Cabo San Lucas

Cabo was the day I was most looking forward to.  I was so excited to swim with the dolphins.  On this day the guys took all of the kids while the girls went swimming with the dolphins and then shopping.  It was so so much fun!

Mazatlan

At Mazatlan the guys all went fishing.  The girls took the kids in to town for some shopping.  Here are some pictures from the guys fishing trip. (Sorry the girls didnt take any pictures that day....to busy with the crazy kids)

Puerto Vallarta

So we ended up arriving at out port in the late afternoon instead of in the morning  (due to our loosing someone overboard the night before).  It was nice to finally get to port and have some fun in the sun.  We had jet skiing and the beach lined up for today.  We were still able to do this, even with our late arrival.  It was so much fun. I am so sad, however, that I did not get a picture of any of us jet skiing.  Both Casen and Jace loved it...So did their mom and dad.

Sea Days-Sad Day

     So on Monday and Tuesday we had days that we stayed on the boat.  "Fun at Sea" days.  On Monday we had a lot of fun exploring the boat, going to shows, and the kids went to Camp Carnival.  Monday was a great way to start off the trip.
      Because I document on this as a journal, family history I must talk about Tuesday to Wednesday on the trip.  Tuesday started out as a great day.  Woke up and went and had a yummy breakfast.  Skip took the kids to play miniature golf, etc.  Then we had lunch.  After lunch the kids wanted to go and play at the water park and water slides.  We thought that sounded like a great idea.  All 16 of us got our swim suits on and headed up to the top deck.  Then of course as we got up there Jace needed to go to the bathroom (#2....which takes forever!) so Skip headed back down to our room with him.  I had Cora and was playing at the Splash Park when I heard Casen screaming hysterically and my brother, Bryan, screaming my name.  I look over and Bryan is holding Casen and there is blood everywhere.  I immediately go to grab him...while my brother, Brandon grabs Cora.
     I grab Casen and can tell very quickly that he needs a doctor.  Then I look and his front, permanent tooth is gone...not at all there.  I grab Casen and start running back up the deck to go to the ships hospital.  Let me paint you a picture of what this looks like.  Here is me, in a swimsuit with nothing else on (no coverup, shoes, etc.) holding my 7 year old walking as quickly as possible across the top deck.  Casen is screaming, crying, and bleeding everywhere.  Everyone on deck that was peacefully laying out is now jumping up.  One of the people that jumped up ran up to me and immediately started telling me that he was a dentist and was going to go with us down to the hospital.
     So we end up down at the ship hospital.  Lucky for me I had my entire family with me.  My brother's friend Tony and my brother Bryan had grabbed Casen's tooth out of the pool and brought it down to the hospital.  I have never really seen a permanent tooth (with the root totally intact) out of the mouth before. I was blown away by how long the root was it was crazy.
     The hospital called Skip and got him to come down there. Thank goodness. The dentist immediately was telling us that we needed to get the tooth back into his mouth.  He said this was essential to try and save the tooth.  The ships doctor was saying that any oral/ tooth injuries must be sent off of the boat. They were arguing.... that the ships medical team can not fix Casen and the dentist was arguing that he could do it.  Of course the doctor was saying because of liability the dentist could not fix the tooth on the boat.  They wanted to send us on a boat to Puerto Vallarta (closest to where we were at the time) for medical care.  The dentist was saying there was no way he would take his kids to Mexico for care. I refused to send Casen.  The doctor left the room to go and get an "Against Medical Advice" form for me to feel out.  It was so crazy because being a nurse...there are not many circumstances in which I would go against medical advice.  While the doctor was gone the dentist looked at me and said "I will just hurry and put this back in...it is the best thing to do" he then put the tooth back in before the doctor came back in. The dentist then left the ships doctor to deal with everything else.  They kept an eye on Casen for a while and then finally the bleeding and everything had stopped and we were able to leave.
     I have to tell you how fantastic this dentist ended up being.  He checked on Casen that night and then everyday for the rest of the cruise.  He said there were things he would have done if he had his stuff with him or the ship would have let him do the care.  However, under the circumstances, he was so so great.

