Vegas Vacay!

VEGAS!!!!

We went to Vegas at the end of September and met up with the Beaners. We had so much fun and we missed the Beaners so much! Our kids were in heaven, playing with their friends and swimming, swimming, swimming.

So what did we do in Vegas? Two things....eat and swim. We went to the strip for a few buffets, and a lot of food. Holy cow!

This was hilarious!!! The boys each had to pick three or four things and make creations for each other to make. It looked NASTY but man did we have fun! Between the chaos of our children and worse, the LOUD and obnoxious adults we were a sight to behold. The waitress was ready for us to leave before we sat down!

Okay, seriously is this not what you expected? We went to the M&M store and saw this and of course had to take pics with it.

We also went to Circus Circus and let the kids play a few games and of course the adults get in on the action too. Candace and I went rock climbing and had a race, of course I don't have those pics. But darn it, she beat me! I want a rematch!

On our way home, we stopped by Hoover Dam and let the kids out.


We got home and we are totally ready for another vacation! We had so much fun! Thanks for meeting us Beans!!!

Birthday Fun!

Happy Birthday Ella!

My little Ellie just turned one a few months ago! I can't believe she is already OVER one. She took her first steps a few weeks ago and is fast growing up. She is such a daddy's girl and her first word was in fact "dadda". Although "momma" came in second, but not for a good month of hearing dadda's name everyday, all day long.

Happy Birthday Zach!

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Zach turned 6 September 3 and he had a little birthday party with family. Zach is such a sweet boy! He loves playing, playing, playing. Everyday he can be found playing outside, with "bubba" (Jake). I love this little boy! He genuinely cares about his siblings and has such a tender heart. I know I have mentioned Zach's love for K'Nex, he got a new package for his birthday and spent the next 3 or 4 days building this. That boy has such an imagination! Happy Birthday Zach!

First Day of School

Things have been going well here in good ole' Nuevo Mexico. I have mixed feelings about the kids starting school, especially Zach who will be going full day. He of course, LOVED it and had no problem with it whatsoever. Jake kept asking to go pick him up because he was used to him being home with him. Even though these kids fight, man do I miss them when they are not with me!

The kids are doing well and have adjusted nicely. Hannah had joined a little song and dance thing that somebody in our ward does. My camera died the second I got there so I didn't get any pictures, and I am just waiting for somebody in my ward to send them to me. She did so good and had a little dance solo. She was so cute and I loved it! Jon felt tortured because he hates this kind of stuff and he knows it is just the beginning! We have kept pretty busy with the library and swimming. I am so proud of my Zach, who if you knew him, knows he has been afraid of water FOREVER. He can proudly hold his breath and dive under the water. He wanted to keep up with his cousin, so I think that really helped him get over his fear. Jake is the first one up in the morning, always at 6 or before, and sleeps pretty much all over the house. I wake up to find him, under our bed, beside our bed, in the hallway and on the floor in his bedroom. I'm fine with it as long as he doesn't wake me up. Ella is so good, getting over another round of teething and is sleeping again. HALLELUJAH! She is fast becoming a little girl and no longer a baby. She doesn't like to be left out by her siblings and has learned the screeching sound that her brother so kindly taught her. As for Jon and me, we are doing well. Jon is really enjoying his job and the people he works with. Although he says it feels weird to admit a patient to himself instead of his attending. I am keeping busy with all things that have to do with the kids and the house. I still feel like we are not here permanently, but it will sink in soon. Enjoy!

Part 2....

The boys....

Jon's Dad!

Okay, so I ranted a little bit in the last post but it just tears my heart up. Anyways, we returned home on Sunday night and on Monday Jon's Dad flew in to help us drive the uhaul. On Tuesday night Jon had a banquet for graduation. Can I just say how proud I am of this guy? I can't believe it's over....and then I think, It's JUST BEGINNING! Here we go again, start over and keep going.
Here are some of the girls! Yes, we are pretty cute!

Now...Did I mention I am missing this girl here!

