Livin' Our Love Song

1st Volleyball game!!

2011-04-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

We were so excited this morning to go to Elizabeth's 1st Volleyball game! She was a little nervous but she did great! This game and the next game will be focusing on skills and then after that it is the real deal. Right after her game we went and bought her a volleyball and she has been practicing all day! Michelle we wish you were closer so you could give her some tips!

Here all the girls are lined up learning how to serve.

Now they are starting to scrimage with the other team and Elizabeth was the 1st one to serve!

Look at that concentration!!!

She did so good and she was so proud of herself and so were we! She has so much confidence it really helps her deal with new things well!

Fun weekend

2011-03-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

John and I got to go out this weekend for the 1st time in a long time!! My sister was very nice and took the 2 older kids for the night but she wasn't brave enough to take the youngest, though he probably would have been less trouble! The older ones caused her the most problems in the middle of the night but they all had a great time! John had his annual Alumni Basketball Tournament this weekend so that meant a "class reunion" of sorts. We went out and got to see most of his class (he had a class size of 40). It was great to catch up and hang out. John even got up and sang some karaoke! It was great!

They ended up doing the best they have ever done in this tournament! They got 3rd out of 10 teams when they are usually 2 and done or maybe 3 and done.

He actually made this shot!

He missed this one! :) John loves to play but he never claimed he was any good but he holds his own and his kids were very excited to watch him shoot the ball!

I need to update!

2011-01-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

I was told by my mom that I need to update and as usual she's right *sigh*! So I am updating with randomness so bare with me!

This is a couple pics from our trip to Salina, KS where John's parents live! Yes John has Dominic in a front pack and only b/c we had just spent the last 2 hours playing putt putt golf and arcade games and I had him the whole time during that and my back was killing me!! Play putt putt is very interesting with a front pack on but I did pretty good!

Being in Salina is a HUGE change for Johns parents! Coming from a Village it really is a change.

They have an aquarium in the mall there along with an indoor putt putt golf course with an arcarde attached to it and a candyopolis. The kids were in HEAVEN!!

Dominic sporting the had that Nona had made for him! He looks so cute in it!!

For those who don't know we got a new dog. Her name is Nala (formerly Reba YUCK) we rescued her from the pound. She is now 6 months old and is such a great dog. She is very mellow and gets along great with the kids. She is a Boxer mix, mixed with what? We aren't sure but she is adorable and we love her!!

These are apparently some of the only pics I took during our long Thanksgiving weekend. Who knows what I was thinking. Thank God I have people like Michelle to takes pics for me! Thanks Michelle!!

John was very excited to talk to Santa Clause! As we were leaving he got upset and said "Hey Santa forgot to give me my Trampoline!!" It took him a while to understand that Santa only comes on Christmas and you were just letting him know what you want and that didn't mean you were going to get it. Incase you are wondering Yes the kids got a trampoline from Santa and it is currently in boxes in our basement b/c well, this is Nebraska and it's too cold to set it up now so we will wait until spring to set it up. John asks everyday if we can set it up yet! He is very excited! Elizabeth will be once she can play on it.

Elizabeth was excited too! She swore she heard the Reindeer on the roof while we were there seeing him!

Dominic didn't really care one way or the other but here is the family pic!

My beautiful Elizabeth getting ready for her Christmas program that she was the star of. It was called the Little Bell Who Saved Christmas and she was the little bell! She had way more guts then I would have! She had to sing a solo in front of a lot of people and she did great! We were so proud of her!!!

Zach being a goof ball!!

Here she is getting ready for her solo!!

Since Dominic couldn't decorate the tree he got to sit in the swing and stare at the pretty lights on the tree!!

Decorating the tree!

This is what happens when you have little people putting ornaments on the tree! They all end up on one branch!

Making Christmas cookies for Santa at our house very messy!

Preparing for Christmas Eve with all the siblings! John stayed home with Dominic so Dad could have my undivided attention! This year was the most special of years. After 21 years of doing the Christmas Eve preparations Dad gifted Nicole and I with our very own cookbook with all the recipes that we use for Christmas Eve and other favorites that we have had through the years. I will cherish this gift forever! It means so much to me!

