Joe had a meeting in Casper last Tuesday, so we left that morning and then continued on to Denver once he was done. He worked in the Golden office on Wednesday and Thursday. We came home on Friday via Laramie where he had another meeting. Joe's new branch office has been very successful and they're hoping to send up some help soon. He is getting a lot of smaller jobs around Sheridan and Gillette. He landed a large job in Riverton for the community college there and is hoping to land a couple of other possible large jobs around the state soon. We are very proud of him -- his HARD work is paying off!

It was great to be in Colorado. While Joe was working, I visited a lot of friends and did a little shopping too! On Wednesday, the girls and I took Joe to work and spent some time visiting Amy and his other co-workers, then we went in to see Dr. Amy (our chiropractor), then picked up lunch to take to Julianne's house. She is pregnant (and will be a mom very soon!) and has been on bedrest since 22 weeks along. We then headed to meet my friend Sandy and her kids at the park (but the girls slept through the park play). Our last stop was to see the girls' old babysitter, Tracy, and her daughter Aunika. Gabi was so excited to see them and it was fun to see Gabi & Aunika playing together again. Maya dove into her old toys and had fun seeing Tracy as well.

We stayed with Jeff, Christie, and their two boys. They cooked us dinner and the girls had a blast playing with all of their toys especially the bouncy house in their basement!! On Thursday, we went to see our old neighbor, Angie, and checked out the old house and neighborhood. Not much has changed and the girls really weren't interested in the old house like I thought they would be. We went to O'Connell Middle School to visit Donna, Lisa, and Laura (friends I used to work with), and then headed to a McDonalds PlayPlace to have lunch and play with Teresa, Kristine, and their kiddos. Octavia and Gabi were so happy to see each other and they had a blast playing in the PlayPlace (even though I was squirming at the thought of how much nasty stuff they were crawling through)! Finally, after a short nap, we returned to Joe's office to celebrate with the KL&A staff at Dan & Julianne's baby shower. It was a great time! Thanks to all of you that took the time to visit with us!

On Tuesday night, we were able to attend a Rockies game. Even though they lost and it was a little chilly and windy, it was fun to be back in the stadium. The girls loved dancing to the music, eating peanuts, hot chocolate, and the footlong hotdog that they shared. They ate it at the same time...from opposite ends. It was quite cute.

Sorry for the long-winded post! Have a joyous Easter!

Love, Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya

Return of the Smiles

Gabi gets more energy each day and her usual high daily quota of smiles is returning as well! Our visit with the pediatric cardiologist in Billings today went great -- so far her heart looks good. Kawasakis usually takes 6 weeks or so to run its course, so we will go back in 6 weeks for another echocardiogram and EKG. She will stay on the aspirin until then, but is free to run and play and be her usual self. If the 6 week tests come back good, she will go back every year for awhile and then every 5 years. Hopefully she will continue to improve and have no long-term effects of this disease. Many thanks for all of your kind words and prayers. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family! We'll keep you updated! Lots of love, Tara

Prayers Needed for Gabi

On Friday, Gabi was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease by her pediatrician in Sheridan. We spent Friday afternoon through Sunday in the hospital as she underwent treatment and had recovery time. She is doing much better now, but is still very tired and grumpy. We will not know the long-term effects on her heart until tomorrow when we go see a pediatric cardiologist in Billings for an echocardiogram. We are hopeful that we caught it early enough to prevent any damage to her coronary arteries and heart.

It was very scary for all of us. Gabi doesn't get sick very often and so it was quite stressful, especially when everything happened so quickly from the diagnosis to treatment at the hospital. She was a little trooper and won the hearts of many nurses during her stay. She hated the blood draws and IV, but loved the popsicles, stickers, ice cream and all of the attention. :) Watching your little girl lay in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV is heartbreaking. I hope I never have to see that again.

