Catching up

It's time to get the one or two people who will actually see this, caught up with what's been going on in Parreira land. *Disclaimer-This is not an actual theme park.

The last time I posted, I was blabbing about the new trailer. We LOVE it!! We went camping a couple of times a month during the summer. Lets roll back time and revisit the "trailer trip."

My buddy Daniel and I set out on a Monday headed across the country. Heather and the kids were flying to Buffalo, New York to meet us. She has family there. We drove straight through to Missouri making only one stop at his parents house in Oklahoma City. Obviously we stopped for fuel and food, but besides that, we were rolling along. While at his parents house, his mommy baked us some cookies while we rested our butts on their couch. She loaded us up with two gallon-size bags packed full! These cookies turned out to be GREAT FUN! I don't think we actually ate any of them. However, we did attempt to hit every road sign between Oklahoma and Ohio with them! We made a few stops along the way. One of them being the Gateway arch in St. Louis.

We had a little time to kill since I couldn't do the walk through on the trailer until Thursday. We stopped in Springfield at the Bass Pro Shops headquarters store. We were storm chasers through most of the mid west states. It was storming like crazy with tornadoes on every side of us. Thank God we didn't have the trailer yet! We continued on to Ohio, where the RV dealership was, and stayed in a little roach motel, literally, which would make a perfect spot to film a horror movie! It was gross!! We were up most of the night 'cause of the awesome lightning and thunder. After checking out the new trailer, we drove to New York to meet up with the wife and kids. We visited family and went to Niagara Falls. After a few days it was time to make the drive back. A few hours into the trip we realized that we had been robbed! I had taken my truck to Walmart to get the oil changed and while there, the mechanics stole a bunch of stuff out of my truck! That's a whole different post on its own. So anyway, we stopped back by and picked up the trailer in Ohio and headed west. Daniel slept most of the way back since there was no way I was letting him drive, pulling the trailer. He's never pulled any kind of trailer before and I wasn't going to start him off with a 13,000 pound, 40 foot trailer!!

Long story short, we stopped at truck stops on the way back, sleeping in the new trailer, and made it home in 3 days.

The day after getting home, we had a very important court date! June 19th was a happy court day! Shani's adoption was final!!! :) She is now a Parreira. We threw a party to celebrate with friends and family on August 6th. With everyones attention, I started to say thank you and do a semi-speech, but I couldn't hold back the tears!! So I had to stop talking. It has been such an emotional roller coaster that I wouldn't wish on anyone! But in the end, it was all worth it! Shani has a new name, a new birth certificate, a renewed spirit, and a Daddy that loves her more than she can imagine! I'm sure there are tons more to write about my summer, but I'm done for now.......

Here she is...

Well, we bought a new trailer! And of course, as with any new purchase, there are pros and cons.

The pros first:

• Its exactly what we wanted! All the way down to the interior color.
• Shani even got what she wanted, a loft bed.
• It has a 12 foot garage to store our quads and keeps the gas smell out of the rest of the trailer.
• 2 slide outs for extra space.
• No dinette table
• Sleeps 10 adults. Yes, ten!
• Enough storage for all of our camping "must haves."

And now the cons:

• It's in Ohio.
• I have to drive there to get it.
• It's 40 feet long, which means I don't have room at my house to keep it. We'll have to pay for storage.
• And of course, another monthly payment.

Here are a few pics of our new home away from home.

Goodbye 'ol girl

It's sold! We finally got someone to bite on this GREAT deal! So out with the old and in with the new. Now the only problem is finding a good price on the new! Here are some pics to remember her by....

It's been a while

Ok, ok! Gees! It's been a long time since I've written anything, so here goes...

So many things have happened lately. Let's get you caught up! Heather and I we're blessed to have a weekend away to Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks ago. My parents volunteered to take the kids for a couple of days so we could get away from what has been an emotional roller coaster and a very stressful month. We headed over on Thursday morning and stayed 'til Sunday. We stayed at Harveys in South Lake Tahoe, which sits at the base of the beautiful snow capped mountains and also looks over the lake. What a beautiful place. We had an upgraded room that sat above the tree line. Looking out from our window, you could see the ski resorts and the lake. I had never been to Tahoe before. I couldn't believe how clear the water is! We drove over to Reno on Saturday, hoping to find my Uncle David playing cards, his daily ritual, at the Peppermill. Wouldn't you know it, we missed him by just a couple of minutes! So after taking Reno for a few hundred bucks, we enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner and went back to the Oasis in the sky. And now for the best part...

Friday morning we received a call from the Lawyer's office, letting us know that the judge ruled in our favor in the adoption case!! YEA!! We were so excited. What a weight lifted off of our shoulders! I immediately was overcome with so much emotion that I had to go for a walk. I left Heather in the casino and called my mom first to tell her the good news. After speaking with her, I sat on a bench outside and thanked God for this blessing! My heart was pounding! I hadn't felt this way since Heather told me she was pregnant with Canon. I felt so happy, excited, thankful, and scared all at the same time. God has entrusted me with another child to call my own. Wow! What a blessing! THANK YOU !!

We go back to court ONE MORE TIME to finalize the adoption on June 19th. Shani will now be a Parreira!

On a lighter note, this past weekend has been crazy too! The flu/cold bug has traveled around my house. And let me just say, Heather started it! Ok, maybe she didn't start it, but she was sick first. Saturday was Jean's baby shower and Daniel's diaper party. Beer pong and being sick was not a good combination! I toughed it out and we had a great time! In a couple of weeks, "Baby boy" will be here! I'm so excited! (Besides, Daniel needs some back up with 3 girls in the house!)

