Johnson Family

Merry Christmas!!!

2012-01-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

akstudiodesign.com

Little America....Brunch

2012-01-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

My family has a Christmas Tradition of going to Little America for Brunch. Can I just say how super yummy this is. I love that our family does this. The kids were even able to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus (they needed to make sure they were still on the nice list...there have been some doubts haha). Here are some pictures.

Cora's Very First Dance Concert

2011-12-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows how excited I was to have Cora start dance. I just love that sort of thing. Cora has been loving her dance class. She is always so excited to go and runs right in. The dance rehearsal was the night before the concert. Cora got up there and was so excited. So......I thought we would have no issues the night of the performance. I was wrong. Cora started acting clingy right before it was to start. I ended up having to go back stage with her because she would not go back by herself. I was not sure if she was even going to do it when the time came. Luckily she did go, a little reluctant, but still. I was so happy. I see a long future of dance haha!!

Disney Cruise 2011....Day 7

2011-12-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

So our last day on the boat was a Sea Day. It is kind of sad because you know that you are getting off the boat early the next morning. There were a lot of fun things going on on the boat. My main thing I wanted to do that day was take Cora to see the princesses.

Cora loved seeing all of the princesses and getting them to sign her book.

The boys also got to spend some more time at the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab which they begged to do the entire trip. I did not take any pictures of this but here is a couple from the website.

We also did some of the adult activities during the day.....

After a kind of low key day we had dinner. At dinner they did a show on different nationalities. That was fun to see. Then we headed to the farwell show....After the show ended it was back to the rooms to pack up.....So Sad.

We loved our Vacation!!!!

Disney Cruise 2011....Day 6

2011-12-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Cabo San Lucas
So today was our 2nd day at Cabo. Our plan was to go over to Lover's Beach....which is right by Lands End. We spent the day swimming, snorkeling (didn't get any pictures....Thad took pictures of all of us and then when we got back to land he realized the camera was off while taking the pictures...Hello???), and playing in the sand.

Because we were at Lover's Beach we thought it was a must to walk over and check out Divorce Beach. I don't know why it is called Divorce Beach it should be called Widows Beach....Because if you swim there you die. They have tons and tons of signs saying not to swim at this beach (because of a bad undercurrent)....

Ciara and I kept daring each other to go further down into the water to take a picture....In where we knew we weren't suppose to haha. So we were posing for the pictures then got nervous and ran...Thad was taking the picture and thought it was hilarious. Here is the picture along with all the signs warning against getting in the water.

It was a great day of fun in the sun.....Now for Pirate Night.

Our littlest pirate (Cora) slept through most of dinner and the pirate celebrations in the dining room. Later that night they had a pirate show up on the top deck and then launched fireworks.

Probably my favorite day......Magical!!

Disney Cruise 2011...Day 5

2011-12-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

Cabo San Lucas
We spent two days in Cabo and I absolutely loved both of them. On this first day we got off and headed to the really nice beach resorts. We had the plan of hanging out on the beach and jet skiing. We rented three wave runners that could fit three people on each. They were huge. It was surprising how much Cora loved the wave runners she thought they were great. Casen also loved them, especially when he was driving. Jace didn't really care for the wave runners. He just wanted to be at the beach and swimming. Jace was crazy when it came to swimming in the ocean. He would swim clear out to the way deep water. We all had to keep up with Jace haha. All three kids had life jackets on. I was not about to have one of my kids drowned in Mexico.
Here are some pictures from Day 1 In Cabo:

After we played at the beach for a while my Mom, Ciara, Casen, and I decided we wanted to ride on the banana. It was way way fun. The banana was a double so you could sit on either side or in the middle. The guy driving the boat was pretty crazy so about 5 minutes into the ride.....all four of us were in the middle. I can not believe we do not have any pictures of this. Sad. This is something we will definitely do again.

Disney Cruise 2011....Day 4

2011-12-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

Puerto Vallarta
So Puerto Vallarta was our first port day. The guys had decided they were going to go fishing. We decided we would get off and take the kids shopping for souvenirs.

