Blankenbehlers

2011-01-21T18:13:00.000-08:00

Bobby took Timo and Jared out sledding in the moonlight tonight and Jared is asleep so that gives me few minutes to write something here. Today was a cold day so the kids are bundled with snow pants and have several layers :)

Last few months have been quite crazy over here. My life has never has been a piece of cake, but again we have come over few more obstacles. So, I finally had Matthew tested for autism last fall, and the results came back that he has pdd.nos which I had never heard about myself, and the easiest way that I describe to people that he is mildly autistic. When we moved to Wisconsin Matthew had an IEP for school (individualized Education Plan) that he got from Michigan, but he had to be reevaluated when we moved here in May. Matthew fell in the normal range with all the tests they gave him (in the lower range in some areas but still within the average range) I knew that he did need extra help, but being June and school out like the following week I didn't feel like fighting, and I guess I thought..hmm maybe he is doing better and he won't need extra help when he starts kindergarten. Previously I had been hesitant of having him labeled and that's why I thought I could wait to have him tested for autism. Things were quite different in Wisconsin though, you needed to have a label in order to get any extra help. In our ward we had someone who had worked with some special therapy for autistic kids, so I contacted the organization and set up an appointment to have Matthew evaluated. Only thing was that the wait time was 3 months. I set the appointment, but thought I'd look for someone else so I can get things moving along faster. I found an other doctor that could see Matthew in 3 weeks. Interesting thought that every time I was going to go and see her some thing happened and I had to reschedule. The person was really nice and willing though to work with me. On my second attempt when I tried to see her, somehow I had the wrong address by one block and I asked around and no one was able to help me. For some reason I wasn't suppose to see that particular doctor, because things weren't working out. I finally realized that I should go ahead with the original one and I had a lot better feeling about that. Finally in September after Kindergarten had started Matthew got his diagnoses. The place I took him is called Wisconsin Early Autism Project and they are awesome. The best thing that I am aware of for kids on the autism spectrum is ABA therapy (in-home extensive therapy) I had a friend from Colorado that also had a son with autism and she had a very good experience with the therapy. As I was contemplating if this was good for Matthew since he was just "mildly autistic" after talking to her and she said that when her in-laws had seen her son after about 4 months of therapy they couldn't believe that the difference between her son was like a night and day. I decided that it would be a good idea, but it would mean about 20-25 hours of one on one therapy at our home. The whole process of getting things started took a while and finally beginning this January it started. I am finally getting used to having people here all the time. The good news is that it's going very well and that Matthew loves it. Matthew was having some hard time in kindergarten this fall, and they did some additional testings and he qualified for special stuff under autism and speech and language delay (this was a long and eventful experience, but it turned out ok). Matthew is very smart, and academically is where he is suppose to be and beyond but socially he is very delayed. I believe that this therapy is going to be life changing for him. In our school district they only have full day kindergarten, but I was able to have it just a half day for him since he was having such a hard time there, and then it works good that he has the therapy in the afternoon. He gets to do all kind of fun stuff and when he works for goals he gets lots of rewards.

I have definitely learned a lot in the last few months and keep learning. In Michigan seemed like there was nearly not that much support for autistic children, but here there is a lot more opportunities. The therapy is super expensive..like $40 000 /year or something, and there is a law in WI that therapy for autism must be covered by insurance. We don't have the best insurance (I didn't want to pay too much every month) and we first have to meet our family deductible which is $5000, but that is a lot better that 40 000, plus if anything else happens this year it will be covered 100 % after the deductible. There is medical waiver program for autism, but the waiting list is a year long, so hopefully we get it for next year. I can't really think of anything better that I can spent that 5000 dollars for.

OK, the boys are back so I better wrap this up. I will be excited to see the progress Matthew will be making. I am also glad that Matthew has a great teacher in school that works patiently with Matthew. Matthew is special little boy, and he will do great things.

2010-12-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

I hardly ever post here, but today I have something to post. My neighbor wanted to take some pictures of our family and kids to build her portfolio. She is an amatour photographer, but when she showed her work I was very impressed, she clearly is very talented. She took some photos of us month or two ago outdoors and just two days ago she took some more pictures indoors (but I don't have them yet, they are just of Jared and Timo). Our kids were pretty impossible in the family shots, and they were looking at all over the place. We had like only a one photo that the boys were smiling and at least looking into same direction. I was actually pretty discouraged after the photos shoot, because I thought that none of the pictures had turned out, but when she came and showed me the photos I was pleasently surprised :)

2010-07-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

FotoSafari

On Saturday night we took Matthew, Timo and Jared for a little photo safari. We got Matthew and Timo some little tikes digital cameras for Christmas and the yonly end up working like a month or two because of our tile floor in our last house and they got dropped just a little few many times. The cameras had a year warranty so finally few weeks ago I got around contacting little tikes and they sent us new cameras for the boys! :) The cameras were 19.99 each originally, and the kids really had great time talking pictures.

Timo's Photos

Matthew's Photos

Lot of the photos were just a blur because you have to keep the camera still for a while for the picture to turn out. The kids had a lot of fun though, and we should do it again one day.

