Thanksgiving 2009

Today I have many things to be thankful for. I am thankful for my beautiful family and the love and comfort they give me. I am thankful for my friends for the support and laughter I receive from them. I am thankful to live in the United States of America and the freedom we have because of the brave men and women that protect us. I am thankful to God for keeping my family and friends safe and helping me to believe and live faithfully daily. I am truly a lucky individual to be surround by love. I wish you all a day filled with family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving.

Fun at Irvine Park

While off track this month we went to ride bikes at Irvine Park in Orange and it was a blast! My good friend, Sandi, and her two girls loaded our bikes up in the back of Kunane's truck and set out for a fun day at the park. We took our lunches and rode bikes around until the girls got tired. Then we had a picnic lunch and the kids played on the playground, while we sat and watched the wild peacocks.


We took all kinds of pictures of the kids climbing the trees. In this picture Kulia is leaning on Hailee, Kalena is next to Kulia and then Kilee. They loved posing for the pictures. After lunch we loaded our bikes back in the truck and went to the zoo at the park. The kids loved seeing the animals and like petting the goats in the petting zoo portion. We had a fabulous day with the Long girls. Thanks for a great day girls. We definitely need to do it again!

Wednesday, November 11th

Since today was Veteran's Day, the girl scout troop had a holiday cookie exchange day. Kalena and I baked 6 dozen Snickerdoodles to share with her troop. Her exchange started at 10 am and when we arrived they asked if I could stay and help. Of course I couldn't say no, until I had my sweet girl, Kulia, in tears. I had promised her a mommy and Kulia date while Kalena was at girl scouts and she thought we weren't going to get to go. I felt horrible and could see the sadness in her eyes, so I explained to the leader I wasn't able to stay and help because I had a date with Kulia. Kulia was so excited to be with me. She chose lunch at Carl's Jr. and a treat from the Dollar Store....did I make out or what? This was the cheapest day ever. After lunch and shopping we came home and played the Dora Matching Game, one of her favorites. It was so nice to see how much fun she was having. We picked Kalena up at 2 and she completely understood why I didn't stick around to help. I have such wonderful girls and am so blessed they have compassion towards each other. Everyone had a great day and I was so happy to have some quality time with my little lady!

Wednesday, November 4th

Today, was our 8 week check up with Dr. Mohrdar, Kulia's natural doctor (ND), and it went great again. I was never a believer in the homeopathic or natural forms of medicines until I took Kulia to see Dr. Mohrdar. Our first visit was on March 4th, the day after her 4th Birthday and since then Kulia has not been sick (knock on wood). This past month, she was exposed to the swine flu and another strand of the flu and never got it. I am amazed because in the past if someone had a cold, she would get it and it would go straight to her chest. She would then have to get steroid shots and have breathing treatments three times a day. As I said, she hasn't been sick since we have seen him and I feel like he is a miracle worker. Not only has she not been sick, but her hair has grown, she has grown an inch and a half, and her skin is finally the color is should be, instead of pale and sickly looking.

I asked Dr. Morhdar how this could be possible and he told me the supplement (Transfer Factor C) allows her body to fight off infections before it incubate and become worse. Apparently, this supplement assist her immune system in keeping her white blood cells within a healthy range. When she is exposed or has a small bug, her body actually fights it rather than lets it incubate and it never has the opportunity to turn into an infection. He actually recommended I have Kalena take it throughout the flu and cold season so she doesn't get a bug either. The girls don't mind taking it which is great too!

As I left his office, I called my mom and told her that if I wasn't working full time I would definitely become a lobbyist in Washington for natural medicine. I know it sounds a little extreme, but I have seen first hand how it has changed Kulia's life. She is so much healthier and happier and doing so much better than she was on pharmaceutical drugs. I have spent less money out of pocket on the supplements and doctor visits than I did when she was seeing her specialist. In addition, the insurance company would have spent less for the ND rather than an MD. I do know though our health care is driven by the pharmaceutical companies and natural medicine will never be accepted because it would put to many of them out of business. I also know that it has worked for Kulia and we are going to continue to see Dr. Mohrdar N.D. until he proves that his treatment is not effective. He truly has been our family miracle and would recommend him to anyone!

Day 2 at Disneyland

Today (November 2), we visited Disneyland again with my good friend, Terri. We are so close the girls refer to her as Auntie Terri. She also spoils them like they are her nieces, so they love it. Every time we are off track we try to take a trip to Disneyland together at least once. It was another great day at the "Happiest Place on Earth". The girls saw many characters they didn't see the Wednesday before so they were ecstatic. Well I should say, Kulia was ecstatic. Kalena still isn't too fond of the characters, so she could go without seeing them. She was a definite trooper though and let her Auntie Terri take pictures of her and her sister with each one of them. (Terri is a photographer on the side and does beautiful work, so when she is around I don't even get my camera out...am I lucky or what?) We stayed for about 4 hours and had a fabulous time.

Thank you Terri for going with us and treating the girls so well. They absolutely love you and so do I! Thanks for all you do sis! ♥

A Day at Disneyland with Friends from Corona Ranch

Today (October 28th), we met some of the families from Corona Ranch at Disneyland and had an amazing day. I was a little nervous since there were 20 of us, but all of the kids got along wonderfully and agreed on everything we did. I think all of the other parents gave their children the same talk before we left about going with the flow and doing what others want to do. We met at 10:30am at Mc Donalds on Ball road to feed everyone before we went to the park. We all decided to go to California Adventure first since it wasn't as crowded as Disneyland. One of the dads (Marty) that went with us, took all of our passes and got us all a Fastpass for Soaring Over California. We went on so many rides between the time we went in and Soaring Over California, the kids loved it. We then went to Disneyland and went on more rides and had dinner at the pizza place. We had such a great time!! We didn't leave the park until after 8pm, which is rare for us since we go so frequently. We really enjoyed the company and are so happy to have met such wonderful families at Corona Ranch. I am lucky to work there and have Kalena attend school there.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! The morning before, Friday, we stayed in our jammies and carved pumpkins. On Halloween, we spent the morning making caramel apples, one of our annual traditions. We relaxed the rest of the day and the girls couldn't wait to got trick or treating. Our dear friends, Al and Terri, came over to spend the evening. Al sat in the driveway with Kunane and Paul (our neighbor) passing out candy, while Terri, Claire, Liana, and I took the girls trick-or-treating. The girls were so excited with all of the candy they received and all the other costumes they saw. It was a great night!