Shopping was fun. Each of the kids wanted something specific. As you can see in the picture above Cora got a cute pink and silver purse and Jace got a red guitar. They were super easy. Casen on the other hand not so much. He wanted a scorpion neckless. I guess his friend has one so he thought it was a must. First of all it was hard to find. Then we found a couple of stores that had it. It is so funny how they all try to say they are these precious medals and have this high price tag. Of course I knew they were not real and eventually got it down to a decent price. The kids all were very happy with their shopping experience.

The guys were not very good at taking pictures of their fishing trip. I don't think they had very much luck fishing. They only caught one fish all day. Then they didn't even get a picture of it. Can you believe that? They said they saw a lot while they were out fishing. They saw a lot of tuna jumping. The fish were probably just taunting them haha. At least the guys had fun.

After we were done shopping I hit the spa for a sea weed wrap. My mom had won this at the spa raffle and did not want to do it so she sent me. Gotta say it was a little weird haha. I had mushed sea weed spread all over me and then I was wrapped in foil. While I was soaking up the sea weed I had a scalp message. This was not at all as I had pictured it. It was more like a head squeeze, ear and hair pulling experience. This spa experience definitely gave me a laugh when I got back with everyone. I would not choose the sea weed wrap/ scalp message on my next cruise.

The boys returned home from fishing and then it was on to dinner and the show for the night. Tonight it was Toy Story: The Musical

Disney Cruise 2011.....Day 2 & 3

2011-12-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

On our way down to Mexico we had two Sea Days on the boat. These were a lot of fun, although I did not take that many pictures of the things we did. The kids spent time at their clubs. The boys absolutely loved their clubs and seriously wanted to be there at all times. The clubs are open from about 9am to Midnight. I truly could have left the boys in their that whole time and they would have been in heaven. I did not do that, however, I had them with us during meals and family activities and then they did a lot of the club stuff when their was down time (cora's nap time mostly, and in between activities). I am glad the boys had a fun place to go. Cora was also able to go to the clubs with the boys. However, she was not really into it. So maybe went a total of 3-4 hours over the seven days. I think a lot of the problem was that their was so much going on in the clubs that the boys would not give her the time of day. Sad. So we had our little Cora with us most of the time.
The activities we did during these sea days included....cooking class (Mom and I, Watching Sports (Thad and Skip), games, taking the kids to the pool/ Splash pad, Daytime shows, Spa tour/ Spa Treatment, etc. etc.
I think Disney is great with all of their entertainment.

Character Breakfast
The character breakfast was a blast. All the characters come around to the tables for pictures, autographs, and to see everyone. We got all three of the kids an autograph book. They loved getting all of the characters to sign their books. During breakfast the wait staff makes crazy hats for everyone. You can see a few of them in the pictures below. I love the one with Ciara and Cora with their bows. Ciara is loving hers while on the other hand Cora is hating it. To funny.

Dinner
So we had nice sit down dinners every night on the boat. These dinners greatly contributed to my weight gain. They were way yummy. I always have a thing with the appetizers and have to order a few of them, then you add the main course and dessert and wow that is a ton of food.
The kids had a definite favorite for dessert (okay Grandpa even loved these). They were chocolate covered mickeys on a stick. To make them even better they put sprinkles and multi colored marshmallows on top. Here are a few pictures of Cora and Jace enjoying their Mickeys on a stick.

Shows
The night time shows were my absolute favorite thing on the Disney ship. They do such a good job with their Broadway shows. On our two sea days we watched the shows Disney Dreams and The Golden Mickeys.

Disney Cruise 2011.....Day 1

2011-12-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

So we woke up bright and early (3 am) to get ready, get to the airport, and take the first flight out to California. The boys had gone the day before with my parents and had gone to Disneyland. That left just Skip, Cora, and I for the flight out.

After arriving in Long Beach we met up with my parents, Ciara, and the boys. We then headed to the Disney Terminal to get on the Disney Wonder.

While we were waiting to get on the boat we, the girls, decided to go and say hi to Daisy. Cora really wanted to go see her....until we got close then she had the death grip on Ciara. So funny.

When we got on the boat the real fun started.....First it was off to lunch, Yummy....Then touring the boating, and getting settled into the room.

This first night they had a sail away party on the top deck. It was so much fun!! The kids..okay all of us really got into it. Here are some pictures.