2010-07-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

After looking for some important binders and papers for 2 + weeks I finally found all our important financial papers and social security cards and passports. I seriously thought that they had gone to garbage in our crazy moving adventure. I looked everywhere several times, but yes I did find them. They were on a top shelf of one of the closests in a box. being short I ten to miss stuff out of my reach ;) I am so relieved that stuff was found, mainly for the passports. Now I don't need to replace our passports for a Finland trip ;)

An other nice thing was that we got a garage. I have been able to get some of our stuff there, and it's starting to feel more organized and less crowded. I have been looking for houses online a little bit, but at this point I don't think buying a house is such a smart idea until we now we are staying here for good and save some money for a down payment. I like to look at houses online a bit though. Of course the prices are at least double here compared to Michigan and the taxes are high too on properties, but it's fun to see what's available.

The boys were very good today when I took them to the library. I hadn't gone for two weeks because I was sick and then other time I just didn't have the energy. The boys enjoyed the story time. It's nice to have a second car though so I can get places when I need to. Tomorrow Matthew snf Timo have their dance class.

Lately I have started to use coupons. With more stores around here, it's more exciting to use coupons (and actually receiving them in the mail). I hope my efforts will help us save some money. My thoughts are that planning can help us save some money (last minute plans, restaurant trips, etc). Cost of living is higher here compared to Michigan and Bobby is not really getting paid more here (at least not yet). Those lovely student loans take so much of our income, and I look forward for that day when they will be gone..like 8 years I think..2018..that seems like forever, but that will be a happy day. I do feel grateful that we have a job and money to pay the bills, insurance, food, pretty much what we really need, but wish this...and that... patience...!!!

2010-07-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Life is moving along here in Wisconsin. I still get frustrated of trying to organize our apartment and try to fit everything in here, and find stuff that have been lost due to our move (which is so frustrating..can't find our passports..so they better show up somewhere before our Finland trip next summer). However, I have made some progress, and got some bookshelves organized today, and some kitchen cupboards. If there is ever a show that gives an organization makeover I would be a perfect canditate for it. With all the moving we have done, I always find it hard to find a right place for everything.

So, the other day Bobby came home with a candy thermometer, and he made some carmer popcorn balls. We are developing a new hobby of making candy together, which is fun. Last night we made some yummy carmels together, and gave some to our neigbors for Family Home Evening tonight.

An other random thing is that I found an international store just few miles from our house that has Finnish rye crackers that I've missed and salt licorice (salmiakki) that I have missed too. Now I can get them when ever I want and not get too deprived :)

A week ago we found out that Timo is allergic to mosquitos. A week ago at church he had a huge pulge on his forehead and it looked like he had hit his head pretty hard about 1.5 inch wide bump. Later we found that it was a mosquito bite, and he got an other huge one on his cheek. We have quite a bit of mosquites where we live (not like the woods, but we have a large grassy area behind our house with trees and a river). Now I need to make sure Timo has mosquite repellent on when we go to the park etc.

2010-06-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know WE HAVE MOVED once again. What about the house..I know..amazingly we were able to sell it. Our new destination is Hales Corners, WI which is a little over hour from Chicago and 20 min from Milwaukee, WI. Things are still in transition...we still have unpacking and organizing to do. We are renting again, so trying to fit in an apartment is an adjustment again after renting a house for a year and then owing a house for a while. We know that we are here for a purpose and it was time to leave Michigan behind. I had good memories from Michigan. Our branch there was wonderful, and I was sad to leave. However, it was time for us to move on, so I try to survive with all the unpacking, and trying not to get lost in the new area. So many things are involved when moving...cleaning, packing,changing driver's licences, insurance for car and family, trying to find grocery stores (there are plenty of options here, luckily)....etc. I am gradually adjusting. Matthew and Timo started a gymnastics/dance class and the library has some good programs too. It's nice to be in a more populated area and have more opportunities for the kids to be involved in different activities. Last week Bobby and I gave talks at Church and I also taught a lesson in Church. Our new calling is primary workers and we team teach the 11 year olds in Sunday school. We were warned that it was a very challenging class, but so far it has been going pretty well. We also bought a second car on Saturday, which will be really nice to have. I won't be walking as much, which is probably going to hurt me in the long run. We also went and picked strawberries on Saturday. I miss the strawberries from Oregon, they were so sweet, and inexpensive. I was a bit disappointed on the ones we picked on Saturday. They tasted watery, and a lot were going bad, and they were very over priced. Maybe there are some good strawberries somewhere around here, I just need to find them! Also it has been raining a ton, so maybe that has an affect on things.

Some other exciting things are that we were close to a tornado last Monday. The sky was going crazy..non stop lighting for at least an hour and strong winds and rain. Just 3 miles from us there were winds of 100 miles/hour and the post office was hit by a tornado and a dozen of mail trucks were lifted up and upside down. While this was all happening Bobby and I were in our balcony admiring the sky, like wow that is awesome. We kept hearing sirens going, but didn't really know what they were for (tornado sirens ...we heard 2 days later). So we had know clue that there were tornadoes out there. Next time we won't make the same mistake..you are suppose to go to a basement when those sirens are going and we were in the 3rd floor balcony!

So that is all in nutshell...oh yeah, Bobby has a new job with Herslof Optical and it's going well. He is seeing plenty of patients and likes working with the new company. The office he worked at in Michigan was really suffering and he even had to make phone calls to find more patients...that will be his highest paying telemarketing job ever ;)

2010-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much here..busy..busy...

Here are few photos from 2 weeks ago. The kids love swimming and ice cream!

2010-03-10T20:17:00.001-08:00

Fixed it!

2010-03-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the Christmas music. I'll have to have Bobby to fix that when he has a chance.

