Adam's Reunion Past Time

Adam is the oldest grandchild on my side of the family. He doesn't have cousins his age so sometimes he has to look for things to do by himself or with the grownups, or else play with the littler kids. He spent a lot of time at our reunion playing games with the grown ups, but he also spent a lot of time messing around with the I-pad. Below are some of our favorite pictures that Adam took. They are pretty silly.

Adam

Grandpa

Jacob

Grandma

Ben

Uncle Shane and baby Elijah

Tammy

Greg

Anna

Baby Elijah

Sadie

Lizzy

Adam

Ebbert Reunion Day 2

Day two of our reunion began with most of the grown-ups heading to the Dallas Temple. (Thanks to Grandpa and Sarah for watching the kids). I think it is so awesome that all of my siblings can go to the temple together. I often think of our mother when we are all together, especially when we are in the temple. I can't help but think she is smiling down on us. I welcome the day when we will be with her again.

Thanks to a tripod there is a picture of all of us who went to the temple. Greg, Me, Shane, April, Deanna, and Todd. April's husband couldn't come to the reunion and Sarah, Shane's wife, stayed home to wrangle kids.

Greg and I

Just the siblings

Todd took this awesome picture.

After the temple we loaded up the whole crew and headed to do something very un-Texas. There is a huge hotel here, the Gaylord Texan, that has this huge ICE exhibit every year. They bring in artists from China (where apparently there is an ice amusement park) who build these incredible displays out of blocks of ice. This year the theme was Shrek's Christmas. They keep it at a frigid 10 degrees. Since Texans don't need winter gear they provide these big blue Parkas for everyone. It was unique and fun to try.

Here is a view from the elevator of the Gaylord Texan. This hotel had a very Vegas feel. Family Vegas.

The cousins waiting while the dads purchased tickets.

It is rare to get Adam caught in a photo. I love this one of him waiting in line.

Chillin' in the blue parkas (pun intended. Groan if you want).

One glimpse of ICE!

Some of the family with Shrek.

Beautiful Anna.

Lizzy and Donkey.

The dragon was so big. It was awesome. You can see it better in one of the pictures above.

I think of all the ice displays this last one was my favorite. I thought it was great that it ended with a beautiful portrayal of the nativity. I love that they used clear ice instead of the colored.

It proved to be a long day and the kids went home and crashed. Jacob couldn't always be relied upon to stay in his own bed. Why use a pillow, when a sister will do? What did the grown-ups do while the kids slept? Why, play games of course! Dominion was the game of the week (thanks, April!)

November Ebbert Reunion Day 1

This summer we had a family reunion planned with my family but it was cancelled because of Lizzy's surgery. Well, we were able to reschedule it for the week of Thanksgiving. We all descended upon my brother Shane and his family who live just outside Fort Worth, TX. We all really enjoyed doing fun things, playing games, talking and eating BBQ.

Day one was a taste of Texas. We did typical Texas things. First we went to the Bureau of Engraving, one of only two places in the U.S. where they print dollars. Security was tight so no pictures. It was pretty interesting. Next it was down to the stockyards. We ate at a BBQ restaurant. Some of the boys rode a mechanical bull. Some did a maze through stockyard pens (as seen on the Amazing Race ;)). We checked out the longhorn cattle. It was a lot of fun!

Adam kept falling off his bull, well at least sliding off it until the cowboy in charge showed him how to hold on with one hand and balance with the other. After that he did much better.

After watching Adam, his Uncle Todd, and his cousin Lawson, Ben was ready to give the bull a try. He did awesome and was so fun to watch. My brother Shane got this great picture at the right moment.

As my brother Todd would say, "MMM..... Barbeque!" He is pretty much obsessed with BBQ and not afraid to admit it. Here is the whole crew out to lunch.

Having fun with the cousins. This bull was much more tame.

Fincher's Western store. We had to get a picture.

Some of the cousins.

Rodeo clowns Lizzy and Alia.

Rodeo clown Anna

Everyday they herd the long horn cattle through the streets near the stockyards.Aren't these horns amazing?!! What a welcome to Texas.

Worth Waiting For

I am in love with this video on why we should keep the law of chastity and wait until we are married to have sexual relations. So sweet and simple.

CSPAN Stars

We've blogged some in the past about how presidential politics kind of take over Iowa every four years. No different this year, except that we haven't gotten as involved as we have in the past. We used to try to get out to meet as many of the candidates as we could, but this year we just haven't gotten into it as much and hadn't gone to meet any candidates.