After the Sail Away party it was off to dinner. We had early dinning which I think is easier with the kids. After dinner I officially knew that I was going to gain some serious weight over the week. It was just so good I could not stop myself haha. After dinner it was on to the show of the night. The show was All Aboard: Let the Magic Begin.

After the show we were all totally ready for bed. After getting up at 3am it had already been a very long day. We all fell asleep quickly.

Disneyland

2011-11-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

My parents and sister took the boys to Disneyland the day before our cruise. The boys loved it. Are they spoiled or what? Ciara obviously was the one to take the pictures because I have tons of pictures of her and Casen....pretty much on every ride....pictures at every point of every ride haha.

As you can see from this last picture, haha, it was a very fun, very long day. The boys had gotten up at 3:30am to get to the grandparents house and catch the first flight out. They then played hard all day. I guess at dinner Jace was out.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

We have had so much fun this Halloween/ Fall season. Our kids are at such a fun age and really love getting into the festivities. I love our Family Fun Time!!

This year all three kids were pirates. We decided on this theme so they would also be able to wear their costumes on the Disney Cruise for pirate night. I think they made some way cute pirates. I loved all three following the same theme.

Jace showing his own style (no patch, hat sideways) of a pirate at the school parade.

Casen who was almost to cool to even look at the camera during the school parade.

On Halloween night my parents made their super yummy Halloween dinner. I love how everything is so good to eat but also so fun to look at.

After dinner it was off to go trick or treating in my parents neighborhood.

We didn't get a lot of pictures of trick or treating...but here is one. You can see that Jace and Cora are still at these people's door and Casen is already done and running to the next house. What happened to the big brother waiting for his littler siblings...I guess not a chance when there is candy involved haha.

Carving Pumpkins

2011-11-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

We had my family come over on Sunday night to carve pumpkins with us....

Cornbellys 2011

2011-11-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

We decided to buy a season passes (or should I basically say a month pass) to Cornbellys this year. We are so glad we did. We were able to go several times to play. There is so much to do there that I still dont think we did everything. Here are some pictures from our fun at Cornbellys.

Jace Jumping

Casen and Jaren messing around

Crazy Driver

Crazy Driver #2

Skip half helping Cora...half talking on the phone haha

Mining for treasure (Cora had to take her coat off to play in the water)

Corn ball (volley ball)

Casen riding the bull-Loving It

Jace riding the bull-Not loving it

Snuggles with Grandma

Shooting Corn

Searching.....For the perfect pumpkin!!

2011-11-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

We went to a local farm to find our pumpkins this year. It was so much fun to let the kids choose their own from hundreds of pumpkins. Not to mention they loved the tractors, wheelbarrows, etc.

Casen's 3rd Grade Picture

2011-10-13T16:08:00.001-07:00

Jace's Kindergarten Picture

2011-10-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Cora starts Dance!!!

2011-09-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

This was a moment I have been waiting for ever since I found out I was having a girl (okay probably way before that even). Cora started Dance. The most exciting part was how much she LOVED IT!! There were a couple of girls in her class who were crying and did not want to take dance....Not Cora, she marched right on in there so excited to start. I look so forward to her performances. Here are a couple of pictures.

Jace turns 5!!! and starts Kindergarten!!!

2011-09-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

Jace had a very busy day on his birthday. He turned 5 and started Kindergarten on the very same day. It was so fun to take him to school for his first day of Elementary School. He was so excited. Jace finally got to go to the same school as Casen. I dropped him off and then ran and got cupcakes for his class. After school we went to lunch with some friends. That night we had a Birthday Celebration with everyone.

Casen starts 3rd Grade

2011-09-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here is Casen on his first day of 3rd Grade!

Princess Festival

2011-07-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

Cora and I were very lucky this year and won tickets to the Princess Festival. I had never been before and it was really really neat. There were all kinds of stories and activities for the kids....Not to mention all of the princess outfits!!

Our Trip to Alaska....June 2011

2011-07-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

Skip and I went on a cruise to Alaska in June. It was our 10 year anniversary and so we decided to take a trip without the kiddos. We are very grateful to our parents who took turns watching the kids while we were gone. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Leaving Seattle-

It was a very wet and foggy day as we pulled out of Seattle. It kind of made us wonder what the weather was going to be like in Alaska. Lucky for us it was great weather the whole time.