2010-03-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

Timo loves missionaries. This is him giving a lesson on FHE about being a missionary

On a random note I saw this cool ice formation outside few weeks ago, so I had to get a photo.
Timo loves wearing my shoes ;)
Our new boy band....after few minutes I sent them with the pans in their bedroom.

Yes, there is a cat inside the washing mashine :)

Baby Vampire :)

Jared found my Finnish candy collection...I don't blame him, it's good stuff :)

He knows he is in trouble, you can tell it from his face :)

Jared is so helpful in the kitchen...

2010-03-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

My parents got to visit us in January and here are some pictures from their visit....

2010-01-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a long tine since I posted anything on this blog. Life just gets so busy, that I hardly find time to sit down and write something longer than 10 min. Usually I just post a sentence in facebook so something. Life is so busy with our 3 boys and trying to keep the house together takes time. In the past year I have tried to learn how to be more efficient and more organized, also I trying to teach the children to be organized. We feel more settled down after buying our first home. We weren't sure how long we would stay in Michigan, but now with Bobby being called the elder's quorum president he feels that we are going to stay in Michigan for few years. I am glad we don't have to move again any time soon. Things are going pretty well and I feel that our family is going forward and we feel closer as a family. Jared is such a great addition to our family. He is such a bright little boy. He is walking already and he is only 10 months old. He can say 3 words, and he really tries to get his mind across, by using different tones of voice which is very cute, but also hard when he is at Church and wants out of sacrament meeting. OK, I gotto go again, hopefully I can find time to work on this blog more this year.

2009-10-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here are few random pictures.... I'll put more on later when I have time.

Timo was happy to wake for pancake breakfast on his 3rd birthday and loved his guitarr birthday cake.

I love blueberries, do I need to say more...

Jared as cute as he can be.

2009-09-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

I have been busy with life so I haven't been able to write on the blog very much. However, this morning I find myself on front of computer chceking messages on Facebook with an ice cream container, so looks like I could do something... ;)

Matthew and Timo are in Head Start (preschool) 4 days a week in the the morning, so I have a little chance to get some things done, and take a little break at times. Life with 3 young boys is so hectic. I love our 3 adorable, smart and energetic boys a ton, but activities at the school and friends is perfect change of scenary for them and I love them even more when they get home from school (after getting a chance to have a peaceful morning with just Jared).

Our kids are doing great. Timo loved his birthday and is very happy to be 3. Timo is a very smart and charming boy. He says some really funny and cute things. Yesterday I was getting a bit stressed out when I was trying to get the driving instructions from mapquest how to get to the stake center. I needed to be there between 4 and 5pm and it takes and hour and half to get there. I was worried that I couldn't make it (or I would get lost...I always do). Timo said: You can do it mommy and he said it 3-4 times. That made me feel happy, and I was able to make the trip bymyself and didn't get lost on the way there...but did get lost on the way back :). That's ok, since my biggest worry was to be there on time and I made it. I always forget the funny things Timo says but remembered one from yesterday... Just before going to the doctor Timo said: Jared is going to the doctor and getting a haircut. I thought that is pretty funny, especially because Jared has only a little hair. One time Matthew told the same doctor that he likes to go to the dentist because he gets candy and cookies there (which was not true). The doctor found it pretty funny too :)

Jared woke up....gotta run...
Ok, Jared is doing great. In just last few weeks Jared has learned to crawl, sit and pull himself up and is already cruising. He just turned 7 months. Seemed like it all happened all at once. One time he was just like a noodle happy in one spot and the next minute he is all over the place. I think he is quite a surpriser. He keeps pretty low profile, and then breaks all the expectations. Jared used to be chubby baby, but now he is this tiny thing always on the move. Changing a diaper can be a challenge because if you are not fast enough he crawls on the other side of the room.

Matthew had a chance to sing "I am a child of God" in Sacrament meeting. He did great and many were touched by his singing. We had a primary sacrament meeting, and Matthew did great on his part. Our family joined Matthew singing I am a child of God.
Matthew is very happy to be back in preschool. I went to his class on Friday and his teacher said that he is doing great. She said that thst Matthew surprised everyone when he was showing how far he could count and he went all the way to 48 without any mistakes :) Matthew is a very bright boy.

I am enjoying our new home. I still have some unpacking to do, but I''ll get done eventually... I have a lot of cleaning to do..there is always more cleaning for moms.... I am certainly not going to run out of things to do.

Sorry, I still don't have the card reader for the camera, so pictures must wait.

Have a great week everyone!

2009-09-20T19:06:00.001-07:00

This was a pretty exciting week for us. Here in Tawas City things are starting to cool off a lot and everyone is getting back into the routine of things as school starts up again.

Timo just had his birthday last week on September 14. We celebrated by waking him up to a pancake breakfast in bed with candles. He had to eat it pretty quick though because the bus was about to pick him up! After I got home from work, Petronella had made dinner and a cake for Timo and we gave him his presents. First we gave him and Matthew a Nerf sword so that they could play with them together. Then Timo got his favorite present, a small six string guitar. Being three years old he hasn't learned figer postitions or anything like that on the guitar, but at least he can play along with the wiggles when they pull out their guitars!

Saturday we had a birthday party for Timo that we invited some friends over. I set up a croquet course at Petronella's request for everyone to enjoy. It was a little rough for the kids at first, but I think that they enjoyed it. I learned a little about how to play croquet, but I'm sure there are a lot of rules that I don't know. Kinda seems like golf to me.