What happened?
     So after all the chaos calmed down Bryan told me what had happened.  I guess Casen was going down the water slide on his stomach feet first.  He collided with Parker at the bottom of the slide and hit his face on the end of the slide.

Since being back from the cruise.....Casen has had had a couple of appointments for his tooth/mouth.  XRays showed when we got home that the area was infected (Not really surprising due to the fact the tooth was completely out and in the pool).  He was on antibiotics and then has had follow up.  He will need to go to an endodontist in about two months (after complete healing) to have the tooth and area repaired. But all things said a very good outcome.

So after the accident we went to dinner (Casen didn't eat) and then I took the kids back to the room to go to bed.  It had already been a very long day.  Skip went to some Comedy shows with the family.  He got back to the room and went to bed just after midnight.  At about 1:15am the beep beep beep came on over the intercom  and told us a man had gone overboard and we are beginning a search.  Panic set in.  I immediately ran next door to check on Brandon and Tony...they were in their room. Bryan, whose room was on the other side of me was immediately in the hall as well.  Then Thad was in the hall and had just called Brady's room (he was a couple of floors up from us) and they were in their room. Everyone began flooding the halls.  Everyone was awake.  All of us went up on deck to see what was going on.  They had the search lights and search boat scanning the ocean.  It was a very sad and scary moment

Our cruise director's blog      

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/10/13/a-very-sad-day/

These things did put a damper on the atmosphere of the cruise especially during the time we searched for this person (about 8 hours) I felt so bad.

Cruisin to Mexico

On October 10th we got on board the Carnival Splendor. We were so excited to go on our week long cruise to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo).  Here are a few of the pictures from the on board the cruise.

 Carnival Splendor

The little boys

Parker and Jace

The little girls

And what is any cruise without the YUMMY food. Oh so Good!

Aftermath

I know it has been a while since I updated my blog.  I would like to start with where I left off.

     When I woke up Monday morning, after only sleeping a couple of hours, I was still very concerned about my house.  I was hearing that the worst of the fire was over and that we may be able to get a police escort to go out to our house and grab a few things.  I went down to Herriman City Hall and requested a police escort out to the house.  We were then able to go, under escort, to our house.
     Can I tell you what a relief it was to see our house was still there.  From the outside our house looked good.  You could not see any damage.  But when we walked into our house the smell was absolutely overwhelming.  You could also see ash near doors and windows.  I knew it was going to take some serious clean up to fix the house.  I was also worried about taking Jace back into a smoke/ ash filled house with his asthma.
     After we grabbed a few things we were escorted back out of our neighborhood and the evacuated area.  We went back to my moms house and called our home insurance company.  We told them of the damage.  They were really great.  They lined up a hotel for us and the clean up crews for the house.  By Monday night they lifted the evacuation and allowed people back into their homes. We went and met the clean up crew at the house.  They were wiping the walls down and you could see the black that was on our walls (this was shown on the local news).  They told us the clean up would take about a week.
     I was very surprised at how many things went into the cleaning up of a house near a fire.  They had to remove everything permeable from the house.  They took every piece of clothing (ties, belts, shoes)  towels, bedding, shower curtains, rugs, etc. etc. out and sent them for cleaning.  I was amazed at how gutted my house was.  They then had clean up crews come in.  They cleaned the house, air ducts/ ac/ furnace,  floors, etc.
     During the clean up there were still a lot of firefighters, police, etc. in our neighborhood.  The fire was still burning on the back side of the mountain and there was a potential that it would circle around again and cause us to be re evacuated.  We all prayed a lot.  Luckily the fire did not come back again and they had it completely out by Friday (the fire started on Sunday).

I must also include in this post my experiences with the Army during this time.  On Tuesday the army took full responsibility for starting the fire and said that they were going to take care of the expenses incurred by the fire.  They set up a claims number for people with damage to call.  I called on Tuesday and reported my house.  They sent military officers out to my house on Wednesday.  These officers were really compassionate they told me how sorry they were for the fire and the stress it has caused everyone.  They also took note of the damage done to my house.  Since this time I have been to the claims office a couple of times.  Every single person has been great to work with.  The military did pay for all of the damage done to my house.  I am thankful that they took responsibility for their actions.