Tracy Arm Fjord-

This is definitely one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been. It is sad that none of the pictures really capture how incredible this really was. This was the day we spent in the Fjord (inside passage). This is a narrow inlet where ice has dragged through land causing huge cliffs on both sides. I was amazed that a cruise ship is able to go through this area. *The bottom two pictures are of the US Coast Guard Helicopter. Unfortunately someone on our ship had a stroke and needed to be airlifted from the boat. It was so neat to see how this is done...they drop a medic, drop the basket, load the patient, pick the basket back up (with pt in it-scary), pick the medic back up, and then off to the hospital. I think all of the people on the ship were on the decks watching this evac*

Before we entered into the Fjord

The end of the Fjord (you can see the glacier down at the end)

Skagway-

In Skagway we decided to do the shore excursion...The Best of Skagway. This was a bus tour up through the Alaskan mountains into Canada. We then took a train throughout the mountains. It was crazy being on this train on the sides of cliffs. Neat and only a little bit scary! After the train ride we were off to Lunch at the Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp. We ended the excursion by going to the Red Onion Saloon (Brothel).

Leaving the ship

This was the road/bridge we drove on

The conductor....Does he not look like a conductor haha?

Juneau-

In Juneau we went on a nature hike up to the glacier and then went whale watching. This was our favorite excursion that we took. They packed a lot into one day. Loved Loved Loved It!!

Ketchikan

In Ketchikan we went zip lining. This was really exciting. You are literally zipping across the mountains and tree tops. We had never done this before and it was great. *So they actually have to tie the camera onto you while you are zip lining....it was tied to Skip so he took pictures of me but we did not get any of him. Sad*

Alaska was Incredible!!!!!!

Family Pictures (Skip's Family)

2011-06-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

All of skip's family got together in May for family pictures. Here are a few of the pictures.

Jace's Preschool Graduations

2011-06-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Jace had a great school year this year. He was able to attend two different pre-k programs. He attended Silver Crest Preschool on Tues/Thurs and Small Wonders Preschool on Mon/Wed/Fri. It kept him very busy throughout this year. He loved both of his schools and has learned a lot this year. Jace is so excited to finish up preschool and to start Kindergarten.

Silver Crest Preschool

These are all of his teachers at Silver Crest.

Jace with his "girlfriend"

Cora and I (along with Grandma and Grandpa) went to his graduation.

Dad was sad that he was working.

Small Wonders Preschool

Jace's teacher giving him his diploma.

The proud graduate!

Skip and I were in Alaska and missed this graduation. We were so sad when we found out that we were going to be gone during this. Lucky for Jace his brother and sister, Aunt Ciara, and both sets of Grandparents were able to be there.

Casen's Baptism

2011-06-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Casen was baptised on April 30th.

This was such a neat day for Casen and our whole family. Casen had looked forward to this for a very long time.
Skip and I are so proud of him and the choices he makes. Casen we love you dearly and are so grateful you are a part of our family.

Happy Easter!!

2011-05-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

In our family we love Easter....All the Easter Egg Hunts, Candy, and Spring Weather all wrapped around one holiday.

This year we hit three different Easter Egg Hunts. The first one was at Smiths grocery store, then South Jordan Park, and Lastly Herriman Park.

At Smiths

Cora and I at SJ Park...Don't mind the crusty she is giving haha.

Cora at SJ Park

Jace at Herriman Park

We are horrible parents and did not get any pictures of Casen at the Easter Egg Hunts....How this happened I do not know....He was there and also got a ton of candy.

After the Easter Egg Hunts....It was on to the dyeing of the eggs.

After dying Easter Eggs we got ready for bed so the Easter Bunny could come and surprise us...and that he did!

The Easter Bunny brought both of the boys kites and brought Cora a life jacket.

A Great Easter!!

Casen's Friend Party

2011-04-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

Casen looks forward to his Friend Birthday Party every year. I swear as soon as we are done with one he starts thinking of where he wants to have it the next year. This year he wanted to have a party at Planet Play. This is a really great place. It has go-carts, bumper cars, laser tag, mini golf, etc. etc.

Here are the boys (and Ciara) getting ready for a game of laser tag.

Bumper Cars

Ciara is showing Cora her dance moves.