2009-06-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

Few days ago I took Matthew and Timo outside for an attempt to take some photos of them. I haven't had professional pictures taken of the kids for a long time..actually I am embarrest to say that we have only have a picture of Matthew when he was 3 months and his school picture when he was 3. So I was very motivated to see if I could try to get a good picture of Timo myself. I was pleasently surprised that the pictures turned out so good. I still have to do some editing in photoshop (if I ever have ANY TIME...)

2009-06-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

My Sisters Visit
Reina and Kirsti came to visit us a week a go for 3 days and it was great to have them over. It was fun to be together again after the long time. We had a fun time playing scattegories with motified rules that you could write stuff in Finnish or English. We went to see few local attractions. The weather was rainy most of the time so we couldn't do all we wanted, but we did see the Iorgo Springs, The Lumberman's monument and drove by the beaches. I also showed one of the houses to them that I put an offer on, but they didn't accept the offer...oh well... I was very grateful that my sisters came to see their youngest sister all the way in Michigan. Reina came from Las Vegas and Kirsti from Finland. We also were able to bless the baby last Sunday which was a special experience. Here are some pictures from their visit.

2009-04-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Easter 2009

Here is few pictures from Easter. The funny thing was that I had the date wrong for Easter, so we end up having it twice this year :) First at the conference weekend and then the week after that. I never did double check... oh well, the kids loved it.

2009-04-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Matthew's Birthday party

Here is pictures of Matthew's birthday party that we had few weeks ago. Jay, Matthew's friend from school came and also Robby that is from his Sunbeam class. Matthew turned 4.

2009-04-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Boys reading...I thought this one was a cute picture that Bobby took.

2009-04-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

2009-04-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a little update. Our family is doing well. Jared is growing fast and his personality is coming out a bit more. He loves attention and gives lots of smiles when he gets it.

Bobby has been playing in a Tawas Community Band for 2 months now and last night Bobby had their first performance, It's theme was American composers. I was very surprised how well they sounded. Since we live in a small town I though that would affect the quality, but the band is full of people that are very talented and have played for years, or teach music, etc. There is several members that have retired from down south and moved here. Our town is a touristy town, and the population doubles in the summer time. Bobby will be playing with the band every Monday night at near by park by the beach. Bobby is enjoying the band which is great. Sometimes he feels that being here in Michigan there is nothing to do, especially in the winter time when it's all cold, so it's nice he found a hobby. Yesterday when I was at the concert I had a flash back when I first met Bobby. The very first date we went to was a faculty Jazz Brass concert at Ricks College. When we went on the date I thought it was a bit strange thing to do, since I wasn't into that stuff, but anything can grow into you. I was happy to see Bobby playing trumpet again, since he hasn't played it for 8 years. The kids love it too when he practices, and Bobby plays fun songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" etc..

Spring is finally in the air. The grass is starting to turn green, and it's really nice to have the sun out after the long cold winter. We have been looking to buy a house for few months now. We are thinking we'll stay here long enough to make it worth it to buy a house. Of course you can never predict the future so I hope that things will just work out. The house prices are low here and the lot sizes are good about 0.5 acres or more. However, there is a lot of older homes on the market and not that many new ones, also most homes are too small. We found that had a nice open floor plan with 4 bedrooms and a basement that could be turned into more space with some work. However, the house needed some work...new carpets, paint. We gave a ridiculously low offer and we got counter offer, and gave an other counter offer, but I don't think that we are going to find happy medium. This house is going to be foreclosure soon, so maybe if things work out we can have an other try on it when it will be auctioned off. So we are still looking for the "perfect home". We hope to make a really good deal since it is a buyers market and our student loans are still huge, and I want to get a very good deal also that when we move out of the area, we wont make a loss on the house. We'll see what happens in the future.

Let see, what else has happened... Matthew had his birthday and turned 4 years old. Matthew is doing great. He loves going to preschool and it has helped him a lot this year. He is speaking so much better. This is area that I was worried about him, but he has been catching up in leaps. It's fun to hear him say funny things and his reasoning, he also does better playing with other kids, and talks about his friends in school. Timo is still as social at can be. We went to a children's museum and Matthew was playing with all the displays, but Timo run where some girls were and tried to amuse them and they played right along. Timo is such a charmer and we are up for a trouble in future ;) Timo is talking pretty good. I think he is about where he should be for his age. Recently he has been a bit jealous about the baby. He says put the baby in the swing, and then he wants me to hold him. The boys are doing a lot better with the baby though what I was expecting. Jared is loving all the kisses and smiles he gets :). OK, Jared is up gotta go...

2009-04-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

Matthew is learning to spell!

Yesterday I was on the phone with my mom and afterwards I went to living room and saw Matthew's name spelled out on the floor, wow, he has never done this before, and this morning he did it again. He doesn't quite get it right yet, but he has been very interested lately on what letter different words start with.

The General conference will be today and I am excited about it, and hope to be able to listen to many talks :)

2009-03-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty busy, so I haven't had time to work on the blog. Bobby, I, Timo, and Matthew were sick for a while too, so that didn't help much. I am still getting over the cold, but there is hope in the horizon. Jared is a very early smiler, he smiled first time when he was two weeks old. Also, Jared was 7 pounds 9 oz and he was 20.5 inches long. He was our smallest baby. When I have more time I try to catch up with the blog...