After the graduation we went home and continued packing because tomorrow was the moving day! Jon's Dad was awesome and he drove the Uhaul for us so Jon could drive the van with me. THANK YOU ROD!!!! The trip actually wasn't horrible. We prepared ourselves for constant crying and fighting and although we had our share it could have BEEN WAY WORSE. We are here in New Mexico again and we are loving being near family again. A few days after we got here was of course.....ECLIPSE. That's right! It's that time again! It was AWESOME! LOVED IT!

Another surprise came when one of my friends that I grew up with was in town for a few days and I got to see her again! I haven't seen Deanna since Hannah was 4 months or so! TOO LONG! She has four adorable little girls! She just had a baby and of course she looked BEAUTIFUL! Of course you have to know this girl to understand her gene pool! It was good to catch up with her and now that we live here, hopefully it won't be another 7 1/2 years before we see each other again!

We also reconnected with some old friends! This is the old crew from Lexington Apartments! We all lived in the same complex, all newlyweds and no kids! So long ago......hahahah. It was so good to see everyone. We went to the zoo for the music in the night...mostly we went to socialize.

We are missing a few people and a few kids! Darn it!

I think I am caught up! I know I probably forgot tons of stuff but oh well! As much fun as I am having, I still miss Michigan! Jon started last week and his new job comes with everything that goes with starting a new job. He is working hard and really enjoying it! I love that guy! I'll be better about posting now that we are settled in.

Part One.....

I have been slacking when it comes to blogging. There has been so much going on before and after the move that I haven't blogged about. For starters, my birthday was at the beginning of the month. The big 3-0! That's right, I am officially out of my twenties and loving it! Jon surprised me with a get together at Buca De Peppo's with a few friends. I was actually TOTALLY surprised and thought it was awesome, especially since we had just gotten home from our vacation up north the week before. I really thought I would be sad to see my twenties go, but I'm not. Age is just a number right?

After my birthday was Zach's graduation from Kindergarten. He was so darn cute and I can't believe he is going to be a big first grader! This boy is such a sweetheart and cuddler. The things this kid can do is amazing, it seems he can build and take apart anything he puts his mind to. His recent love is K'nex's, which he builds amazing things just by looking at a picture. We love this little boy so much!

Zach's graduation was at the end of school and we were busy preparing to pack and sell the house. What??? Did you say sell the house? Yes! Our house officially closed the day before we left. We are truly blessed by this miracle. I say miracle, because in Detroit, with the economy the way it is, this truly is a miracle.

On the Monday before we moved, Ella started to get a fever, which I could reduce as long as we did Tylenol and IB profen every three hours. I figured she was teething pretty hard and it was a rough few days. I had done this before and I could handle a few HARD days of teething. By Friday, her fevers were not getting any better and I was worried about her being on that dosage of medicine for the last five days. I decided to just call the Pediatrician and see if it was okay. I talked to a nurse and she said I could continue for the weekend and see her the next week or they could see her for a sick appt today. Since we were moving that next Wednesday I wanted to be safe and and I wanted her seen. She just was not her usual self and I was worried about her fevers. Of course, I get one of the last appointments of the day and Jon stays with the other kids. The doctor did some tests, (I had to hold her down so they could put in her catheter, not fun!). The doctor thought she had a uti and told us we needed to get her blood drawn so we could be sure. Of course it is passed 5:00 and every lab is closed. They told me to take her to an ER, and they would take care of me from there. I arrived at the ER by our home and was turned away because they didn't want to stick an infant. I was crying, I admit. I had no way to contact Jon, because that morning I had dropped my phone in a big tub of water. I used the hospitals phone and told him I had to go to Children's Hospital and I didn't want to go alone. He called the Beaners and asked them to watch our kids, which of course they were in the middle of closing on their house. Not a good time, but of course they took the three of them right at dinner and bedtime and we took off to Children's Hospital. Now I have to be honest here, I thought...it's a UTI people why are we doing all this?! Give her some antiobiotics and let's go home we need to pack. I guess when this happens in babies it's not good because of what it can do to their kidneys. We get there and luckily we got into a room right away (thank you Jon, that's why I wanted you to come!) They took her blood (which I held her down again) and had to do another catheter and we waited for the results. Around midnight, we were preparing to go home, because Ella was already looking better(She got a shot of antiobiotics at her pediatricians appt.), and we got the news that her white cells were extremely high and she needed to be admitted. Not good timing! We were there for three days and were finally released the evening on Father's day. She's doing great and we actually have to get her some VCUG test to make sure that she doesn't have reflux but it's all good. She is just on Antiobiotics until we can get that test done. Now while I was at the hospital, I had a big eye opener. Jon had just done his rotation in Pediatric Ortho and came home with tales about children. And we aren't talking about happy tales. Well, we were put in a room with a cute little boy, no names, and I was able to see firsthand the tradegy of some of these kids. He was almost 1 and just so darn cute. I was there three days and no one visited him once. I was talking to his nurse and they had quite a few kids whose parents never visited them. He was in the crib crying and just wanting to be held and loved. The nurses were awesome there, they were constantly helping these children who had no one. They would take them on rounds, put them in backpacks and jumpers outside so they could have some interaction and contact. I wanted to bring him home with me. When Ella was sleeping I would go over and hold him and play with him. I would even bring Ella over and let them "play" together. I felt humbled. I thought my children were lucky because they always had someone with them, and would no matter what. But this little boy had been in here for the last three weeks and NOT ONCE had his parents visit him. It made me sad to see firsthand the neglect of these children. I'm not trying to be judgemental because sometimes you can't always be there. I understand that, there are some single mothers/fathers who can't constantly be there. I'm not trying to make anybody feel bad, but I just wanted to take this child home with me. It really brought to life these stories that Jon had always told me, and made them real.

Vacay up North

A few weeks ago we took a little trip up North because we had heard how beautiful it was. We figured we've lived here for three years and we can't leave Michigan without seeing it. We rented a house on a lake, and it had a pontoon boat, kyaks (Which we never got to use) and a huge house with enough room for both families. That's right! All 7 of our children and four adults! I loved it! It was beautiful and the kids were in heaven! Well, it did not dissappoint. It was so beautiful! I have some mixed feelings about leaving because New Mexico has a different type of beauty. A beauty which does not revolve around water or anything green. We packed enough food to feed an army and ate almost NONE of it. Candace and I did not feel like cooking so we ordered in food and ate out. So much for saving money on food. The kids had a blast on the boat, fishing, swimming, running through the beaches and relaxing outside in the sandbox.

Isn't it pretty?

This is my favorite picture of the trip! These are my boys.

This is in Traverse City. After we left the farm house, we headed up to Traverse City and looked around a bit. We walked around and before we know it, it was 4:00 and we still had a four hour drive ahead of us. Instead we decided to be spontaneous and see if the Beans wanted to stay one more day. Aaron was almost, what did Candace call him, "A spontaneous moment killer", but he crumbled under pressure really fast and we went in search of a reasonably priced hotel room on Memorial Day weekend. We found the good ole Travel Lodge and went to the Beach and let the kids play and feed the baby ducks. We had so much fun and we were so glad to be able to go with the Beaners one last time somewhere. Enjoy the pictures!
This is what my boys are known for when getting in water. Yes, crying. They are super afraid of the water and I was so proud they even got in! Our first summer in Michigan, Zach would not even go near the water. When I signed the kids up for swim lessons he cried and refused to participate. By the end of the lessons he put his feet in. By summer #2, he was able to atleast put his feet in. By summer #3 he would wade in and have no problem as long as he could touch the bottom. So, I say he has come a long way and even attempting to get in the water is a big deal in this family. I only have a pic of Jake because I was laughing (yes, I am mean) and trying to get them both out of the water crying. I love my boys!

This picture does not do this dog justice! This dog was HUGE! Candace and I joked around that we found Jacob(or atleast a wolf) in Traverse City.

I refuse to post any pics of the adults on the water trampoline, although it was probably one of the funnest parts of the trip. Let's just say nobody deserves to see those pics! Not flattering, to anyone, on any angle. Thanks Beaners for a great trip!