Happy Happy Birthday to Casen!!

Happy Birthday Casen and Cora

2011-04-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last week was a fun packed week. On Tuesday Casen turned 8 and on Wednesday Cora turned 2. We had a birthday party to celebrate.

So much fun......Thanks Everyone!!

Cora's Big Girl Room

2011-04-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we bought Cora a dresser that was on sale.....so since we had bought a dresser we figured we would go ahead and also get her a bed and switch her from the crib. Cora was so excited for her new bed. We really talked it up and got her super excited. The first week went so great. She would lay down and go right to sleep....when she woke up she would stay in bed and call for me. I thought to myself, this is going to be easy. I figured we had made the transition without any difficulty at all. That was all up until yesterday at nap time. Cora figured she would just keep getting out of bed and well she was up she would also learn how to open her bedroom door (it took her like 1 minute to figure out). So needless to say she would get out and I would put her back for about an hour.....and then I caved. No nap for Cora yesterday. Luckily she was so tired last night that she went right to bed. Today's nap time was also a struggle. I figure I will have to deal with this no matter when I switched her so I might as well deal with it now. She is definitely all about the nap time power trip. Here is to hoping it doesn't last long.

The kids....Christmas 2010

2011-02-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010

2011-02-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas...Spent with family and friends. We love this time of year!

The kids were so so excited for Christmas. They had made their lists for Santa and were counting down the days. Finally Christmas morning was here. Here is a little recap. I did not take as many pictures as I should have.

Here is Cora starting to open her presents she got some sippy cups, baby dolls, bath toys and other things. She was all about unwrapping presents this year.

I actually got a picture of Jace with his stuff after opening all his presents. He was very excited to get a DS (like his brother has) and games, nerf gun, etc. The cheesy smile says it all.

Casen was very spoiled this year. He got a skate board, an electric scooter (hope we don't regret that one), a magnet board, etc.

Christmas is so much fun with kids. We love to see how excited our kids get. What a great year!!

Halloween 2010

2011-02-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Here are the kids Halloween 2010.

Casen and Jace were Iron Man for Halloween. It was so cute that they wanted to be the same thing. Cora had a couple of different Halloween costumes this year (which was good because she gets so so dirty throughout the day). We had so much fun on Halloween we went to my parents house and had a yummy dinner (see below) and then went trick or treating in their neighborhood. Great times!

Way Way Way Behind!!

2011-02-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

How oh How am I so far behind on blogging? I use to be good at doing this. Time to catch up!!

Cabo San Lucas

2010-11-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

     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

2010-11-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-09-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-06-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

Cora's 1 year old picture....

Let the Games Begin.....

2010-04-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

Cora is One!!!!

2010-04-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

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!

Hitting the Cages!

2010-03-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

Before baseball season started up Skip thought we should take the boys to the batting cages to practice.

Casen getting ready!

Dad helping Jace hit!

Of course....any excuse Skip has he will play ball.

Casen playing Indoor Soccer

2010-03-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here is Casen playing Indoor Soccer. He has games every Saturday that he looks forward to. He loves to play any position but he especially loves playing the goalie.

Jace playing Indoor Soccer

2010-03-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Jace has been playing indoor soccer for the last month. He loves loves loves it. This sport fits him well because it is all about running around.

Kids Safety Fair

2010-03-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend there was a kids safety fair. My mom, sister, and I decided to take the kids. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures.