     After most of the cleanup was completed we returned home.  This was on Saturday night (almost a week after the crazy fire had started).  Then there was all of the stuff being delivered back from the cleaners.  Holly Molly this took forever to put everything back.  It seriously was like we were moving again.  Finally we got settled back into our house.
     I know I will never ever forget this fire and all of the experiences that went along with it.  As a family we learned a lot.  I have gained a new appreciation for what really is important.  Things can be replaced....even though it would be very tough emotionally.  Family is everything.  We are so grateful for everyone who helped save our house, neighborhood, and community.

Fire Fire Fire!!! (Day 1)

Because I use this for my family scrapbook, journal, etc. etc. I feel this is a very important event to document.

     I am currently typing this blog post from a hotel.  This has been a very very crazy week.  Let me start from the beginning.  On Sunday we all woke up and started getting ready for the day.  Skip was working from 8-4 that day so he got ready and headed out.  The kids and I had a more relaxed morning.  We had breakfast and relaxed a little before getting ready for church.  We then headed out to church.
     Skip and I are currently serving in the nursery class at church so I was in their with all the kids and there are a couple of other leaders as well.  At about 3:50 we opened the window to let the kids look outside while we wait for church to end (we do this every Sunday....the kids love to look out the window).  One of the other leaders started commenting on the smoke outside and the fact that he had noticed it before church.  At 4:00 church ended and I went and picked the boys up from their class and started to head up our neighborhood to our house.  At this time you could see a lot of smoke coming up over the hill.  To give you an idea.....everyone drove to the top of our neighborhood (where our house is ) to check out the smoke/fire before going home. 
     When I got home and walked in Skip was already home.  He had left a little bit early that day (turned out to be a huge blessing).  So Skip and I decided to go outside and see how bad the smoke had gotten.  It looked pretty bad but you could not really tell how far away it was.  I decided to call the Herriman Fire Dept to ask.  At this time it is about 4:20.  The fire dept told me there was a fire at Camp Williams but it was a ways away so we did not have to be to concerned.  I told myself okay and began getting myself and the kids ready to go to my parents for dinner.  We were having dinner at 5pm.
     At about 4:45 we loaded into the van and started heading down the neighborhood to my parents house.   When we got to the bottom of the neighborhood we were going to turn out when about 6 fire trucks started pulling into our neighborhood.  I was immediately concerned.....if they are all coming to our neighborhood chances are the fire is coming as well.  We turned around and followed the fire trucks up to the top (right by my house).  We got out of the car and started talking to them.
     They said that there was a possibility the fire was heading this way.  I asked them what I should do?  Do I still go to my parents house?  Do I need to take valuables with me?  They said that If I went I should probably take my really important stuff with me.  By this time it is 5pm and I am starting to freak out. I call my parents and my in laws and tell them to please come help us get the important stuff out of our house.
      My neighbors are all outside by now. More and more police, fire trucks, etc. are showing up.  I am now beginning to really panic.  We start trying to figure out the important stuff we need to get out of our house.  It is crazy because you think you know what you would grab but when it is actually happening it is so confusing.     Let me kind of explain what is going on at this point.  I am panicking thinking of everything I need to get out of my house, everything that could be gone if I don't...Casen is crying and grabbing things like legos and a $5 lamp.  We are telling Casen we can not take those things.  Cora is screaming and holding onto my legs because she is tired and hungry.  Jace is also grabbing random things he thinks he should take.  Then the bad gets worse.
      My mother in law calls and says their are cops everywhere and they will not let anyone up into our neighborhood.  Then my parents call...they cant get up either.  I am freaking out I have my three kids a house full of stuff and I can not get any help up there.  My mom gives her phone to the police who I beg to let them up to help me.  He is yelling at me to get my kids in the car and get out of there. This is bad....getting worse.  I decide I do need to get my kids out of there.  There were police everywhere so I took the three kids to the first police officer and asked them to take them out of there.  He was very nice and took the kids.  This would give Skip and I a few minutes to grab thing.