With the caucus coming on Tuesday, it has gotten especially crazy. We're getting several phone calls per day (we came back from a trip earlier this week and found 14 voice mails from the different candidates and people endorsing them - all of them wishing us a Merry Christmas. Most are just recorded messages, but we actually got a personal message from one of the candidates - that's a first for us). If you turn on the TV almost every single commercial is a campaign commercial. Not to mention the several emails and paper mails we get every day. It's a little tiring.

On Thursday we heard that Mitt Romney was going to be speaking at our local grocery store (why the grocery store, I'm not sure!) and the kids wanted to go and try to meet him, so we decided to venture out for our first campaign event this year. Adam and Anna had eye doctor appointments so they couldn't make it, but I went with Lizzy, Ben, and Jake. It was a chilly, rainy, windy morning so when we got there most people were huddled inside the store, but we decided to try to get a good spot outside. We ended up finding a place right along the rope line on the side of the stage - turned out to be a great spot (keep reading)!

We've been to a lot of campaign events in the past, but never one so near the time of the caucus, so there were way more media people there than I expected, like hundreds of media people. Probably 25 TV cameras, 30 photographers, and who knows how many reporters. I saw a few reporters that looked familiar from national news networks.

Shortly after we got there, some staging people came by and passed out signs and flags. Ben and Liz each got a little flag and since they were all bundled up looking cold and waving flags, they were too cute for the photographers to pass up. A whole bunch of them came over and started snapping pictures. One even laid down on the ground in front of them and snapped a few shots. After they finished taking their pictures, the photographers would come over and asked Lizzy and Ben for their names and ages. I asked a few where they were from - New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, Getty Images, etc. Liz and Ben were feeling somewhat famous with their own paparrazi - Jake was just feeling cold and tired.

As of right now (while I'm writing this), they're included in the main picture on this NBC political website (Jake is hiding behind Lizzy). I'm sure it will change frequently, so it probably won't be the main picture when you get there:

http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/

Here's a more permanent link to the same picture if it's not at that homepage:

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/30/9831372-iowans-brave-cold-wet-weather-to-meet-the-candidates

And here's the picture itself:

Another from the Washington Times (not the best shot of any of us!):

http://www.washingtontimes.com/multimedia/image/perry2jpg/

Unfortunately, none of the closeups they took of Ben and Lizzy were published (that I can find).

Mitt and Ann Romney finally arrived with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. I won't say much about their speeches (you can watch online if you want), except to say that I was really really impressed with Chris Christie. I know next to nothing about him or his politics or anything else, but I really enjoyed the few minutes he was talking. Don't be surprised if he turns out to be Mitt's running mate if we wins the primaries.

After the speeches, he came around and greeted a lot of people. Since we were along the rope line, the kids had a chance to talk to him for a few seconds. I later found out that CSPAN was broadcasting the event live, so if any of you happened to be DVR'ing CSPAN Friday morning, we'd love to have a copy (since I know that's like the most popular channel to record)!

Here's a low quality replay from the CSPAN website. Fast forward to 17:15 or so to see him talking to the kids:

Here's a screen capture of Mitt talking to Liz and Ben (he's bending down with a hand on each of their shoulders):

I, of course, had the opportunity to get a great picture standing right behind the kids, but since I am (now officially) the world's worst photographer, this is what I got (I'm kicking myself for not asking him to pose with them!):

Anyway, all-in-all, it was a memorable experience for the kids. They were pretty excited when we left. If, by chance, he goes on to become President, it may be something they'll always remember. If not, it was still fun for the day at least!

Adam - the next American Idol?

Earlier this month, Adam participated in a competition called Waukee Idol (a local version of American Idol). It's a pretty big deal here - there were over 100 groups that auditioned and only the top 10 from each age division got to participate. Adam and his quartet were chosen for the finals and got to perform onstage in front of a packed auditorium (nearly 700 people in the auditorium, plus more outside that couldn't get in). Though they didn't win the competition, they did fantastic and had the best crowd response of any of the performers (maybe because half of the crowd were middle school girls!). I assure you, he did not get his singing talent from his father (but maybe his dance moves)!

Here's the video - sorry it gets jumpy in the middle - I decided I had to stand up and cheer with everyone else!