Casen wearing the drunk googles

Casen in the fire truck

Jace loving the fire truck

Star Wars

Here is Ciara and the kids after getting their faces painted

Cora's Birthmark

2010-02-25T13:55:00.000-08:00

     When Cora was born she had a small birthmark under her right eye. The doctors told us in the hospital that this was a salmon patch and that it would go away. Later I took her to her pediatrician who was unsure if this birthmark was a salmon patch or a port wine stain birthmark. We decided that we would watch it and see.
     After moving to Utah I decided I would take her to Primary Childrens Hospital and have her birthmark evaluated. I took her in when she was seven months old. The pediatric dermatologist determined that her birthmark was indeed a port wine stain. She explained the treatment and complications that are associated with a port wine birthmark. This was extremely overwhelming to hear.
     Over the last couple of months we have had a lot of tests and procedures done. The first thing to do was get her eye (very close to her birthmark) evaluated for glaucoma. We took her to the pediatric ophthalmologist up at Primarys. Good news.....no sign of glaucoma to this point. Cora will have her eyes evaluated every three months to make sure their is no development of glaucoma in her right eye. The second thing we did was have her first laser treatment on her birth mark.  She will continue to have these laser treatments done every three months. She had her second treatment yesterday. She is such a trooper.
     The most overwhelming part of having a portwine stain birthmark is the risk of sturge-weber syndrome. This syndrome is when you have this vascular birthmark on or throughout the brain. This can lead to seizures, mental retardation, etc. etc.  Cora had an MRI about a month ago to check for sturge-weber syndrome. Her MRI was clear. This was such an incredible blessing. I had made myself literally sick with worry about this.
     Cora will continue to get laser treatments and have her eyes checked.......but so far so good.

Cora at about a week old

Our sweet baby girl

Cora after her first laser treatment

The morning before her second treatment

Cora after her second treatment

Basketball Season

2010-01-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

The boys are both playing basketball this season. Casen is playing Junior Jazz and Jace is playing the Start Smart basketball (a parent and child class). They both seem to be really enjoying it and it keeps up busy!

Casen's team preparing for the game to start.

In on the action!

The boys biggest fan!

Here is Jace's class.

Jace and Dad

Jace doing one of their drills (sorry so dark)

Christmas Morning

2009-12-29T13:04:00.000-08:00

After Santa came but before the kids were awake.

Jace opening his new bike.

Casen opening his ipod.

Cora opening an outfit.

Here is Casen with everything he got for Christmas.

Jace with his Christmas toys (Sorry it is so blurry).

Here is Cora chewing on a toy like usual.

Mom got a flat iron, blow dryer, and candle sconces

Dad got the complete Seinfeld Series and a tie organizer

We had a great Christmas. We were so glad to be able to spend so much time with family and friends. Our kids were also so much fun this Christmas....they were really into it.

Pictures with Santa's Helper (Obviously not the "Real Santa")

2009-12-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

Our Family (Christmas 2009)

2009-12-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here is Cora on her first Halloween. She was our little lady bug. I loved this costume and she did not seem to mind it so it worked out really well.

Jace had to be Cars for Halloween. I kept trying to talk him into being something else (something cute/cool). He was dead set on a Cars costume. Oh well...what do you do?

Casen was Anakin from Star Wars. He is really into Star Wars right now so this costume is very fitting. I don't know what is up with the cheesy smile. Ha ha.

CornBellys

2009-10-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend our family went to CornBellys. It was so much fun.......Here are some pictures.

Our Family (on the farm)

Playing in the Corn

Thad and Skip trying to show of their skills.

You can see Cora's first tooth

Ciara and Casen jumping

Daddy and Cora

Our little family

Here are my Parents and Ciara.

We made a train (yes Cora and I are in there...We fell down so you cant see us)

Jace

Cora....6 Months Old

2009-10-06T17:18:00.001-07:00

Cora is 6 months old today. Wow how time has gone by fast. She was a newborn yesterday and today she is this baby with a personality. It is so much fun.
At 6 months Cora is able to smile, giggle, and play with her brothers. She recently learned how to really jump in her jumper (video below). She can also sit for a few seconds without support. I think this will be mastered very soon. I love my baby girl!

Lagoon

2009-09-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

We have gone to Lagoon with my family a couple of times over the past few weeks. It has been a lot of fun. My kids are so brave and love rides. Here are just a couple of pictures.

Here is Grandma and Grandpa with their grandkids

My boys The Michigan Fans!

Here is my brother, Brady, and the boys getting soaking wet.

Family Pictures 2009

2009-09-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures done a few weeks ago. Our friend Suzi was so sweet and took these for us. We absolutely love them. These are just a few of the great pictures she took. Thanks Suzi...You are the best.

Jace started preschool!

2009-09-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Jace started preschool last week. I can not even believe he is old enough to go to school. He was very excited to go to school with his big brother. Lucky for us, his preschool is at Casen's elementary school. Jace absolutely loves school. He thinks he should be able to go five days a week like his big brother, not just two days a week. I think school will be great for Jace.