     Now for my tribute to my brother Brandon....He was with my parents when they refused to let them up.  He decided he would jump fences and go in peoples back yards and try to sneak up to our house.  One cop saw him and told him if he did not evacuate immediately he would be arrested.  He knew we needed help though and so he went back up jumping peoples back fences.  When he got to my house he was throwing up over and over again.  By this time the smoke was so bad and he was running.  So he had some smoke inhalation.  It was so nice to have him up there to help.
     The cops began driving up and down our street with sirens and lights going.  We kept grabbing stuff.  We tried to get as much as we could into the van and skips car. Our neighbors are doing the same thing. Finally several police went house to house and forced us out of our home.  They made sure everyone was out and then put yellow sheriff tape across it.  When we looked up at the mountain now it was not just smoke...you could see flames.  Brandon drove me and the van out.  Skip drove his car out.  We got down to the church where both our parents were and they had the kids.  I was physically sick!
     We drove to my parents house. It was an emotional ride over.  We kept looking outside (from my parents house in South Jordan) and you could tell it was getting worse.  We were watching the news. Our neighborhood was the first to be evacuated (about 200 homes) but the news kept raising these evacuation numbers.  The fire was gaining ground.  We drove back out toward Herriman (a couple hours later to see what was going on)  the smoke, cars, and confusion was everywhere.  The roads were all blocked.  You could just see the mountain burning.  It looked like our neighborhood had been swallowed by flames.  None of the emergency personnel had any answers as to what was going on...which neighborhood/ houses were on fire.  Everyone was directing us to Herriman High School (where the emergency evacuation shelter was).  Skip and Thad were in one car.  My mom and I were in another.  I swear it took forever to get to the high school.  Tons of roads closed...traffic like I have never seen because of the evacuations. In the meantime their was all kinds of confusing information.  People were saying some houses in the cove had burned but they didn't know which ones.
     I was balling when I reached Herriman High.  One of the city councilmen started hugging me telling me he would try to get some more information. Everyone was glued to the TVs they had set up watching the news, trying to get some information as to what was going on.  We stayed there for a while but there was no information.  No one knew what was going on.  We finally decided to go back to my parents house to watch the news and see if the kids would go to bed.
     I stayed glued to the TV and internet until about 2 am trying to get information.  I decided to try and lay down at about 2am.  Of course I could not sleep.  At about 3 am my mom and I decided to drive back out toward Herriman to try and get information.  We got as close as we could to our neighborhood, which was not close to it.  It looked like the entire Cove was on fire.  I couldn't even handle it....especially the not knowing.  We took all the back roads and eventually made it to the Herriman fire station, which was command central for the fire.  This center was full of firefighters, police, and media.  I was balling my eyes out and went to a couple of fire fighters and just asked them if my house was still there.  They were so compassionate. They took me into the fire station to the head person.  He was also a very very nice man.  He told me that my house was still there.  He said it was still at risk but it was still there.  I was so relived just to get some factual information.  I went home and slept for about two hours and then got up the next morning hoping the fire fighters were wining.

Jace's Big Boy Bed/ Room

Jace has gotten so big that we decided it was time to move him to a big boy bed (He was still in a toddler bed).  This is his new bedroom set.  He is really excited about it.  We are also putting some sports things in his room....like his big brothers and so he was really loving that.

Jace starts 4 year old Preschool

Jace started Kindergarten Prep this last week.  He loves loves loves his new school.  I have been really impressed with the teachers and the school.  He will be going to his new school three days a week and to his old preschool two days a week.  I cant believe my little 4 year old will be going to school five days a week.  He is going to be one smart little boy....My sweet Jace.

