The end of an era...

Dan's last day with RDS was yesterday (RDS is closing their OKC office).  He is officially unemployed!  Well, at least until Monday :)  He starts his new job with Oklahoma Tank Line on Monday.  Dan worked with RDS for 21 years and it was hard for everyone to say good-bye yesterday after so many years.  We are excited for the new things to come and for Dan to get opportunities to put his Master's Degree to work.  Dan will be the CSC Manager at OTL...

However, before Dan starts on Monday, we have to so something that Dan HATES to do...go shopping!  Dan has plenty of Suits that he wears on Sundays and plenty of jeans as that is what he wore at RDS.  However,  His new job requires business casual so we must hit the stores this afternoon!  So much for football :)  Sorry Dan...lol

PS... Dan's cell  number will be changing.  It was a RDS work cell.  We will get his new number out as soon as we get it.  Hopefully today!

Christmas 2010

We had such a fabulous Christmas!!  Ash flew in from Idaho on the 19th and flies out today (the 31st).  Dan and I both had Christmas eve off so the evening of the 23rd we drove down to my twin's family and stayed a couple of days with them.  It was a wonderful time and we had a blast!!  We even made time for visiting friends and relatives on Friday.   Then we went to my mom's on Christmas Day and had a WONDERFUL time visiting with family and playing Catch Phrase (this is a game that can be played with the kids).  It was soooo fun!   I am missing my family and Dan's family and am ready to go see them again!!  It is a good thing they are only an hour and a half away.

I am not quite ready for Ash to leave, but know that College awaits her!  She is in her second semester of her Sophmore year and has a job on campus so I know she's busy and is ready to get back to her life...  Kerri will be going to visit Ash in March for Spring Break.  I am thinking I may need to stow away in Kerri's luggage...haha 

I can't wait to post pictures!  My camera broke :( but my Brother-In-Law took pictures and I am waiting for him to send me copies and then I will attach them.

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas too!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

From our house to yours,

we wish you and yours a very

Merry Christmas.

May you enjoy the peace found in

gratitude for the gifts given each

of us by our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer throughout the

New Year.

Love, The Silfies'

IT IS OFFICIAL

It is official!!! The Silfies are staying in Oklahoma! (For now anyway...lol)

More details on the new job to come but for now just soooooo grateful to a loving and kind Heavenly Father for this wonderful and generous gift of a job for Dan :)

HAVE FAITH!!!

So last week was Garret's turn to teach Family Home Evening. However, we found out some disturbing news that day. Dan's job of 21 years will be coming to an end on Christmas Eve. We had no prior warning and were in total shock. So we sat Kerri and Garret down and started to explain to them the changes that were coming to be. Garret then stood up, put his hand on Dan's shoulder and quietly said "HAVE FAITH" and that concluded our FHE... Enough Said!!!

Time Flies!!!

Is has been several weeks since my last post...WOW, how times files!!! Since then we have had celebrations and heartbreaks. But for today I will post on the celebrations.... Kerri had a birthday!!! She turned 17. I feel old :) Also, Garret had a birthday!!! He turned 14. I used to tell Dan that I was not sure that I was ready for this part of my life when all the kids are self sufficient and I am not "needed" as much in the mom role but surprisingly I am enjoying seeing how much my kids are growing in their own independance and seeing their ability to make the right choices. I looooooove my kids!!! This includes you too Ash ;)

Welcome Victor Hearman!!!

Hip, Hip, Hooray... We welcomed "Victor Hearman" into Kerri's life yesterday!!! Kerri has been blessed with a new hearing aid and has named it Victor Hearman...lol. We are all excited for her. It was a very emotional day as she heard things she had never heard in her life like crumpling paper! She can not hear low tones at all and only has half of her hearing in her left ear. She has a little more than that in her right, but for now the doctor said to just put a hearing aid on the one ear. When she was given the hearing aid yesterday she said her fondest wish was to hear her dad's "real" voice. She was able to do that for the very first time EVER!!! Wow... Such joy on her face!!! As she turns 17 this next week we are excited for this new discovery of the hearing world as she has had some loss since birth, but the loss got a lot worse this last year... She has discovered in a very short amount of time that she loves bass on the radio! I bet I have to start telling her to turn down her music now...but I won't mind :) We are grateful and truly feeling blessed that Kerri has been able to start this new relationship with Victor Hearman!!!

Ashley's 20th Birthday!!!

I can't believe my Ashley turned 20 yesterday! What a fun birthday we shared. We traveled to my Mom's house and had a yummy lunch and cake to follow. We all celebrated!!! My twin and I had a birthday on Friday and Ash's was on Saturday but we have not been in to my mom's in a while so we celebrated everyone's birthday since March... It was fun and we all took new pictures. I will post them when my brother-in-law e-mails them. I was not able to take my own pictures because the kids had swiped my camera batters...lol...

It was hard to narrow down, but here are 20 Fun things I remember about Ash...
1. Favorite toy was the glow worm
2. Her first word was Dad and I thought her second would be mom but it was not. Mommy was her 4th word (see where I rated)...lol
3. When she decided to give up her bottle, she threw it in the trash herself and said "NO MORE!" and never asked for it again...
4. She loved to swing and would spend hours in her Meema's and Peepa's backyard.
5. She loved to watch movies. Her favorites were "The Kind and I, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and John Wayne Movies"...No kiddy movies for her :)
6. When Ashley was 3, she decided to run away so she did not have to pick up her toys. So she got her suitcase and went and sat on the steps between the house and the garage and decided that was far enough...lol
7. Ash plastered stickers on the entire screen of the TV and I could not get them to come off. Dan had to use cleaner from the shop...
8. As a toddler Ash's favorite and only cartoon she would watch was Barney. We had the WHOLE collection.
9. When she was elementary age, her favorite thing to watch was "Mary-Kate and Ashley videos" because she had the same name as one of the twins.
10. Ash loved having younger siblings... She loved even more being their boss. (SHE STILL DOES)...
11. Ash's favorite color was pink.
12. Ashley refused to learn how to ride a bike until she was 7 years old. When she saw her cousin riding a bike then she finally got on and decided she wanted to try. She was riding on her own about 20 minutes later.
13. Ashley's favorite food was her Meema's Spaghetti. She still loves Pasta above anything else.
14. Ashley's nickname came from her Aunt. She used to call Ash Booger Bear and it was eventually shortened to Boog....We still call her that :)
15. When Ash was in elementary school she seemed to be having difficulty with assignments so her Nanny was asking her one day what color the tree was outside and when she said she didn't see a tree we knew right then she needed glasses. The poor girl was so near sided she could not see across the street... Still can't without contacts!!.
16. Ashley got into a huge shouting match with her 5th grade teacher at school...AND WON!
17. She also got into a disagreement with a teacher in middle school and won. She informed the teacher she was NOT eating off of a dirty reused paper lunch tray and was throwing it away and if the teacher did not like it then she would call her mom and I would be right there to talk to the teacher... Needless to say, although the teacher didn't want to, they let Ash throw the tray away!
18. As Ash reached high school, she wanted a car and so we bought her a 1973 Superbeetle that was not running. She spent a year and a half helping her dad rebuild it. She knows more about cars than some men!
19. Ash received her Young Women Medallion at church. She was so excited! It takes many, many hours to complete, but she finished hers 3 years early and was to first one to get the medallion in several years in our ward... She glowed when they gave it to her!
20. Ash has traveled extensively over the years on vacations, being a foreign exchange student her junior year and now as a student in Idaho.

As she gets ready to leave again next week I just want her to know how much we love her and miss her when she is gone. HAVE A GREAT YEAR BOOG!!

Stomache Pains again

UGH... Every 7 days like clockwork Garret has spasms in his stomach to the point of needing to go to the ER. Our latest episode was yesterday. Unfortunately we were out of town... He was hurting so bad that I drove over to my Mom's in Tulsa and borrowed some medicine from her. She and Garret are on the same med's but for different reasons. What a blessing to be able to go get it. I then headed back to OKC and while Garret was screaming, moaning and crying in the back seat, the medicine finally kicked in and he fell asleep... The spasms finally passed after about an hour and we didn't have to make an ER visit this weekend (first weekend in 3 weeks we weren't at the ER or admitted in the hospital). He had blood work on Friday and we get the numbers back on Tuesday. Then I am making an appointment with the GI doctor that he saw when he was in the hospital. He can only eat a few bites before his pain starts and a 13 year old boy has trouble with that! Supposedly, we will see drastic results with the meds in another 3 weeks, but with one week down already I don't see any changes... I know he is ready for his pancreatitus to be healed, but it may take longer than expected...

CRAZY WEEK....Grateful week :)

This week was soooo crazy and yet I have had sooo many things to be gratful for. First Garret had 4 ER visits and 2 hospital admits with one of them lasting 4 days. He had a severe rash that was treated in the ER with steroids and the steroids caused him to get pancreatitis. So much pain for him...YIKES. We now have him home on a couple of different meds that are keeping him in good spirits and no pain. I was also grateful that my mom was in town during this time and she sat at the hospital with me for all 4 days. Some great bonding time... (even if we were at the hospital!) Our family was blessed with surprise meals for the week and I am so appreciative of great friends and food :)

Second, Kerri's car broke down and we had to call in reinforcements (Dan)...lol Anyway, it was just a leak in her radiator hose and all is well now. I am grateful it was nothing more serious and for a husband that is mechanically inclined!!!

Third, my sister took my mom to the ER yesterday for a massive pain in the back of her head. She is doing ok now and is at home with meds. She has to have an MRI but ER doctor said she is doing well.

Finally, School starts next week and we have been able to get the kids enrolled in between every other crazy thing going on... YEAH!!

Whew.... What a week :)

This should make you smile!!!

A little girl walked to and from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with lightning.

The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school. She also feared the electrical storm might harm her child. Full of concern, the mother got into her car and quickly drove along the route to her child's school. As she did, she saw her little girl walking along.

At each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up, and smile. More lightning followed quickly and with each, the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile.

When the mother drew up beside the child, she lowered the window and called, "What are you doing?"

The child answered, "I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture."

MAY GOD BLESS YOU TODAY AND EVERY DAY AS YOU FACE THE STORMS THAT COME YOUR WAY!

Garret's tooth... Not so good :)

Garret was supposed to leave for scout camp this morning, but had a mishap instead. The scouts were all running outside on the wet, slippery grass at the Church so Dan told them to stop or someone was going to get hurt. So the boys stopped and went inside to wait. THEN... the scouts started messing around on the stage at church and Garret fell off the stage and hit a table that was next to the stage with his front tooth and broke it off. The dentist put a temporary cap on it. The tooth may die... Dan took him on to scout camp and we will see how he does. The dentist said to expect him to be in excruciating pain in a couple of days if the tooth does go ahead and die... UGH... Why does it always have to be Garret???

Our blog stalker is gone!!! YEAH

For over a year now I have had a blog stalker from China (I think... I can't read the writing). I am hoping that they are not following my blog anymore. So I will try once again to blog and if they show back up I will go private...