Casen's first day of 1st Grade

2009-09-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Casen just started 1st Grade. He was very excited to start school and has really enjoyed the first couple of weeks.

Were moved!

2009-09-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

We have been in Utah for almost a month now. It has been a very busy time....but it is now starting to calm down. I have a lot to blog about and will have to catch up over the next little while.

We decided to rent a home in Herriman (pictured above) for the next year. We rented this house without even seeing it. We just viewed pictures online. For the most part I really like our house. There are things I would change but I think it will be great for the next year while Skip finishes up school.

Skip had two weeks off from school when we moved. It was very good he did because we spent time with our family the first week and then spent the entire second week unpacking. Man we have a lot of stuff. Those of you that helped us load or unload the trailer can testify to that. I want to thank everyone who helped in our great move. It was much more work, with some unforeseen complications (Jace), than we thought it would be. I love everyone who gave us support and helped us.

Skip is now a couple of weeks into his first rotation, at Jordan Valley Hospital, and loving it. It keeps him pretty busy. But I think its about to get busier because Skip just accepted a job offer from Walgreens. He will be doing 40 hours/week of school rotations and probably working 20 hours/week. I guess I am going to see kind of what it is like to be a single mom haha.

Our family is doing great! I am going to start updating my blog.......Stay Tuned!

Jace's 3rd Birthday

2009-08-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Jace's 3rd Birthday. We started the birthday celebration by having a party on Saturday. We invited a few of his friends for cupcakes, a pinata, and fun at the park. Jace had so much fun. Here are a few pictures of the party.

We then spent yesterday celebrating with our little family. We took him to Target and let him buy stuff with his birthday money (he bought Disney's Cars stuff) he was so excited. We then had his favorite dinner, grilled cheese sandwiches (I got off easy, Ha Ha). After dinner we went to the park and played baseball with some friends. It was a great day!

Happy Birthday Jace!!

July 4, 2009

2009-07-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July. We went to a BBQ on the Beach with a bunch of our friends. It was such a nice day. The kids played in the sand, swam, played with trucks, etc. etc. The adults spent the day socializing and eating (way yummy food!). I want to thank Levi and Suzi for putting this great BBQ together. It was so much fun.

Here is a picture of the family (after a day of playing).

Here is a close up of Cora (and Mom).

After a day of playing at the beach we went to our friends Matt and Michelle's house for a firework show. It was great.....Thanks guys!!

Worst Day Ever!!!

2009-06-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

So it all started at about 4 am when I woke up because of the storm. The kids, of course, had woken up and were scared because of the storm. So we went into the kids rooms to go back to sleep.
Then I got up around 7 am and started getting ready for the day because I had a dr. appointment this am. I left my house around 9 for my appointment (alone, thank goodness). It was pouring rain outside. As I started driving I noticed there was a lot of standing water on the roads. The rain gutters were full and so water did not seem to be draining. As I approached one intersection there was so much water that everyone was turning around and going another way....I did the same. I then called Skip and told him the roads were really bad and I was nervous driving. Like he always does he reassured me that I would be fine. So I kept driving. I had driven past the YMCA and the Zoo on W38th Street for those of you who know where that is. I then was going down the hill to Glenwood St. There was standing water in the intersection, but other cars were going through it so I thought it will be fine. I waited up higher where there was not as much water and was waiting for the light to turn green. ****There were a few things that I know now that I didn’t know then***It was pouring rain and the visibility was really low. The river just next to this intersection had begun overflowing on to the streets and was getting really bad really fast. As the light turned green I just barely started to go when water rushed up and over the hood of my car. The engine/windows/lights/ etc. all immediately went out.
I was kind of panicking because the car had stalled so I call Skip...I was only on the phone with him for a second before water started rushing in at my feet. I told him to call 911 (funny that I called him and told him to call 911, I don’t think you think very clearly in situations like this, he told me to hang up with him and to call.) I called 911. One scary thing is how long it took them to pick up. I guess all of Erie was flooding and there were tons and tons of calls pouring into 911. I tell them that my car is not working and is flooding. I was told to remain in my car....scary....The current was really strong and so they told me to no mater what stay in my car. By this time there is an unmarked cop car, with a light thrown up on top, up on higher ground and he is waving to me. I am trying to figure out how this is suppose to make me feel better having this cop who is so far away waving at me....What is he going to do when my car is completely full of water. 911 tells me fire trucks are on there way...I am totally freaking out at this point. Water is to about my knees, while sitting in my car. The firemen get there and have to put all there safety measures in place before coming after me. About five firemen then get to my door. They have to get the car door open because windows and nothing else is working. Finally they get my door open....as water is rushing in to fill the car....they grab me.
I am then taken to the fire truck on higher ground. They leave me in the truck to go rescue other people. There are five cars in the same situation in the same intersection. They had gotten me first because my car was filling the fastest. Other people were then brought to the fire truck. One interesting thing is that while I was sitting alone in the fire truck I could hear the radios the whole time.....it was things such as "man attempted to exit car at this intersection...is now completely in the water, other cars flooding, houses flooding", etc. etc. When the firemen got everyone that was in immediate danger out we were taken back to the fire station.
It took Skip about an hour to get from our house to the fire station, which would normally take 10 minutes. We have since spent the day dealing with our flooding basement and our insurance company. Skips car still remains submerged at that intersection. They have to let the water go down before they will allow tow trucks into the area. Our insurance company has basically told us that our car will be totaled but they have not gotten the car out or inspected it. This has truly been a horrible day.