Sunday was my nephew, Ashton's first birthday party. We expected to go to beautiful San Luis Obispo to sunny weather. It was indeed sunny....and windy! I don't mean a little windy. It was crazy wind that felt like it was blowing right off of an ice glacier. Allegra had spent so much time planning all of the little details of a perfect first birthday party and was greeted at the park by Jack Frost and Hurricane Harry. This may sound a little gay, but all of the little decorations were so cute! She had a lemonade stand set up with fresh lemons from her tree and little mason jars. She had planted flowers in used formula cans for the center pieces, and she handed out sunflowers in little pots (which she called Son flowers) that she had planted with little tags that said "Life grows so fast." They were adorable. I wish I had an ounce of her creativity. The cake that she put together looked like a caterpillar and she had made little cupcakes with dirt (crushed oreo cookies) topping. There was a jar of "dirt" with gummy worms in it (that I kept invading) that said "Ashton's bug jar." Everything was awesome! If you ever want to plan a party, you have to give her a call!
Well, that's enough for now. I hope somebody is reading all of this! If not, oh well!

I miss...

It's been a while since I've had time to sit and let my thoughts flow from my mind to my fingertips. It's amazing what a release I get by writing. Those that know me, know that I've never been much of a writer. I don't type too well so I've always had someone else type while I talk. But this is me.....just me.

Today I feel lonely. Not super sad lonely, just a little lonely. I miss my family and friends. I miss first of all, my wife. We've been juggling our work schedules so we have different days off. That way we don't have to rely on someone else to watch the kids all the time while we're at work. We only see each other for a few hours in the evenings on my days off. Whatever happened to the days of taking off for the day to the beach, or the mountains. I miss our alone time. Our kids are such a blessing and at the same time, such a chore. I don't, in any way, regret spending time with our kids. But I can't wait for the day that we can have another weekend away. Just the two of us.

I also miss my kids. I only work about 11 days a month, but it seems like I'm at work all the time. They are growing up so fast and I feel like I'm missing out! Canon will be a year old in just a couple of weeks. I can't believe it! He's walking around the house and I want to be there for every step. How can I be a role model if I'm not there? Shani is getting big too! Her interests are changing and she's maturing into a young girl. No more baby Shani. I hope they someday understand why Mommy and Daddy are at work so much.

And then there's the rest of my family. I see my parents at least a couple of times a week. They only live two two mailboxes away so this is an easy task. And what a blessing this is! I know so many people that have moved away from their parents and only see them once a year if their lucky. I can't imagine doing this to my parents, or my children doing this to me! The support and love that they provide is priceless! And they're actually pretty fun people to hang with! I only see my brothers a handful of times a year. As I get older, I have realized that they are pillars in my life that I couldn't live without! Each one of them have totally different personalities, and help me in different ways. This next weekend, I get the pleasure of hanging out with Bub, my youngest brother. It's been at least TEN years since we've had the opportunity to hang out, just the two of us. I'm really looking forward to it!

Then there's my friends. What has happened?? I haven't seen our friends, Daniel and Jean in a few months! As a matter of fact, we haven't had the chance to hang out with any of our friends in a long time! On top of that, my good friend and partner at work, Matt, has been out with an injury for the last few months too! He has been my go-to guy when I need advice, need to vent, or just want to chat. He has proven to be a great friend! It's awesome to have a co-worker, that's also a friend, and a Christian! Hopefully he has a speedy recovery and is able to come back to work soon. Don't tell him, but I miss him.

I also miss my alone time. A day on the golf course, or perhaps the slopes, or even a day at home. It always seems like I have something that needs to be taken care of right away. I REALLY need to finish the project on the house. I'm so close to finishing. I just need the time to do it. I get a chance here and there when Heather's home to work for a few hours, but it's not enough! Maybe in my next blog, I'll include pictures of the finished project.

I love and miss you all....

Its CHRISTmas time!!

Anyone that knows me well, knows that it bothers me to see "X-mas" in the place of Christmas. This is more than just a shortcut. Its another way our society has attempted to take Christ out of Christmas. It is true, however, that the Roman letter X, since the mid 16th century, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ. But it still bugs me! I'm one of the laziest people I know, and I will still take the time to write out Christ's name for a day that we celebrate his birth!
It also bothers me that all the people that don't believe in "my God", celebrate Christmas. What do they really think Christmas is all about? Where do they believe it originated?
Saying "Happy Holidays" or "winter vacation" is just plane denying Christ!! I hope I never forget to stop and ponder on the reason for the season. I also hope that my children will continue to celebrate Christ's birth on this day.
I will post some pictures after we exchange gifts. Of course, I'm working again on Christmas, so we will celebrate on Christmas eve. Until then...... Merry CHRISTmas!!

So thankful!

As the holiday season creeps up on us, I can't help but stop and thank God for all He has blessed me with. I was challenged the other day to list 100 things that I'm thankful for. I started to think of a few things in my head, and I stopped after a minute or two. I could definitely list 100, and I don't think it would take too long! The first thing I thought of was my family. I stopped there to ponder on this first thing on my list. Just this first "list item" transformed into so many more. God has truly blessed me over the years. Even though I far from deserve any of it, he has been very gracious in my life.
Someone also asked me if I was going to celebrate Thanksgiving or Thanksgetting. This simple play on words has been on my heart all week! I've been praying that God will smack me around a little and teach me to desire to be a giver rather than a getter....
Thank you Lord for all you have done in my life. I long to be a man after your own heart. Even though I sometimes stumble, you're always there to pick me up and send me in the right direction. Bless my family and friends this holiday season and show them that you are there for them. Not only when times are tough, but always! Amen!
I hope this blog finds all of you doing well and trusting in Jesus. Thank you all for being there for me and my family when we need a little pick-me-up.
We love you all!! Happy Thankgiving!