Here are some pictures of her as we were getting ready to leave. She is looking so much better in these pictures than she did on Friday (but taking pictures then was the last thing on my mind!) Gabi really missed Maya while she was in the hospital and was pretty happy when she came in to visit Sunday morning. We are thankful that we live close to family now and for all of their help watching Maya. Her diagnosis is a long story and one that gets me pretty angry. She came down with a rash all over her body last Saturday (4/2) and a low-grade fever. I called her doctor's office in Golden and they said to watch it and go in to the doctor if the fever didn't go away in 4-5 days. So, Tuesday morning (4/5), I took her to the urgent care clinic in Sheridan because she still had a 100-101 fever and red eyes. She was very irritable. Dr. Finley (don't EVER go to him!) spent less than 1 minute with us, looked in her mouth and ears, didn't listen to anything I told him about the history, and diagnosed her with a sinus infection and pink eye. I knew it was an incorrect diagnosis and feel bad for not standing up to him, but I guess I trusted him for some reason because he was a "doctor". We waited for the antibiotics and eye drops to work over the next couple of days and when they didn't, I called a pediatrician in Sheridan and got her in Friday morning. They took one look at her and knew something major was up! After blood tests, a chest x-ray, lots of examining, phone calls to Children's Hospital in Denver and the pediatric cardiologist in Billings, and 5 hours later, they diagnosed her with Kawasaki Disease. They immediately admitted her to Sheridan hospital to start the treatment of IVIG (gamma globulin) and aspirin. She looked so much better the next morning and has continued to improve (except for her energy level and she has thrown up a couple of times...probably from the aspirin.)

Please keep Gabi in your prayers. We are praying that she returns to her normal, energetic self soon and that her immune system and cardiovascular systems did not suffer any damage. She is such a sweet girl that shouldn't have to go through this! We will update this after our trip to the pediatric cardiologist in Billings tomorrow.

Lots of love, Tara

Gabi's Gotcha Day!

It has been 3 years since Gabriela officially became our daughter! We celebrated this evening with our traditional Guatemalan dinner (crema de pollo, corn tortillas, Guatemalan black beans, and corn cake). It is always a treat and every year I remind myself to make all of those things more often! It was nice to have Grammy Joyce and Papa Dave over to help us celebrate as well! Unfortunately, we waited a little too long to take the traditional family picture! The girls were pretty wound up and didn't seem to want to sit still and smile. Oh well! Here are the pictures from the actual Gotcha Day, the 1st, and the 2nd. A lot has happened through all those years! :)

The picture above was taken a little earlier in the evening. Gabi & Maya have been really huggy lately (among their quarrels of course). The dress Gabi is wearing came from Antigua -- we bought it when we were there 3 years ago. We couldn't believe at that time that it would actually fit her one day! I'm kicking myself for not getting a better picture of her in it! Maybe tomorrow I will have patience enough to get her back dressed in it! We also gave her a Guatemalan ABC picture book -- every letter represents something about the people or places of Guatemala -- pretty neat!

We are still so thankful that Gabriela is part of our family! She brings us so much joy and we couldn't imagine life without her. God sure knew what He was doing when He made Gabriela part of our lives.

Lots of love!

Joe, Tara, Gabriela, & Maya

Skiing!

We took Gabi skiing last Saturday at Meadowlark Ski Lodge in the Big Horn Mountains above Buffalo. She had a great time and did well! She has been skiing a couple of times before, but this was the first time she rode a chair lift! She wasn't scared one bit and kept asking me why I was holding on to her so tightly!



We even saw a moose cross the road on our way up that morning!

We were really impressed with Meadowlark. It has changed owners a couple of times and the current owners have really fixed the lodge up. Gabi & I were the first ones on the lift and there were probably less than 30 people total there that day! It was awesome! Granted, it's not as big as the Colorado resorts, but it felt big with so few people. Maya spent the morning with Grammy Joyce and Papa Dave. It won't be too long before they'll both be up on skis and causing all sorts of trouble! :)

Spring is in the Air!

It has warmed up so nicely around here and it has gotten me so excited for Spring! Phyllis and I planted the first seeds of the season, calves are being born left and right, the days last longer, and we have been playing outside more (in the grass and not snow!!) Now I know I'm jinxing myself because we're probably still a few snowstorms and cold snaps away from Spring...but I have hope! Joe & I became pansies when we lived in Colorado...we forgot how long the winter is in Wyoming. However, if I remember correctly, Spring and Summer in Wyoming definitely makes up for it! The girls' new favorite activity is to go see the cows and calves -- it has been fun being so close to the calving lot. We can see them from our windows and I've even witnessed a few births while sitting here at my computer!