This is a picture of just how fat my "peanut" is! He went for his 6 month check up the other day and the little chunk weighs in at a whopping 19lbs 10oz which is by far my biggest baby!! Elizabeth and John didn't get anywhere near 20lbs until they were close to a year or older!

This isn't our best family picture but it works, this was at the Christmas Eve party.

Thanks to John's job we were able to get FREE tickets to Sesame Street Live. The kids had such a great time! I was a little worried about whether Elizabeth would think she was too old to go to something like this but she ate it up! She was singing the songs with me and dancing in her chair she had a blast! John thought this was the coolest thing EVER!! He cried when it was over and wanted Elmo to come back and play with him. Dominic got to stay with Grandma while we were there! Thank God because he would have been a handful and been done way before it was over! Thanks Mom!!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!

2010-11-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it!! My baby is 8 years old!! She has gotten so big so fast, where has the time gone?!?! She had a birthday party at a local bowling alley with all of her cousins (minus some babies) and one friend from school. She also had a slumber party! She had her cousins Taylor, Hannah, Morgan and her best friend from school Sam spend the night. They watched her new movie Barbie and a Fashion Fairytale and drank hot coco with whip cream on top with popcorn. They had a blast!

Her party!

The whole group eating pancakes!

Crazy Girls!!

Elizabeth and her Mickey Mouse pancakes!

You can't forget the birthday balloon!!

We are such mean parents!! We make Elizabeth wait to open her gift from us until after dinner! She has been asking for a Nintendo DS for about 2 years now and we finally felt like she was able to handle it. She was so shocked!

A picture is truly worth a thousand words!!!

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Funny things out of a 3 Year Olds mouth!!

Lil John (body slamming big John): "Daddy you got hair there!"

Big John: "Uh, hair where?"

Lil John: Under your arm!

Big John: "OH!!! Yeah I do."

Lil John: "Did you growed it there? You need a hair cut!"

A bunch of stuff

2010-10-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

John was the coach of Arlington's Cross Country team again this year. They did very well. The boys team made it to state and they took 1 girl. The boys team ended up getting 8th place which is one place better than last year!! Unfortunately being a coach comes with a price. I woke up one Sunday night at around midnight because Dominic wanted his binki back and when I wake up in the middle of the night I have a habit of looking out our bedroom window. This night was no different, and as I looked out I saw kids running around my yard with toilet paper. So I woke John up and told him someone was toilet papering out house, John shot out of bed and quickly got dressed and went down stairs. His goal was to scare the crap out of these kids. So he opened up the front door and they all darted. He ran barefoot down the block ( I have never seen him run that fast) caught one kid as he was getting in the car. He thought for sure that kid was going to pee his pants! The didn't hear him because he wasn't wearing shoes so they didn't think he followed them. He came back to bed laughing and swearing he was going to get them back. So the next day at practice John wore a boot and told them all that he spranged his ankle because some kids were toilet papering his house and he chased after them. One of the kids felt so bad he almost started crying. John let them think he really hurt himself until after their warm-ups then he took the boot off. He got them good!! With that said I am really glad cross country is over because now I have my husband back!!

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Getting ready for Halloween!! Just like after Thanksgiving at the Christmas walk downtown they also have a Halloween night downtown where the kids get dressed up in their costumes and get to trick-or-treat all the stores and the bank lets the kids come in and see the Haunted Bank. Elizabeth is Belle this year, John is Fireman Sam (if anyone watches Sprout they know who that is), and Dominic is a puppy!

Elizabeth is a very beautiful Belle!!

Cute little puppy!!

Mad little puppy!!!

What a handsome fireman!!

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These pictures are for you mom!! Sitting up and smiling!!

The handsome boys!!

I love this picture!!

My Rock'n Roll boys!!

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This is the only thing I love about Nebraska in the Fall except maybe Husker Football!! Look at those colors!

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Just some random pics.