2009-02-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

Our Newest Addition

Jared Elijah Blankenbehler

2009-01-11T14:33:00.001-08:00

Pictures from Branch Christmas Party...a month late...

We are lucky to have Santa in our own branch ;) Brother and Sister Kramer are a very sweet older couple. Yes, Brother Kramer's beard and hair is real. He used to be Santa for many Christmases, and evan was in People's magazine few years back. Our branch party was a month ago and they had all the branch members take pictures with him, which was great. I was meaning to use these photos for Christmas cards this year, but end up being too busy, so it never got done... Thanks for all the cards that were send to us though.

2009-01-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas &

Happy New Year 2009

One of the highlights of Christmas was to see my mom play tennis on wii.

I gave the wii for Bobby for Christmas, but it was a big hit for my mom too. she got really into it being a national ping pong champion and all.

We had a wonderful Holiday season when my parents were visiting from Finland. We enjoyed their stay here a lot and miss them now when they are gone. After visiting us they went for a week to warmer Las Vegas to visit my sister Reina and her family. We have our fair share of snow, wind and ice this Christmas, but that's ok. We were very happy that my mom and dad made the long trip to visit us. From Detroit airport it took them extra 5 hours with a shuttle to get here because it was snowing and the roads were bad, but luckily they were safe. Matthew and Timo loved seeing mummo and pappa. They also loved Christmas and opening presents. We managed to do a little nativity scene Matthew being a wise man and Timo a shephard. My dad took some pictures of all of us, and maybe I'll get them uploaded one day when I get a hold to them. Here is a lot of pictures...

I remember when my dad used to play this with me :)

Reading with mummo.

Opening first presents.

Enjoying the new slide.

Timo played his part very well for few seconds.

Bed time stories with Daddy and Timo's favorite bear.

Matthew and Timo enjoyed making cookies.

2008-12-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Snow is here...

Here I am with my pregnant belly for those who are eager to see it :)

Timo wants to be the star and loves to be the center of attention.

It's been a while since I wrote last. life gets crazy and busy, or at times I feel like there is nothing exciting to write about. I am excited about Christmas getting closer, especially since my parents are flying in from Finland. They are coming the 23rd of December and visiting for a week. It will be very wonderful to have them visit us. It was fun to get a Christmas tree, this time we got a fake one, but it was more convenient. The kids enjoyed decorating it. Matthew made some ornaments at school, that I got today.

Matthew and Timo are doing great. Today Matthew had his Christmas party for preschool. I took Matthew and Timo and they both had great time. Our boys love to sing Jingle Bells and that has been the bedtime favorite song for the last year :) so now they have it down pretty good. On Wednesday we went to Oscoda (the same town we go to Church) to a community Christmas party. One of the young women, Asley in our ward was in the Christmas play with her brother and we thought it would be nice to see it. They also had some other music performances, light show etc. Our boys loved the light show, and electric guitar solo (the guy who played was very talented). Timo was totally into it and was pretending that he was playing too. I wouldn't be surprised if he will play guitar in the future. We got finally home at 10pm and the kids were so hyped up by the program that they didn't fall asleep until 12am! They still woke up early the next day, but on Thursday night they crashed at 7pm which was nice :).

Bobby's job is going well. The office is getting busier. The business has put out a competition between the different offices giving a bonus for the highest selling office and last week Bobby's office was the winner so that was pretty exciting. This week we got a ton of snow so many people had canceled their appointments, so this week their office didn't do as well, but today was a very good day. I have been busy managing all the billing and paying off student loans. I hope to have the loans paid off as soon as possible, since the economy is not great. Even if we are making more money, we don't have much extra since a huge portion goes to paying off student loans. Also we are trying to build savings, and hopefully buy a house in the end of summer. With the economy being what it is we hope to build up food storage and prepare for future.

I am doing pretty well. I am getting huge with my pregnant belly. I still have two months to go, but I already gained 30 pounds! Let's just hope I can get rid of after I have the baby. My days are busy by taking care of my family. When I have some time for myself I take a 30 min nap, since I find myself tired being pregnant and all. I have slowed down my web business. I feel very out of touch with design stuff and hope to work on it more in the future. I feel like I have now time to emerge in design, and I feel too tired to make a serious effort in it. I hope sometime in the future I'll have the desire, motivation and chance to strengthen my talents that are pretty rusty now. Right now the most important thing for me is taking care of my children and supporting my husband, and taking care of myself. Sometime down the road I'd love to go back to school and take some classes on art and design.

We got a ton of snow this week. School was actually canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday. We got about a foot and a half of snow. It is so beautiful. It looks like a Christmas card. People I was very grateful that Bobby shoveled the drive way :) I would do more if I wasn't pregnant. I took some pictures of the snow.

I also have some pictures from Halloween... wow it's been a long time since I posted last...

