Yosemite

Our weekend adventures are just that…..ADVENTURES.  There is always something funny happening or some big lesson that we learn after we take our trip.  Most of our trips will be one time only trips, but after we take them we realize there are many things we would do differently if we ever went back.  I guess that is how it goes with being a “traveler.” This weekend was no exception as we ventured to the famous Yosemite National Park.

Here we are eagerly waiting for Dan to get home from work. .

We left Friday evening and stayed in a hotel.  The pool water was freezing, the upstairs neighbors sounded like elephants on our ceiling, and the girls decided to lay in bed wide awake until 11pm.  So next time we might choose a different hotel, but you know, in spite of any inconveniences, we had a

blast.  All three girls were extremely good through it all. 

We woke up early Saturday morning and got everyone out the door by 8am.  We got breakfast and started our day at the South entrance of the park.  Apparently you have to get to the park entrance pretty early because of all the traffic from tourists (or so Dan told us……I think he just said that because he was so excited to see the waterfalls).  So we get there bright and early and there is no traffic.  I could have stayed in my nice cozy hotel bed and enjoyed some television for just a little longer.  Oh well, it worked out just fine. 

We decided to check out the Sequoias first so we parked our car and started on the trail.  What turned out to be a leisurely stroll became a four mile hike up the mountain and back down again.  Initially I had Chloe in the front pack and the two girls walking, but that didn’t last for long.  Sara has such a hard time walking on tough terrain so Dan backpacked her and carried Chloe in his arms.  I carried all the sweatshirts (we didn’t need them because we worked up a sweat) and held Mya’s hand.  Now without kids this type of activity is right up me and Dan’s ally, but with kids…..it was interesting.  Little Mya walked all four miles and did an amazing job.  This was a great time for me to work with her on the lesson of not complaining.  As we walked, I kept quoting scripture of being content in every situation. 

After our four mile hike and seeing some beautiful Sequoia trees in the grove, we headed to Glacier’s Point.  This was worth the entire trip.  We saw the waterfalls and mountains….it was stunning.  In Dan’s words, that he said all day, “Holy Guacamole!” By this time it was later afternoon and the poor girls had been snacking and drinking water all day but were getting hungry for lunch/dinner.  There were no restaurants to be found!  So we drove to Yosemite Valley to see the bottom of the waterfalls.  Breathtaking!  We stopped at a campground store to get more snacks for the kids. Finally, we left the park around 5:30, drove to the nearest town and got everyone dinner around 6.  A little fish and chips, a smoothie, some gas in the car, and we were on our way back to Porterville.  Looking back, we would have done a few things differently….like maybe packed lunch!

Real Nostalgia

I had a good laugh today with my dad on the phone when he was telling me that he read my post, titled Nostalgia, and was eagerly anticipating my talk of how much we are missing our family and friends at home. When in fact all I talked about was missing my hard wood floors. At the time, amidst the puking, that is what I missed the most. But it goes without saying that we get homesick for our family and friends much more than we do the floors in our house. This post is in honor of my conversation with Dad as we shared a good laugh over his observation. But honestly, it is important for you all to know how much we miss you. Your love and support while we are away keeps us going. We await the day when we get to come back home. At the same time, we are living life here and loving it. We feel "at home" here in Porterville as Dan plugs away working very hard at his job. I have to boast on Dan for a minute because he got a phone call from his recruiter last week who sang his praises. The recruiter had talked to the hospital where Dan is working and they expressed how pleased they are with his work. They love him so much that they have offered to keep him on longer. So if his recruiter doesn't find a higher paying contract when this one is done, then it looks like we might be staying here for an additional 3 months. That takes us to the first week of December. We should know more by next month. In the meantime, we are liking our adventures and our location.