Jace turns 4

I can not believe that Jace is already four years old.  He is getting so big so fast.  To celebrate his birthday we took him out on the town (with the fam).  He loved it we took him to dinner, bumper cars, laser tag, etc.  To bad I did not have my camera.  It got taken out of my purse during the move.  So sad to not have these pictures.  We also had a little cake and ice cream celebration for him.  It was a lot of fun we had the family and friends there to help celebrate.  Thanks Everyone....It was fun to get together!!

 

Casen Starts 2nd Grade

Casen started 2nd grade at his new school.  It has been a really busy week.  He is starting to meet new kids in our neighborhood and at school.  The most exciting part is that he gets to ride the bus.  He also rode his bike to school once with dad.  He loved it.....

Skip's Graduation

On May 30, 2010 Skip graduated from LECOM with a PharmD degree.  He has worked very hard for a long time to achieve this goal.  The kids and I are soooooo proud of him.  Here are some pictures from this very special day.

Pharmacy Class of 2010

Skip, after receiving his diploma

Skip receiving the doctoral hood

Cora looking at the commencement program

All of us....after the graduation

What a great great day.

Niagara Falls....One last time.

We were really lucky that Niagara Falls is so close to Erie, PA.  We have been able to go several times over the last few years.  While back in Erie for Skips graduation we decided we definitely needed to go to Niagara Falls one last time.  It was so much fun to go with all of our family all together.

Skip and I at the falls

All of us getting ready to get on the Maid of the Mist

A Day at the Zoo

We went to the zoo with my family this weekend.  It was so much fun. The kids are already asking to go back.  The weather was also very very nice.

Of course we had to start the day out with the train!

We then made our way around the zoo....visiting with all of the animals.

Here is all of us at the Ape Exhibit

A Great Day!!

T Ball

 It has been a very busy baseball season.  Both boys are playing and having a ton of fun. Here are a few pictures of Jace playing T Ball.

 

Daddy giving Cora a flower.

 Cora's 1 year old picture....

Let the Games Begin.....

Cora is One!!!!

On Tuesday, April 6th Cora turned one year old.  I can not believe my baby is one... She has grown so fast.
At 1 Cora...
     *Can drink from a sippy cup (bottles are gone)
     *Still really likes her pacifier
     *Speed crawls like a crazy woman
     *Can take 2-3 steps independently (and then falls forward to whoever is catching her)
     *Can make her needs/wants known, by pointing and grunting/yelling
     *Totally loves playing with her brothers
     *Says mama and dada

Casen's 7th Birthday

I seriously can not believe that I have a seven year old.  Time has gone by so so quickly.  This year we celebrated Casen's birthday with a family party (for both Casen and Cora) and then a friend party at the Mayan.  Casen was so excited for both of his parties.  It has been a couple years since he could celebrate with family.  He was also very excited to have a party at the Mayan, which is his favorite restaurant.  Here are some pictures of his friend party.

Easter 2010

We had a great Easter Weekend.  We were able to do a lot of fun things and spend time with the family.  My brother and his family even flew in from Texas.  So much fun!

We started the weekend off on Saturday morning by hitting three Easter egg hunts.  The kids got a ton of candy and had a lot of fun doing it.  We even got some great things at the hunts including...gift certificates (sweet tomatoes), coupons (wingers, chick fila, etc.), and money (they put quarters in some of the eggs).  The Easter egg hunts totally bring back memories from when I was a kid.

We then went over to grandmpa and grandma's house to dye easter eggs with the cousins.  After doing the eggs there I decided we should dye them at her house every year (keep the mess there...haha). 

Later that night we went and saw the movie How to Train Your Dragon.  It was a cute movie and the kids loved it.  Finished off the night with some great Chinese food take out at Grandpa and Grandmas.

Easter Morning 

The Easter Bunny found us and brought some great stuff.  The baskets had candy, bubbles, etc.  The kids also got some clothes.  The boys got a shirt and tie and Cora got an outfit.  They were excited.

We then headed off to Easter brunch with the family

Here is Cora and Ciara waiting patiently for brunch. 

Here we all are (minus 1 brother who forgot to come) after brunch.....it was way Yummy!

 Happy Easter!