2008-10-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

I saw this list on Camille's blog and thought I'd try it out too- you're supposed to mark the things on this list that you've done- I marked the things I've done in red. Bobby marked the ones he did with an *.
1. Started your own blog *
2. Slept under the stars *
3. Played in a band *
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower *
6. Given more than you can afford to charity *
7. Been to Disneyland *
8. Climbed a mountain *
9. Held a praying mantis *
10. Sang a solo *- when I was little, no one would dream of asking me now
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch *
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning *
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables *
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight *
22. Hitch hiked *
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill *
24. Built a snow fort *
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse *
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset *
31. Hit a home run *
32. Been on a cruise *
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors *
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language *
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing *
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke *
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt *
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight *
46. Been transported in an ambulance *
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud *
54. Gone to a drive-in theater *
55. Been in a movie-no, but have been on a TV commercial *
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia *
60. Served at a soup kitchen *
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason *
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma *
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check *
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy *
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial *
71. Eaten Caviar *
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London--no, but seen it in Sweden
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book *
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper *
85. Read the entire Bible *
86. Visited the White House *
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox *
89. Saved someone’s life- technically I work really hard to protect my kids and keep them safe
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous *
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one *
94. Had a baby *
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake *
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone *
99. Been stung by a bee *

There are a lot of things I still need to do in life....

2008-10-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

I got tagged...7 interesting/weird things about me...some are more exciting that others...

1. I am youngest in my family, but have the same birthday as my oldesr sister who is 9 years older than me. We both majored in graphic design at BYU, both worked at Creative Marketing at BYU, we both had our first child (boy) when 26 years and second boy 18 months later. Also she has 3 boys and her youngest is a girl and my next baby that is due in February will be a boy too!

2. I used to beat guys in armrestling in elementry school... yeah that's pretty weird...

3. I lost my airplane ticket in London when I had a layover there, but I was still able to fly to US without a ticket...I have lost stuff few times, but I think that was one of the worst cases.

4. I signed up for New Testament class at Ricks and found out in the beginning of the first class that it was Ancient Greek class and we were there to learn the language. I decited to keep the class, I would have never signed up for the class without the accident.

5. I have very fast deliveries. The last one I got to the hospital at 9am and Timo was born 9:45am.

6. A month a go we were staying at our branch presiden't house for a week before our house was ready to move in and while we were there were these two men that came to move a fridge. I was with Timo and Matthew and the mover guys thought that I was a babysitter and that I was 12 or 13 years old. I take that as compliment since I am turning 30 in 6 months. People usually think that I look younger, but I think that was a strech. Bobby should give the movers some new glasses ;)

7. I had 'boy hair" when I was young, and short hair all the way until I was 15 and ever since it has been long.

2008-10-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a nice ward activity at a fellow members house. We had a combined chili pot luck with a hay bale ride. The pot luck was great. We had several great chili's to try, some casseroles, and Petronella decided to bring a dinner in a pumpkin, a recipe that we learned while we were in Oregon. The kids especially loved the desserts, especially the doughnuts. It was a great activity that we could spend outdoors before winter came.

After dinner we all piled in for a hay bale ride in the trailer. For the first 20 minutes it was pretty calm and relaxing, in spite of the cold temperatures.

At one point the deacons started getting bored and led a chant that all the kids joined in to go faster. Well, we did go faster, and earned a little adventure. I realized this may be exciting when we hit the road labeled "Seasonal road." A short time later we realized that the trees weren't very groomed here. The driver did his best, but even still, we started getting pummeled by low branches and trees in the sides of the road. The right side of the wagon got hit first, then the left side got it pretty good, then some low lying branches came right up the center.

(Notice the arms upstretched to block the low branches.) So for about 30 minutes people were ducking and dodging branches from all directions in the back of this hay ride. I gotta tell you it certainly wasn't what I expected, but it made for an adventurous ride! We can all hardly wait till next year.
P.S. None of these pictures were photoshoped!

2008-10-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Fall is here

Finally I feel like things are starting to settle down. I have been quite stressed out with all the changes in the past year. I feel like our boys are doing a lot better after we moved here. They are playing more together. They are getting into a good routine. Having Matthew in preschool for few hours 4 times a week really helps us getting into a routine. I have been able to get some things done while Matthew is in preschool and I feel like my life is not constant chaos all the time. I also find myself being more patient with our kids and playing more with them. Timo enjoys the one on one time he gets when Matthew is in school. I'm enjoying the beautiful fall colors. However, we have a ton of leaves on our yard and I need to do some racking....but that can wait :) My neighbor fixed our rack..do you think that was a hint?:) I actually racked last Saturday, but then the next day a bunch of more leaves fell down....

Last night we had a young women's activity at our house. I am loving my new calling. Bobby was very kind and took the kids shopping with him. We made lemon squares and they were delicious. Well there is not anything too exciting going on, so this is all for now...

2008-10-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Timo!!!

We made Timo our traditional pancake birthday breakfast. He loved it.

I attempted to make a train cake for him, and even if it didn't look all that perfect Timo loved it. He loved blowing the number 2 candel on the cake.

Timo had his birthday almost a month a go, but I missed posting photos of his birthday. Timo is such a sweet boy. He was very excited about his birthday and kept singing happy birthday song all day, and just had a great big smile on his face. He got a tricycle and a fireman costume for his birthday. He loved blowing the candles on the cake. He has grown up to be such a charm and makes everyone happy around him. He loves to help out and today when Bobby was moving furniture around Timo was helping to move the couch ;) He loves his new big bed he got too recently and it makes him feel like a big boy.

2008-10-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

Timo had great time at the park

Matthew hanging on the top of the slide.

Matthew and Timo love the lake and have been swimming in it few times already, but the water is getting too cold!