Night Out

I got some time out tonight, so here I am, sitting at Starbucks, enjoying one of their new Refresher drinks.  It is a lime flavor, but I don't really like it too much.  Guess I'll try the other flavor next time.  Well, I think it is almost safe to say that me, Dan and the baby managed to NOT get the flu.  Not sure how, but I am not complaining one bit!  We had a successful, healthy day today and the kids were glad to be able to play with their apartment friends again.  Since last Friday they have missed seeing their friends.  Today we ventured out and it was good.  Or should I say.....the neighbor kids ventured in.  We had three extra friends in the apartment today.  I struggle!  I struggle with the neighbor kids in many ways.  I love having them around, but let me tell you how tough it is to watch them raise themselves.  And because of that, they are left to decide what sinful nature they will keep or not keep.  What I mean by that is that they aren't being taught how to treat people or squelch selfish ways or respect others.  Many times if they aren't in the mood to be around my girls, they will just ignore them or decide not to share their things that day. But as soon as we bring out our toys they are playing with them and eating our food and watching our movies.  My sinful nature wants to lecture them on how to treat my kids, but I can't.  I know that I am here to set an example for them.  Even if it effects them in one small way.  Even if twenty years from now they think back to how their neighbor treated them.  I am teaching my kids to think of others first no matter how they are treated.  Well, that is what I need to be demonstrating and this is the perfect opportunity to do it.  So they don't share their toys with my kids, but we can share our toys with a joyful heart.  Try to do that when you aren't being treated in the same way.....tough!  But God is giving me the self control and wisdom on how to handle this.  For that I am grateful.

Since I am at Starbucks I can share some pictures with you.  Below is a picture of Mya and Sara's favorite neighborhood friend.  Her name is Gracie.  Pray for her if you have the chance.  She is the one that I see the most just wandering the apartment complex looking for something to do all day long, every day.



Chloe is enjoying a gift that the girls got in a package from their Gigi.  Thank you Gigi and Poppo!

A cute picture of Mya and Chloe.  Mya always finds her way into the path of the camera.  If I had blonde hair and blue eyes I would do the same thing!

Okay...not the best picture of myself, but I wanted to prove that I am growing my hair out.  It is slowly....ever so slowly....growing.

Goofy Sara with her sunglasses.  We are so grateful that she is feeling better.  Her bout with the flu was pretty scary for us.

Round 2

Ding, ding...the winner today is Mya. Poor little girl, she started with flu like symptoms yesterday afternoon and was pretty sick by bedtime. Another wonderful night in the Donatini household. I am disinfecting the apartment today in hopes of protecting the baby.

Recovery

Thank you all for your prayers for Sara. This morning was the first time that she smiled on her own and made a joke. After yet another sleepless night last night, I think Sara might be on the road to recovery. Dan and I were up with her all night because she was heading into what we felt was a scary state of dehydration. Luckily Dan was consistent with giving her fluids every half hour or so through the night. He was pretty concerned about her so he stayed on top of it. Finally, by about 5 am she went to the bathroom and started asking for pretzels. Today she is talking and hopefully starts playing again. What a tough weekend for us, but we are so grateful that she is on the mend.

Nostalgia

We have become homesick for many things, but the biggest thing I miss right now are my hardwood floors and tiled bathroom and kitchen. Our apartment has carpet, which is not fun to clean when you have a sick child. We had great plans this weekend to visit Yosemite. We had the whole day planned and even had a free parking pass. But what turned into an exciting weekend has turned into a tough one for a mom. My goofy, fun loving daughter, Sara, came down with the flu. What I thought was maybe heat exhaustion turned into throwing up every half hour through the night. We are still not out of the woods yet, but she is finally eating a cracker this evening. She is very skinny and pale and I just can't stop worrying about her. I was awake the whole night. Just when I dozed off she woke me up to throw up. Thankfully, so far, the other girls are doing well. Thankfully, even in tough times, my husband always finds a way to bring humor into the situation. He has quite a knack for that. I was getting a back rub from Dan and we were talking to Sara while she was laying on the couch. We were trying to get her to smile. Next thing I knew Dan was attempting to make farting noises with his armpits. Aparantly he hasn't practiced this skill in a while because he was unsuccessful. But it was funny watching him try. Then he decided to treat Sara like a patient and give her physical therapy. He had her walk back and forth across the apartment to exercise her legs. Very sweet! Please pray for little Sara.

Being Humbled

I find myself in a constant state of humbleness as I continue to work with the girls each day. The girls and I do a devotion each morning and we are reading Proverbs. There is a great verse in Proverbs 11:2 that states, "When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom." Some of my humbling moments are quite comical, so that is good. Just the other day I was in the shower brushing my teeth (a trick I picked up during my college years) and I threw the toothpaste out onto the floor. Mya came running in and said, "Mommy, don't throw things on the floor because this is not our place and we need to take care of things here. Now don't do that again." I have been training the girls' hearts to respect their surroundings and apparently forgot to do so myself. There was also the time when I took a drink of my lemonade and Mya said, "Mommy, you are being selfish and you should put me first so I can have a drink before you do." They are so impressionable! Dear God, please push my pride out of the way and always allow me to be humbled.