Family Zoo Trip

2010-10-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

My best friend from high school was in town from Baltimore and we planned a trip to the zoo. Unfortunately due to the weather John's Cross Country meet was moved to the Friday we had planned so we didn't get to see everything we wanted to see at the zoo and the kids were crushed. Luckily my grandma was coming into town the next weekend and she was up for a trip to the zoo. She had never been our zoo so it was something she was looking forward to. So my grandma, Nicole and her kids and our kids all went to the zoo. We had one very scary incident where Lil John was separated from us in the aquarium. John thought he was following us as he went up the ramp with the stroller by the penguins and I thought he followed John. I had been doing head counts all day and as we were watching the penguins I did a head count and there were only 3 little heads instead of 4. I panicked. I turned and looked at John and asked if he had him and he said no I thought you had him. We both started searching and he was only around the corner but I had never been so scared in my life. The poor little guy was hanging on to the rail right before the penguins saying he was lost. I grabbed him and gave him a huge hug and he kept saying you guys lost me. My heart was broken. Needless to say he was attached to me for the rest of the trip. I don't think I have fully recovered from it. It was a very long day and the kids were exhausted for a couple days after. I think today is the first day they have been back to "normal".

Isn't she beautiful?!? This is Lil John's favorite part.

This is Elizabeth's favorite part of the zoo. She loves Polar Bears!

I love this! He looks so serious.

This picture is for you mom!

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Just some random pics...

He is getting so big so fast! :(

Look at his little tongue! Too cute!

This is SO Elizabeth!

We had a nice rain the other day. No lightning or thunder which almost never happens so the kids got to play in the rain!

John got to go to the park with me while his sister was at school. He had such a great time!
He kept talking about going there for his birthday with his Uncle Nick. So good job Nick! He really liked being there with you!

Love the hair! This picture doesn't do it justice it was so funny to watch his hair stand up and the second he touched the ground it would go back to normal.

Proud moment

2010-09-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

I have to brag on Elizabeth!! I picked her up from school today and she had her communication journal in her hand instead of her bookbag. I asked her why she was carrying it and she opened it up so I could read the note her teacher put in there. Elizabeth was voted by her classmates to be on student council! She is so excited!! We are so proud of her and are very excited that she gets this opportunity. She is a very outgoing little girl and obviously well liked by her peers! She is very much like her dad in that aspect. John was on his way home from cross country practice so I had him stop by the store to pick her up something special for her and he came home with her favorite... Vanilla Ice Cream. She is not my daughter or she would have wanted chocolate!! :)

Already?!?!

2010-08-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it!!I laid Dominic down for a nap yesterday afternoon in his play pen and when I went to get him out so we could take Elizabeth to her shoe fitting for dance and this is how I found him......

Yep!!! That's right, he rolled over during his nap from his back to his tummy!! From everything I've read he isn't supposed to be doing this yet, so is this a clue as to what we are in for? I hope not!!

1st day of school!!

2010-08-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth is now a 2nd grader! I can't believe it! Yes I cried when she walked into the school. I cry every year! I am such a sap!! It just makes me so sad that my baby is growing up. It has gone by so fast. She was so excited to start the day the little stinker came into our room at 6:20 ready for school! I told her to go back to bed and get some more sleep but she was too excited. She had a great day and is so excited one of her best friends is in her class and they are sitting right next to each other. We had a very long talk about behaving and making sure that we are respectful so she can continue to sit next to her friend. We are sure she will do just fine.

I forgot to swithch this around but you get the picture! John was trying to get me to take a picture of him standing against the tree too.

Off she goes! :(

This is our tradition. After the 1st day of school and the last we go to Village Inn and eat pancakes! YUM!!

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The boys and I had some floor time while we were waiting for Elizabeth to get done with school.

John was lost without his buddy. At 8:30 he was asking me where his sissy was. Very sad! He tells me he's a big boy so he should go to school too!

John showing me how he can roll over. ( The jealousy is officially here!!)

This is Dominic's old man face. :)

I finally got a smile from him!

Right before he rolls over.