Throwing a snowball at the camera:

Maya really wishes she could reach the pedals...she'll sit up there forever and just run her little legs around and around!

I have no idea what they were doing here...crazy girls!

Cow and her new calf:

Riding with Grandma Phyllis on the 4-wheeler:

Even Rocky ventured outside one day...he made it to the first step. He was king of the neighborhood in Golden, but he has turned into a scaredy cat, a FAT scaredy cat here. ;-)

I watched Kate & Ella (Gabi and Maya's second cousins) 3 days this week and we had lots of fun. The girls enjoyed playing dress-up, playing with the dollhouse, and having picnics with the play food. Here they are with their bouquets of flowers while we were out checking on the cows!

The girls and I went to visit Grammy Mary and Papa Gary in Iowa a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, Gabi caught her first cold (and hopefully last of the season) while we were there and was pretty miserable. Maya was in good spirits. Regardless, it was good to be there and we had a nice visit with my parents and brother.

Painting (and actually sharing!):

Maya has been talking quite a bit more and is even putting words together now. She says quite often, "Baby cows...moooooo!" I'm trying to motivate myself to start potty training Maya. She is the same age now as Gabi was when I potty trained her. Maya just seems so much younger than Gabi did for some reason?! I think she is ready, but we'll see how it goes.

Three years ago yesterday we flew down to Guatemala to get our Gabi girl! How time flies!! She is growing up so fast and is such a joy!

Construction is scheduled to start on our house sometime next week! We are super excited to get going! Hopefully, I'll update the wyomingishome.blogspot.com with groundbreaking pictures soon!

Love to you all! Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

Pucker Up!

Hello! Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day!



Some Valentine's Day pictures showing off the necklaces Grammy Mary made for them:
I love this picture of Gabi (and Maya actually has a normal/not cheesy smile):

Gabi wore this outfit on Valentine's Day 2 years ago and Joe had her in the same upside down pose:

Gio & Marco came over last Friday night, so they decorated heart cookies for everyone around here. It was a fun time!

Our friends, Chris & Tracy, had a baby girl named Tessa. Gabi & Maya have really been into playing with babies lately, so it is a special treat for them when we see Tessa. She is a cutie!

I don't know how the swim goggles ended up in the dress-up box, but they are always good for a laugh. I bought Gabi a new swim suit the other day and she wants to wear it all the time! She had it on one day last week when it was a high of -10 or something ridiculous like that! Crazy girl!

Love bugs:

It feels like sledding & snowshoing have become regular pastimes around here. That's Joe making a snow angel after taking Maya for a ride down the hill :).

Maya really likes stacking things, puzzles, putting things through holes, etc. She has very good fine motor skills. She has been talking a little more lately and I even got her to say "I love you" tonight (fitting for Valentine's Day!) However, she is very stubborn and doesn't talk unless she is good and ready. :) Here she is stacking a set of blocks that my Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Larry made for me when I was her age.

Finally, some scenic pictures from the ranch...the first is a Sun Dog from last week when it was really cold. Beautiful!

In other news, we have received all of the bids back from potential contractors and hope to select one to build our house by the end of this week. Sounds like it will get going in March sometime and take anywhere from 4-6 months to complete. It is an exciting process, but also full of hard decisions.

Joe is doing well with his new office. He worked with a great group of people in Golden, so I think he gets kind of lonesome working by himself. He does get fequent visits from friends and family, so that is good! He has been very busy lately on new projects around here and helping/fixing projects from the Golden office.

The girls and I have a routine down pretty good. On Mondays and Wednesdays, they play at the Y for an hour while I do my run. Thursdays is story/craft/treat time at the library, and Gabi has gymnastics on Friday. She loves it (it would be hard not to since it is a huge space filled with trampolines, zip lines, and all kinds of other fun gymnastics equipment.) Her teachers always comment on how strong (and tall) she is for her age. On Tuesdays we hang close to the house and I try to do a lot of baking to keep healthy breakfasts and snacks close at hand. I'm loving being home with my girls.

Lots of love to you all!

Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya