Changes

There have been a lot of changes in the White house. (If only we could make some changes in that other White House! HA) The biggest change has been our relocation 6 weeks ago. Yep, we moved! Due to the economy Clint has struggled to find adequate work over the past six months, and a job opportunity came available in B-town, so we packed up the house and transplanted! While it was sad to leave our friends and family (although we are only two hours away), I am really enjoying living in B-town. There is just soooooo much to do with the kids here. Yesterday it was finally a beautiful day and I took the kids on a walk, went to the park, went out for dessert (more on that later), and went to the new library that is just a few blocks away! It was a really, really good day.
After dinner, my sweet tooth was screamin', so I decided we should go out and try something new. I took the kiddos to The Creperie. Wow, wow, wow! It was super yummy. It's a great little ma and pa shop. We loved everything about it. And the prices weren't too bad. Here's a few pics of the kids enjoying the tasty treats we all shared.

Gabe was backlit, so this isn't the greatest picture!

Doesn't it all look scrumdillyicious? Because it was! Thankfully we have a lot of parks and bike trails here where we can work off all of the extra tasty calories we are consuming.
For those of you who don't know, Clint and I are also full-time students at Northwest University. Not the campus in Kirkland, WA., but the Southern Idaho extension site. We are attending four hour classes every Monday night, for two years. When we are finished we will both have a degree in Ministry Leadership as well as be licensed ministers! YAY! This move has made attending school much easier, as it has placed us two hours closer to the facility. Previously we were commuting 2.5 hrs each way! Bleh! It is a lot of work, being students again, but it is so worth it! We are learning a lot about ministry, and hope to be better equipped when we are finished.
These courses have inspired me to do some writing. So I started another blog. It is merely my musings written out. Mostly things that God brings to my attention as I am reading His Word. The blog gives me a place to put it all, and maybe someone will stumble on it and be encouraged. Who knows! Anyway, if you are interested in taking a peak, go here:
http://jenniferjwhite.blogspot.com/
I can't promise I will update it any more frequently than I update the family blog.... :) and we all know how often I do that! :)

Out of this world!

During lunch my children were having the following discussion on heaven:
Gabe: “Grace, did you know I read in my Bible lesson that when we get to heaven we each get our own mansion!”
Grace: “really?”
Gabe: “What are you going to do with an entire mansion to yourself?”
Grace: “I want to make my own mansion…out of boxes. So Jesus just needs to give me all of His boxes.”
Abby: “Aaaaaand some scissors and tape!”
Grace: “Gabe, but what will we wear in heaven?”
Gabe: “Robes, but not like the ones we have…these will be really long and big.”
Grace: “Oh, like a snuggie!”
Abby: “huh? We get to wear a Jesus snuggie!”

Ohhhh how I love my kids! It doesn’t get more homeschool than a Jesus snuggie!

tid-bits

Confessions of a stay-at-home mom:
There are some days that I dream about putting my kids on the shiny-yellow-school-bus that stops in front on my door, every day at 7:45am. On these days, I would blissfully cruise to Target. I would rendezvous with my sweet Target, with a grande carmel macchiato in one hand and a high-limit credit card in the other....;)
Today surprisingly is NOT one of those days. Today I have enjoyed my children. Not because they have had stellar behavior. Certainly not because that haven't argued, bickered, yelled, and engaged a civil war amongst themselves. Nope. Today I have enjoyed my children b/c of their conversations. They are freaking hilarious...not too mention sweet. Here are some tid-bits of my day.

Abby: Mom, do you know why I hate flies?
Me: Nope, sweetie...why do you hate flies?
Abby: Because they have germy feet. And when they crawl on you they spread germs. You know what mom?
Me: What Abby?
Abby: Flies should learn to wash their feet..because crawling all over someones peach with dirty germy feet..well its just rude!

(Can't argue with that!)

During lunch prep:
Gabe: Mom, I love potato soup. It's so thick and creamy, gooey and warm and comforting. Just like you mom!
Me: Um....thanks Gabe...I think.

(Somewhere in that I think there was a compliment)

Grace: Hey Gabe, after lunch you can come to my dance party in my room!
Abby: Yeah...it's gonna be wild!
Gabe: Hmf...what should I bring?
Grace: Just your sweet moves Gabe...just your moves.

(Yeah...um...I'm speechless.)

And lastly...
Gabe: Mom, your the best mom in the world.
Me: Awww thanks buddy.
Gabe: If you weren't here the whole world would just stop functioning.
Me: Um...well I'm pretty sure the world would go on.
Gabe: Not mine mom...not mine.

(tears...see it pays to be like potato soup!)

The moral of the story is that while I may have occasional fantasies that may or may not involve a childless day, a sexy homeschool principal, hot coffee, and shopping for a $100 pair of jeans that make my butt look fantastic......I DO have three great children that in spite of rough days...still manage to melt my heart and make me laugh.

Yay! It's Fall....I think

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I look forward to the leaves changing color and the days getting cooler and shorter. I love the way it smells outside too.
This weekend we decided to go on a little field trip and take the kids to an apple orchard and pick apples. The kids had so much fun picking apples from the trees. After we filled our basket, we had to wash the apples, feed them to the grinder, and then press them into juice. Super time consuming but the juice we brought home was really yummy! My kids all told me it was one of the funnest days ever! (Poor homeschool kids... ) :) It was fun to watch them and their daddy-o being silly and havin' fun. My only complaint was how chilly it was. By the time we were finished we all had red, frigid hands.
Of course Sunday rolls around and we woke up to 2 inches of snow!!! Are you kidding me! It's the beginning of fall and suddenly there's snow outside! Robbed, I've been robbed of my fall!!! Fortunately it's just a "cold front" and the fall like weather should return...but still....rude.
One a side note, Clint is in need of work. Neither one of us have been getting phone calls for work. My dads cabinet shop has really slowed down and Clint's services aren't currently needed. I.E. he needs a job!!!!!! He's not particularly thrilled with the idea of turning wrenches again, but I know he'll do whatever he needs to keep us afloat. So if you think about it, keeps us in prayer. And if you know of anyone who is hiring let us know....he's trained in mechanics, cabinet making, home inspecting, worship leading, and pole dancing uh..I mean...uh he's sort of a "jack of all trades". It's hard not to get stressed out about it, but we are really trying to look at this as a change in the seasons of our life. Who knows what God has in store for us next. He's rearranged our lives before and we are willing and obedient to go where He asks us to go, and do what He asks us to do.
I'll finish this up with some pictures from our apple picking day. Please disregard my son in the first one....I'm really not too sure what that pose is all about! :)





One last thing..in order to save some money, we are having our home phone line turned off and only using our cell phones. If you don't have those numbers and would like them, please send me an email.

Sum-Sum-SummerTime

It's been a while since I've updated the blog. I'd apologize, but frankly we've been to busy having a fun summer to spend time on the computer.
Here's a couple of the highlights. We wrapped school up and I took off to see my friend Dawn on her farm. We went to the home school curriculum fair and I got all my curriculum for next year ordered. This will be my second year of home school, and I am really excited about it. Now that I have one year under my belt, I know this year is going to be a little easier, (at least I pray so).
When I got back from Seattle, the kids started swim lessons. This was year 3 for Gabe and Grace, and the 2nd year for Abby. The kids really took off this year! I am so proud of them. Abby jumped off of the diving board like a crazy woman. And Gabe and Grace found a new love for the water. This is the first year that they finally seem to enjoy it, and aren't afraid of it. Of course now they keep begging me to let them go swimming in Grandmas pool! Seeing as how it has finally been oober hot here, I don't' mind so much.




Gracie-Goo turned 6 this July! With every birthday I am always shocked at how times flies and the kids are just growing soooo fast! She requested a "hotel" birthday, and since Clint's parents were flying into town the next day we headed of to "B" town and had a blast! We had dinner at Red Robin, and then went swimming at the hotel.






After all the hotel fun, Granny and Papa, flew in for a visit. The kids enjoy spending time with them. We really only get to see them 2, maybe 3 times a year at best, so I love when they come out and hang with us. I'm very blessed to have great in laws. I genuinely enjoy their company. Of course Granny sealed the deal by doing my laundry all week! I told her to knock it off, I can take care of it. (As long as I do one load a day, I'm good.) But she reminded me that she too had 3 kids once and knew what it was like to be enslaved to the laundry room! :) I enjoyed the break.



In a couple of weeks Auntie Alecia and the cousins are coming out for a visit. I'm really looking forward to seeing the kids! It's always good times to watch the cousins play, and fight, and make up, and play, and then fight some more! Yes, these are the moments childhood is made up of!

I'll finish with a couple of pics I took of the kids this summer. And yeah, I know they are waaaayyyy to big already!

Test Results

We are back from Salt Lake. Yesterday we had a routine exam with the pediatric opthamalogist. This was the first time Abby was old enough to cooperate and "read" and eye chart. The result from this put her vision at 20/400. Legal blindness starts at 20/200 with correction. There is no correction available for her at this time.
This morning they ran an ERG on her while she was sedated. Basically this test measures how the rods and cones respond to electrical stimulus. Her doctor said there was no response in either the rods or the cones. Her technical diagnosis is Cone-Rod-Dystrophy, which means that her cones as well as her rods have little to no function. Obviously b/c she has sight they are functioning to some degree.....its just too small to be measured on their equipment.
Cone-Rod-Dystrophy is a genetic recessive disorder. Clearly Clint and I must both be carriers in order for her to have it. He told us if we ever have more children the likely hood of them having this disorder is greater. Clint told him that he had already taken care of his "rods and cones" so there won't be anymore babies! :)
There is no cure for this, and very little we can do to treat it. We will be getting some amber tinted "sun" glasses to aid with the light blindness, and her school work will need to be magnified. The doctor also feels that the prescription glasses she has been wearing for the past 10 months are doing little to no good and doesn't feel she needs to continue with them. Other than that there isn't much we can do at this point.....
But Pray. And that is what we intend to do. It is nice to finally have some answers after 4 years, but we have been fully aware that only God can change this situation. The doctors can't do much for her, but God is the Great Physician. I fully and totally believe that Abby is/will be healed. I don't know if it will be a one time miraculous event, or if her healing will come gradually over time, but it will come! When the Hillsong song "Healer" came out, I cried every time I heard it. I know there is a lot of controversy about that song, but the message is still the same....He is our Healer....and now more than ever He holds MY world in His hands.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us for this trip. She did so well and seemed none worse for the wear. Please continue to pray and believe with us for Abby's complete and total healing!

Please Pray For Abby

Today we head to Salt Lake with Abigail to see the pediatric opthamalogist. We are going to have a routine exam today, with the intention of running some test tomorrow morning. Abby will most likely need to be completely sedated for this test....and that just makes me feel really yucky! I know she will be fine, I just hate to see her go through the whole iv thing. Please pray for us that all goes well and that we will finally come home with some answers! We are fully aware that regardless of what they discover, there is likely no treatment. But we know that God can change that. I will try and update as soon as we have anything to update with!