Mid roll over

He made it!!

My boys!

Fun in the sun

2010-08-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

The heat index was up to 110 degrees so we had to get in the pool to cool off! The kids had so much fun they swam for over 2 hours! The family all got together at the lakes for one last family get together before Nick went back to Lincoln to his apartment. Yes he has his own apartment that he is sharing with 2 other guys. That really makes me feel old that my little brother is living on his own. They weren't supposed to grow up!! Tommy is now a Junior so he only has 2 more years left before he leaves too! SCARY!! My poor mom!

John got a black eye from the goggles he was wearing because he fell off the slide and landed on his face. That was the scariest thing I have ever seen. It took at least 10 years off my life. Even thinking about it right now freaks me out a little bit.

She got some serious air here! Check out those abs!!

Zach in his own little lake!! He enjoyed it!

I love this picture!! 2 very beautiful little girls!

John was finally getting up the nerve to test out the lake one butt scooch (sp) at a time!

We had such a great time! The kids were both in bed by 7:30 and slept until 8:30 the next day. They were exhausted but they had a great time! We definitely will be doing this again!

One Month old

2010-08-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Dominic is now a month old and growing and changing like crazy! He is now smiling real smiles ( I still haven't gotten him to do it for me when I have the camera) and he is cooing. He rolled over on Friday 4 times in a row. He went to the doctor about 2 weeks ago and he weighed 8lbs 2oz so I'm sure he his more than that now! He is such a happy baby we couldn't be more blessed.

Elizabeth and John absolutely love him! They are always wanting to hold him and change him.

Here he is sporting his Husker binki and socks! He loves this binki! Future Husker?!?

This chair vibrates so his eyes get really wide and he goes cross eyed. Too cute!

I had to take this picture! Look at his triple chin!

He loves taking a bath until I take him out then he gets really mad at me!

The results are in!!

2010-08-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

The DVT I have is not genetic!!! This means I only have to be on blood thinners for 6 months! We are so excited! I have an appointment with the Hematologist on Monday b/c I had an elevated Lupus (sp) hormone which typically is elevated anyways in pregnant or recently pregnant women. My doctor wasn't concerned but he wanted to get a specialist opinion on the raised level and if he will recommend me to be on the blood thinners a little longer than 6 months. So we will see on Monday what the specialist have to say. My swelling is still there but not nearly as severe as before and the pain in my leg is significantly less. Going through this makes me so thankful for my family and it grounds me and reminds me to keep my faith in God and to trust in Him. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers! The power of prayer is a wondrous thing! God Bless!

I'm home now!!!

2010-07-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

I was able to go home last night!! I am so happy to be home! I just got back from the Dr and my levels have reached 2.0 which is how thin they want my blood. I still have to give myself the rest of the Lovenox shots and I will get my blood tested again tomorrow so they know how much Coumadin I have to take. I also get to wear these lovely Ted Hose! I feel so attractive!! Thank you guys for the prayers! We really appreciate it!

Back in the hospital! :(

2010-07-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back in the hospital. I thought I was done with this place after having Dominic but unfortunately that isn't how things work. I am in the hospital because I have developed a blood clot in my upper left thigh. John and I went for a walk on Friday night with the kids and my leg started hurting. The next day it was still bothering me but I didn't notice any swelling until that night and the fact that my left leg was a different color than my right. I realized this was not a good thing so the next day I noticed the selling was getting worse and it was getting harder to walk so I showed my sister and she went on about this show that she watched and there was a guy who had the same thing and it was a blood clot. We started talking and realized that my mom's brother passed away from a pulmonary embolism. So I decided once John got home from work that I was going to go to the ER and get it checked out. Well my dad ended up taking me b/c John wasn't getting home fast enough. :) John got there and I had an ultrasound done on my leg and that is how they found the clot. They admitted me and wanted me to stay for 5 days. Well as you know I just had a baby and I didn't want to be away from my kids that long so fortunately if all goes well tomorrow I get to go home.I have also been able to keep Dominic in my room with me so that has been really nice. I have to give my self shots of Lovenox 2x a day for 5 days and also take another blood thinner for 6 months. Right now I am on bed rest but tomorrow I should be able to get up and walk around. They are doing blood test on me to see if this is just pregnancy related or genetic. So please pray everything goes well and I get to go home tomorrow!