Fires of Faith

The year 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the translation of the King James Version of the Bible. It is the Bible I have grown up with and the Bible that my church uses. To me it is inspiring. Each time you read it you can find new meaning and help for your life. I know many prefer the much simpler versions that have been created today. For me the Bible loses some of its meaning and depth in these versions. I love the language of the King James Bible.

I recently have had a renewed appreciation for the wonderful gift that the Bible is. Greg and I watched an amazing and informative three part series on the coming forth of the King James Version of the Bible. It was called "Fires of Faith". I knew a little about William Tyndale and Martin Luther, but my heart swelled with gratitude for the sacrifices of so many (many sacrificing their lives) to bring forth the word of God to the common man. Translating the Bible into English proved to be a most difficult task. The people of that time wanted so badly to have a Bible in their own language. Now we face the difficulty that apathy among people brings. This book that was so sacrificed for is now forgotten by so many. I am grateful for those who helped make God's word available to me and my family. It is something that blesses my life greatly. Go watch Fires of Faith at BYUTV. Your eyes will be opened to the gratitude you owe. To me it is apparent the Lord wanted us to have these words to guide our lives.

Here is a link to Fires of Faith: http://byutv.org/show/123d4a82-3d47-488e-beda-2496a5a1ff2c

Day of Service

This year our church encouraged congregations throughout the world to get out in their communities and participate in a service project. Our congregation volunteered with Urbandale Caring Corps. Every fall they help elderly residents rake leaves and prepare their yards and homes for winter. Our family was assigned to rake one lady's yard. It was kind of nice to just have our family and no one else.

It was great to be able to have the kids help and to work together as a family. This good lady was very appreciative and even tried to do a little work herself. She also provided us with treats and water and was so kind to the kids.

The kids were amazing. They all worked hard, even Jakey. His job was to put leaves in bags and then we would put him in the bag to stomp on the leaves. I think he liked it. It took us several hours of work and we filled 15 yard waste bags to the brim. All the kids kept saying, "I didn't know that work could be so much fun." It was a great experience. We feel so blessed for all that we have been given. It is a good feeling to help someone else.

Here we are with the wonderful lady we helped.

We are nearing the end at this point. Greg is taking the picture. Is anybody else missing?

There's Anna. The kids had fun hiding her in the leaves. What a great day that was.

More MRIs

If you follow our blog you know that this has been the year of modern medicine at our house. We are still continuing this trend. Hopefully that will change next year!

In October I took Ben to see a Pediatric Neurologist. He has had some hand tremors for several years. I asked our doctor about it before he started kindergarten, but he didn't seem too worried as long as it wasn't impairing his function. After our situation with Lizzy this year I became more concerned about this problem with Ben. When we went in for his Well Checkup I asked our new pediatrician about it. She referred us to the neurologist. He diagnosed Ben's tremors as Essential Tremors, sometimes called Familial Tremors. Usually this is something you see in older people. It is a bit unusual to have in a child this young, but for now Ben can do most things. As the tremors worsen and cause problems in Ben's functionality (hopefully a long way off) then there are medications to help with this. We chose not to put Ben on anything right now because the side effects of these meds are so nasty. I told the doctor about Lizzy and said I was concerned it could be a symptom of a similar problem. He didn't think it would be, but agreed to have an MRI done on Ben's brain to rule out that possibility. Lizzy's neurosurgeon had told us that the Chiari can run in families and to be on alert for any symptoms.

I was very grateful we were able to get an MRI for Ben. It is a little scary though because he needed to be put to sleep. Lizzy is unusual for a child her age and has been able to be as still as still can be for her MRIs (the only one that gave her a little trouble was when they did an MRI with flexion in her neck putting her in all sorts of uncomfortable positions). Ben and I both knew he wouldn't be able to be still so would need to be put to sleep. So one day he and I spent the day at the hospital. There is a great children's hospital here in Des Moines. They were awesome and so helpful to Ben. They assigned a Child Life specialist to him who explained things both with pictures and with words and told him exactly what was going to happen. She had an Ipad that she brought so he could play games while we waited. He was awesome! He stayed calm and came through with flying colors. We are happy to report that his brain was completely normal. A big sigh of relief for this mom. That brings our family MRI total for the year up to 7. Technically it could be considered even more because Lizzy will sometimes have two different studies done at once. Crazy huh? Way to go Ben. You were really brave.

Ben before with the IV ready to go in his left arm.

Still asleep after the MRI.

Trying to wake up so we can go home. You rock Ben!