It has been forever since I wrote on the blog last. Things have been busy, The big news is that I am pregnant and it's going to be a BOY! I had my ultra sound on Thursday. With all the crazy moving we have been doing I wasn't able to go to the doctor until two weeks ago. I'll be due Feb 11. It certainly will be interesting to see how we can handle 3 wild boys... Matthew is in preschool 4 days a week for 2.5 hours and that gives me a nice break. Timo and Matthew are playing better together and are listening to me more and that helps a lot. I'm sure it will be chaos for a while..or forever, but we'll adjust :) Bobby took the kids to the park today and he took some pictures. It looks like they had lots of fun. We have this cool park a mile from our house and the kids love it.

2008-08-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today Bobby and I had talks in church, and Bobby also played the piano. We stayed in the Branch President's old house this past week (they are renting in out in the end of next week). Of course our branch president had a good opportunity to asks us to speak :) This was our second Sunday, so he will make sure that we won't get too relaxed. We are happy to be in our branch. Everyone is super friendly. We also found out that santa attends our ward ;) We have an old man with long white beard and after sacrament meeting he gave cards to Matthew and Timo with his picture on the front in a santa outfit, and it said Merry Christmas: From: Santa. That was pretty funny. He is a very nice man and said that would visit Bobby and I next week.

Yesterday we took the kids to the beach in lake Huron. The lake is great. The water is clean, and it looks beautiful. The kids were excited to jump in. It got deep very slow, so Matthew and Timo went ways into the water. Matthew was in water neck deep. We better teach him to swim soon. The kids got to play in a park too. It was so beautiful, when I get my camera unpacked I'll take some pictures.

So tomorrow our plan is to move to the house we are renting. Hopefully I have the energy... I am way behind with my web design stuff so I hope I get an early start tomorrow on that.

2008-08-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Michigan!

This will be just a quick blog. We haven't had Internet for ages, because of moving..etc.. I just wanted to give a quick update. Bobby got a job in East Tawas, MI. It's a small town of 2000 people. He interviewed with a doctor that had bought 6 new offices. We got an offer in the East Tawas office which is full scope growing practice. Bobby will have more details about it.. Anyway they have him working there 3 days a week and he will work 1-2 days in West Branch, MI that is 35 min away. I was so happy that Bobby got a job where he doesn't have to work on Sundays. Several of the places he interviewed said that he had to work on Sundays, or at least they would like to have him work on Sundays. Now he has a great schedule from 9am-6pm Monday through Friday! The town we moved in is small, and we have to travel 25 min to get to Church, but the branch is wonderful and everyone is so happy that we moved there. They luckily have a nursery and primary. We get about 70 people at Church on Sunday, so it's not too small. We had 4 families call us before we even moved in to see if we needed help with housing and etc. I hope we can return the favor in the future and serve well in the branch. Housing is very cheap in the area, and we would like to buy a house, but want to make sure that Bobby's job will be solid, so right now we will be renting a house (it's 4 bedroom house and only $675/month) It's an older home, but looks nice inside. These pictures are actually from the renter, but when I have a chance, I'll try to get some pictures. This week we are actually staying at our Branch President's old home, and won't move to our house until 2nd of September. Bobby is starting work tomorrow. I'll try to post more updates this week since we have the internet available here.

2008-08-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Timo and Matthew on Treasure Island with a scenery of San Francisco in the background

Matthew doing some serious shoveling

Bobby was very happy to be on the Beach

Matthew admiring the Ocean and Jimmy working on a Cassle in the Backround

Timo with his truck

Trip to Montera Beach, Treasure Island and Golden Gate Park

Bobby wanted to visit the Beach before we make our long move to Michigan, so we packed our car with beach toys, towels and kids and headed to the California Coast. Bobby's bothers Ben and Christian and niece Ellie also came with us. We traveled two and half hours and got to a nice beach called Montera Beach.

We spend maybe 5 hours there and you can tell. I didn't put sun screen on my face and so It's very red today, even blistering.... Bobby and the kids had also reddish faces today. It was a bit embarrassing at Church since it was our last Sunday in this ward with our red faces ;)

After the Beach we spend some time in Golden Gate Park. We walked around the park and spent some time in an art museum.

Little Dog with a big stick on the Beach

2008-07-26T14:45:00.001-07:00

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!

2008-07-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

Whitewater Rafting Trip

We had a very exciting day yesterday. Grandpa and Grandpa stayed with Matthew and Timo while we headed to Auburn to pick up some raft, equipment and kayak for river rafting. I was a bit hesitant of going since I don't like roller coasters, etc and get car sick easy, but Bobby had convinced me to go and I wanted to make him happy. Bobby was in charge of the trip, and he had spend quite long to prepare for the trip to set up the rentals, getting food. I helped make the sandwiches and prepare the food the night before. We had a group of 11 people going. All Bobby's siblings were there...Gregory, Christian, Benjamin, Jimmy, Billy and Cynthia. Also Erika (Gregory's wife), Jen (Cynthia's friend), Pete (Billy's friend) and Bobby and me :)

We got an early start. We woke up at 6:30 am, had pancake breakfast and headed to the raft rental to pick up the equipment. Before everything was all set up and we were ready to start paddling it was past 9am. It was the South Fork of American River. We had a 20.5 mile trip a head of us with lots of rapids including class IV- rapids. As I told before I was pretty terrified and kept saying I hope I'll stay alive. However, it didn't take too long until I realized that I loved river rafting! I loved seeing the beautiful nature and river was amazing. We had 2 small self bailer rafts so often the raft got totally filled with water. Since the boats were so small we could feel the rapids really well. We had to do a a lot of baling to keep the water out. M

ost of us got to swim too... On one of the rapids called Meat Grinder all the people except for one fell off from Benjamin's boat. Cynthia and her friend got to swim for ways in the rapids since it was a very long area. They got pretty scraped up. I had my swim in one of the last rapids when our raft hit a huge rock and all the people fell out except for one. I got hold of the raft pretty quick and I was holding the paddle with my legs trying not to loose it. I through the paddle in the boat and Pete helped me back in the boat. Some of the highlights were going down the Trouble Maker backwards on our raft, having the rafts filled with water all the time in big rapids, and I kept sitting on the bottom of the raft so I wouldn't fall out. It was so much fun. We also learned something about teamwork and following the leader. 20 miles was a long trip! When we had returned all the equipment and got back it was 9:30pm.

Great thanks to Bobby getting the trip so well together...WE ALL HAD GOOD TIME!

2008-06-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

IN ALL LIVING HAVE MUCH

FUN AND LAUGHTER
LIFE IS TO BE ENJOYED, NOT JUST ENDURED (GORDON B. HINCKLEY)

I saw this quote today and I wanted to put it up as a motto for these sometimes hard and easy times. Last year was certainly a challenge for me, and things seemed hopeless at times, and I felt pretty depressed often. However, we were able to move forward and I am so proud of Bobby for graduating from optometry school. Things will work out one by one, but not on my time table but on Lord's...I need to be patient and stop worrying so much! We have a lot of changes ahead, but I am facing them with renewed strength. I keep in mind that the best is still to come and not give up. Things have worked out in the past and will also in the future. I am so lucky to have Bobby as my husband. He is wonderful with our boys. Timo and Matthew absolutely love when he sings to them. They love their daddy so much!!!

2008-06-27T00:23:00.000-07:00

Timo has always loved blackberries, but he loved Finnish blueberry soup even more. Looks like someone needs a bath!!!

2008-06-27T00:21:00.000-07:00

2008-06-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

TRIP TO LAS VEGAS

We made a trip to Las Vegas to see Petronella's sister Reina and her family. Petronella's brother Esko had come to visit USA the very first time and we got to spent some great time together.

Reina's family had moved to a new beautiful house with a great yard with lots of trees and a swimming pool. The pool was great because the weather was so hot. Matthew loved swimming with his daddy. Timo didn't like the water as much, but we still made him wear the life jacket all the time while he was outside if the swimming pool was uncovered. Timo enjoyed playing soccer.

2008-06-26T23:46:00.000-07:00

Matthew celebrated his 3rd birthday in 6th of March in Minnesota. He loved his pancake breakfast. After Bobby got home we all went to burger king and Matthew and Timo loved the big slide. Matthew got to blow out candles again in the evening on his crocodile birthday cake.

2008-06-26T23:09:00.001-07:00

Bobby has been working on this blog and I thought that I should start helping him out and do my part. This has been a quite stressful year for me that I didn't find time to work on anything extra. We made it through optometry school and I am excited and scared at the same time what the future will hold for us. Right now we are in transition waiting to see where Bobby will get a job. We have been looking at Michigan which I am pretty excited about. I can't wait to settle down and have more order to our crazy life :) Of course that might be a bit too much to ask with too energetic boys. Matthew and Timo are doing great. Matthew and Timo are playing more together and when Matthew is gone Timo is always looking and asking for him. Matthew is the scientific type in the family and Timo is the social butterfly. At the grocery store Timo is always saying "Hi" and giving cute smiles and trying to get people's attention. It's quite cute. Matthew knows his alphabet, numbers, colors and shapes (even pentagon and hexagon). He loves to give hugs and kisses. His latest is to turn the hose on and spray Timo while playing in the grandparents back yard. I have to keep close eye on them... There are also two small dogs that Matthew and Timo are always after...kissing and hugging. I am glad they are friendly dogs.

2008-03-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

2008-02-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

2008-02-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Albert Lea a week and a half ago and things are finally starting to settle down. I have had two days with Dr. Skorin and I have enjoyed every minute of it. It's been pretty cold up here so we haven't done much outdoors, but our home is warm and cozy. We were able to arrange a pre-school for Timo and we are excited for him to have some more friends to play with. At work I have been very busy, working with a doctor that sees about 40 patients a day. (I am used to a max of around 16 or so!) Petronella is working on finishing the Book of Mormon in a short time, in honor of President Hinckley.
I'm excited that I was able to make contact with some old friends from my mission. They are all from my last area in Tonsuya. I hope they get a chance to see this blog!

2008-01-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

2008-01-13T22:22:00.000-08:00

Well, we got a little crazy on Christmas day so I thought I would share it with everyone.

2008-01-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

So I haven't added anything to this blog for quite some time, and actually very few people knew about it. So its time to come out of obscurity and start sharing our family. Well, and we are in the middle of external rotations right now so we are moving every 3 months to a new home. In February we will be moving to Albert Lea clinic in Minnesota, then afterwards we will hopefully have an idea of where we will end up.
Here are some pictures of our family that I would like to share. They begin about Thanksgiving time and end about Christmas time.

2005-07-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

We have a new member in our family. Matthew Aimo Blankenbehler was born March 19, 2005 and he has brough lots of joy into the lives of his parents. Right now we are working on teaching him sitting, rolling over, sleeping schedules; and daddy tries to slip him some icecream every now and then until mommy catches him. Daddy had him doing back flips when he was 2 weeks old and mommy didn't like that very much either. He makes everyone happy that holds him.