IT'S A BOY!!!

2010-07-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

I know he will be a week old tomorrow but better late than never right?!?! Introducing Dominic Anthony born 7/7/10 at 4:25am weighing 6lbs 13oz and 20 1/4 inches long.

He had some issues breathing when he was born he had swallowed a lot of fluid. He was put on oxygen and a IV and was monitored for 12 hours before he was allowed in our room finally!

He had a feeding tube in as well has an oxygen tube and an IV. He had an x-ray done on his chest to make sure they got all the fluid and the nurses were all shocked when it came back clear.

The kids are so excited to have a new baby in the house. Surprisingly John is doing really well and Elizabeth is like a little mother hen!

You can't tell he's a proud daddy can you?

Getting ready to go home! Finally!!

We had some awake time at home! He is doing wonderful! He sleeps great and eats like a champ! We are so thrilled to finally meet him!

My life is changing!

2010-06-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to announce that I am now a stay at home mom!!! We ended up going to Labor and Delivery on Sunday night due to contractions that just wouldn't stop and kept getting worse. I am only 36 weeks pregnant so still too early for me to have this baby. So they pumped me full of IV fluids to try and rehydrate me but I was still contracting and dilating. Turns out I am now dilated to 4 and 80% effaced. Eventually the contractions slowed down enough that the next morning they felt comfortable sending me home. I went in for a follow up check up and the Dr said we need you to make it at least 1 more week to be full term so I have been told no more work!! I am still having contractions through out the day but that is normal for me and I'm really trying hard to push fluids to keep the contractions at bay. I am so excited that we are actually going to make it to the month I am due this time! Our goal is to make it past the 4th of July b/c that will officially make me 37 weeks and then they won't try and stop my labor after that and then it's all in God's hands! The kids are so excited that they no longer have to go to daycare and can stay home with me. Now I need to figure out a schedule for them so they don't get bored and I don't go crazy!

Happy Birthday John!!!

2010-06-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

John is 3!! I can't believe how time flys by! It is our tradition to have Mickey Mouse pancakes on your birthday and balloon on your chair! The kids love it and I loved it when I was a kid!

John loves M&M's so his choice for the face was obvious! He ate more of the M&M's than the actual pancake!

Of course what is a birthday without your favorite kind of birthday cake?!?

He thought he was done with his birthday after the cake b/c he didn't see any presents wrapped up on the table like usual. To his surprise a big present that was covered in a blanket mysteriously rolled out into the living room!

He was so excited to get his very own car!

Today we had his birthday party with all of our family and friends! John ordered 8ft in a sub sandwich which ended up being WAY TOO MUCH! We sent home foot longs with 4 different families! We had a TON of food left over!

We had a Transformers Themed b-day party (more Big John's idea than lil John's)! Everyone was walking around with black, blue or red teeth!

There is nothing like a pinata at a party!

A nice dip in the pool when it's 95 degrees out is always a great idea! The kids had a blast and John fell asleep on his dad after everyone left! Too cute!

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Before you read this I have to admit that some of what I have written is very embarrasing to John and I but we don't regret any decisions we made in the past because we have learned from our mistakes and if we wouldn't have made any changes to our behavior we would still be making them!

We’ve paid off $42,500 in 3 years!!!!

Here is how our Journey started:

We were one of those ignorant people who thought buying a house with no money down was a good plan. So 4 ½ years ago we bought our first house at ages 20 & 21 with no money down and thought we were moving up in the world. John and I had already been married 3 years at that point and we had a 2 ½ year old daughter, we thought we had it all figured out. I would look at the numbers before we closed on the house and figured if we had perfect months every month that we could make it plus John was up for a promotion so we thought he would get a raise after we closed. Unfortunately he didn’t get the promotion so all of that went out the window. He started searching for a new job which he did end up getting but it was 7 months after we had moved in and of course since we didn’t have perfect months we weren’t making it. We brought home $2180 a month and had a $745 a month house payment we were barely making it. So we started defaulting on our credit cards and car payment and truck payment even (yes I know) our house payment and any other bill that would come in b/c we just didn’t have the money to pay them. So we, of course, were sent to collections and we were starting to get all the nasty letters and phone calls and we were even sued.

With John starting his new job he was making more money but for some reason we still weren’t making it. He went from bringing home $200 a week to anywhere from $500-$800 a week. Where was all of our money going?? Well it turns out we were nickel and diming our selves to death. We had enough! In February of 2007 we got our tax return and instead of blowing it like we usually did we used it to pay off our first debt which was Kay Jewelers. It felt good to have one debt gone. So we kept going, little by little we were paying off our debts, the problem was though is we still didn’t have a plan. We knew we wanted to pay off our debts and not have to worry about finding another collection notice in the mail or worry about answering our phone but we just didn’t have the steps to do it.

In June of 2007 we were blessed with our 2nd child and I was going to stay home from work because we couldn’t afford daycare. I put in my notice at work and the VP came up to me and asked if there was anything that they could do to get me stay. I was completely honest with her and told her I would need a raise. We couldn’t make it with me working and only making $8.25 an hour so to my great shock she offered me $10.50 an hour if I would stay on with the chance of a promotion in a couple of months. In November 2007 the chance for a promotion was there and I applied and got it. Along with the position I also got another raise. So I was now making $11.50 an hour and we were doing great. We were paying off our debt slowly but surely and everything started looking up.

In January of 2008 the transmission in our 1994 Ford Explorer went out and instead of replacing it we went out and financed a 2006 Ford 500 and because our credit was still so bad we ended up with a 23% interest rate and we thought that there was nothing else we could do “You’ll always have a car payment”. Then in April I was helping a customer open up an Insured Money Market Savings account for their Baby Emergency Fund of $1000.00 and they kept talking about this guy named Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University class that was so awesome and how this account was going to be for emergencies only and they weren’t going to touch it. The whole time I kept thinking to myself “Yeah right! Everybody says they are going to save money and not touch it but they’ll never follow through with it.” Well this couple kept talking and told me to listen to this Dave guy on the radio Monday thru Friday. So I filed that information in the back of my mind and in June I remembered what that couple had said and looked him up. I started listening to his show and at first thought it was all a big scam. He was talking about these baby steps and I thought I can barely get $10 in my savings account how am I supposed to be able to put $1000 in a savings account.

I tried talking to John about it but he just kept saying the only reason this guy is so rich is because people fall for his scam and buy his stuff. So he was totally not onboard with this. Well I kept listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio and happened to catch a Debt Free Friday show and the emotion these callers felt when they were telling their story was palpable and it would bring tears to my eyes just hearing the sense of relief, accomplishment and freedom in their voices. I decided at that point that we were going to do this, we had to do this for our family and ourselves! So I called John and told him that I was going to go out and buy Dave Ramsey’s books and envelope system and that I think we should really give this a try.

He said go ahead but this is all on you, I want nothing to do with it. So with out his help I started making a budget and saving money and trying to follow Dave Ramsey’s rules without John’s help. I tell you what that is not an easy thing to do! So finally in December on 08 John made a comment on our way home from the grocery store about how he liked not getting late notices in the mail and collection calls and having money in savings to pay for things like Christmas and Emergencies. I just smiled to myself and thought YES!! I’ve got you now!!!

So in January I had him sit down with me and we did a budget and we started working the plan together! That is the key to this whole thing! You have to do it together! I signed us up for Financial Peace University in August of 09 just so we could get the whole benefit of his teachings and we learned so much!!

So we started this long journey in February 2007 making $40k with $42,500 in debt to paying off our last debt (which was the car at 23% 3 years early) 3 years and 2 months later in April 2010 making $70k!!

We are expecting our 3rd child in July and I will be quitting my job to be a SAHM. Because of Dave Ramsey and his teachings we are finally getting some financial peace!

Bittersweet Colorado Trip

2009-06-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is a really hard post for me. As most of you know my Grandpa is very ill with Pulmonary Fibrosis. It is now to the point that when he leaves the house he is confined to a wheel chair and is on oxygen 24/7. The doctors aren't giving him much time and he doesn't think there is much time left either. It was so great to be able to see my grandpa one more time but it was also very hard. It is hard to see someone you love so much go through this. This is a weekend I will never forget. I will take from it so many wonderful memories to cherish! He has already given me so many memories that I cherish and this will be the cherry on top.

Poor Elizabeth!! She had to wear an eye patch on the way to Colorado because on Wednesday (the day before we left) her brother poked her in the eye and scratched her eye. She is on medicated eye drops until they run out. She's not too thrilled about it!

I had to take this picture of him putting the bowl on his head!
This is the train at Tiny Town in Colorado. It goes all around the park and I have been going on this train since I was little and it is so cool to be able to do that with my family!

In the caboos are Taylor, Zach & Elizabeth. They had such a great time!

All of these little houses were donated to Tiny Town and are kept up by volunteers and the people who donate them. There are about 50 little houses here and they are all so creative!

This beautiful woman is my grandma! She is so special to me! I love her so much!

This is the highest I have ever seen this creek and the highest my Grandpa has ever seen it! It was so pretty!

I had to push them both at the same time that got a little tricky at times!

Elizabeth couldn't get high enough!

Here is the most wonderful man in the world! My Grandpa! I love him so much!

The "Kids" had a blast at the park that is right across the street from my grandparents house. This is the same tire swing Nicole and I used to play on when were little and visit!

Nicole was the only adult brave enough to do the Tilt-a-Whirl, I just can't do that anymore my stomach won't let me! :(

You can't tell who he looks like can you?? :)

After the Alpine slide we went to the Red Rocks! What a gorgeous place! It is so amazing seeing all of those big red rocks and the shapes. Makes you really think how something like that was made. Did water make the rocks eroud like that? Was it God who put them there like that? I think a little of both. Just Beautiful!

This is so cute!

Dad's Visit to Nebraska

2009-06-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

My dad stayed with us for a day while he was waiting for the rest of his buddies to make it here. He was on his way to Canada for a week long fishing trip. We had fun while he was here but it was way too short!

Me and my dad!

Grandpa and his Grandbabies!

I made pancakes and John made bacon and eggs on the morning my dad left. John (little) wanted to be a big boy and sit with the rest of the kids so there he is with his cousin's in his booster seat! He was so happy! (Lucky just looks pitiful in his cage getting teased with all that delicious food)

My Sleeping Beauty(s)!

2009-06-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

I went up to check on the kids and this was too funny I had to take a picture!

Swinging is such hard work!

Elizabeth's Dance Recital (a month late)

2009-06-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some belated pictures of Elizabeth's Dance Recital. The actual pictures of her recital didn't turn out so here are the before the recital pictures! Isn't she beautiful!

It's Officially Official!

2009-04-28T09:10:00.014-07:00

John has accepted the Head Coaching Position for Arlington's Junior High Cross Country team! This means instead of being a volunteer he is now a paid coach! He is so thrilled! I am thrilled as well for him he has already put in 3 years as an assistant coach and now he has an official title! Can we say snowball??

OUR NEW PORCH!!!!!!!

2009-04-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is what our porch used to look like (John barely got out there to take a before picture)

I think it looks better gone then it ever did up

The guys who worked on our porch got all this done on a Saturday

The colonial style railings are almost complete

The rails are done and the lattice is up!

I started priming on Sunday and finished priming on Wednesday. I took Thursday off (it was 85 perfect weather for painting) started painting at 8:30 in the morning and didn't finish until 9 pm ask John he'll vouch for me! I stopped for lunch and dinner and that's about it!

So this is what 12 hrs of painting looks like!

I LOVE IT!!!!!! We bought wicker chairs for it too and with the porch swing it looks so nice! It ties it all together so nicely! We are so proud of this improvement! It took 4 months of no stop saving to get this complete! It feel so good to have it done!

UPDATE

2009-04-22T08:00:00.018-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated in a while I have been busy painting my new porch (I will post pictures when it's done)!! As of Saturday we are hive free!!! All of the sudden they just disappeared! She was very happy when she stopped itching! She was so miserable I felt so bad for her!

John has already started preparing for the upcoming Cross Country Season. He just bought new running shoes last week and has been busy breaking them in! Cross Country camp will start the last week in May and he wants to make sure he can go out and run with the kids and still keep up! So he's been running about 4 miles a day and will slowly build it up to 7! I think he's crazy! But he loves it!

Elizabeth's Mysterious Rash

2009-04-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from Elizabeth's school saying that she had broken out in a mysterious rash. I rushed to her school to see what as going on and when I got there I was speechless! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to see her like that! Her lips were so swollen they started to crack. I called the Dr's office and told them we were coming in and needed to see a Dr. right away. As soon as I got there we were led back to an office where the nurse was so surpised by what she saw she immeditaly asked if she was breathing fine. Luckily she had no problems with that she just itched like crazy! While we were there we ruled out the obvious, no unusual foods, no new medicines, school lunch was the same types of foods she eats normally and never had a problem, no new cleaning products in the house nothing had changed. According to the Dr the most common reason for someone to break out in hives is a reaction to new medicine and the 2nd most common is new foods, then he said that 50% of cases like this the don't know what caused it or why. So here we are with a child who has broken out in a severe case of hives and we don't know why. He prescibed an oral medication and Cortizone 10.

It started at her head and worked it's way all the way down to her toes. It looked like it was flushing it's self out but by the time it got to her toes she started screaming. It was the worst experience of my life! She was screaming it burns, it hurts so bad make it stop. I had no idea what to do so I went to the kitchen grabbed a baggy and filled it with ice and made her put her feet on it. It seemed to help. She soon fell asleep on the couch and I carried her to bed. I didn't get much sleep last night. Every hour or so she woke up b/c it started itching again. So I would apply more Cortizone 10 and we'd go back to sleep. When my alarm clock went off this morning I turned on the light to see how she looked. It was all over her face. Her lips were so swollen they were bleeding and on the cycle went. She has been without a sign of a hive for a couple of hours now, but I just did another check of her and it's starting at her ankle now. The cycle continues. The doctor said by Saturday afternoon it should run its course and she should be fine but if not we will go back to the Dr on Sunday.

Let's pray she gets better soon! I feel so bad for her! I will keep you all updated!

Easter

2009-04-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

On the hunt!

No John didn't get his own basket too! He's trying to get the shovel off of John's bucket! Look at them already scarffing down that candy! Couldn't get it in fast enough.

The coveted Bedtime Stories movie!

The Easter basket!

They had such colorful eggs! They were so proud of the work they did!

Our very first egg dyeing experience! He did very well I was so impressed!

This is Elizabeth and John all dressed up in their Easter finery! Don't they look adorable?? The dress Elizabeth is wearing is from Grandma and Grandpa Colorado. That so grown up shirt John is wearing is also from Grandma and Grandpa Colorado!

We went to Grandma and Papa's for the most delicious dinner (of course)! If any one knows my dad they know that he will spend hours in the kitchen until what he is making turns out to his satisfaction and trust me he didn't disappoint! I was assigned the dessert! I made a cake called Grasshopper Cake. It had real whip cream (which I made), homemade chocolate cake (I made that too) and chopped up York Peppermint Patties! Now make it three layers! Delish! If I may say so myself I am a fabulous baker (even though I don't like to)! It turned out really well! The only complaint was from Taylor she didn't like the mint! You can't please everyone!

Giving it a try

2009-04-15T13:06:00.010-07:00

Ok so I am finally getting with it and starting a blog. I figured since most everybody else in my family has I might as well too! :)

I will try to post regularily so I stay up to date! But I warn you I make no promises!

I will post more with pics later!