Reflection
I am so incredibly thankful that I did not have any of my kids with me during this experience. I can not even imagine trying to think through having to save my three kids with rushing water filling the car. It also would have taken way more fire men to get four people out of the car because they have to grab you all at the same time because once they opened the door the water rushed in quickly. I also need to tell myself that I am very fortunate because I am physically okay (emotionally not so much) and that it is only a car that is ruined.

Gymnastics

2009-06-25T19:31:00.001-07:00

The boys have been taking gymnastics classes through the YMCA for a couple of weeks. I have been really impressed with this program and the boys love it. Here are a few pictures (sorry they are blurry our camera does not do a good job taking pictures of a moving object).

Playing Ball

2009-06-20T06:41:00.001-07:00

Casen has been playing ball with the Fort LeBouf League. It has been fun to watch the games. They have two games a week so it has kept us pretty busy. I think Casen has learned a lot this season and he seems to really enjoy it.

The Team

Starting with the Pledge of Allegiance.

The kids alternate what position they play. Here is Casen playing second base.

Casen hit the ball and made it to first base.

Update on Cora

2009-06-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, time is flying. I can not believe Cora is 10 weeks old today. She is getting so big and her personality even bigger. She does not even seem like a newborn anymore. Once Cora started smiling, a few weeks ago, she has been full of them ever since. Her smile melts my heart, it is so sweet.

Ready for Church!

We just got Cora this bumboo chair, that everyone swears by. It is fun to see her sit up in her chair, truly makes her seem old. (PS she is smiling at her dad who is standing next to me).

Our trip....Washington DC

2009-06-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last couple of months planning a big trip for when Skip was on this last break. We have been so excited and were thrilled when it was finally time to go. The next couple of posts are a recap of our trip. We could not have fit more into 9 days if we tried. We were really lucky and were able to have Grandpa and Nana fly in and we went to Washington DC, Hershey, Baltimore, and Gettysburg. During our trip we stayed at a rental at Laura's parents house. They were great hosts and helped to make our trip fantastic.
Washington DC

The first thing we did when we got to DC was to go to the Smithsonian Museums. Grandpa and Nana took Casen and Jace and went to the Air and Space Museum while Skip and I went to the Holocaust Museum. This museum was definitely not a place for kids. It was very educational but also very very graphic. I can not believe that anyone could do such crimes against people. This was very sad.

Here is a picture of us in front of the Washington Monument. My dad had to lay on the ground to get this shot.....the monument is so tall (Thanks Dad).

Lincoln Memorial Monument

Arlington Cemetery

Here is the family in front of the Reflection Pond. As you can see we have two sleeping children (Jace and Cora). We had worn them out by this point.

Grandpa, Nana, and the boys in front of the White House.

National Aquarium in Baltimore

2009-06-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

One of the days on our trip was spent at the aquarium in Baltimore. We were able to go to their dolphin show and see all of the exhibits. For those of you who know me really well you know I love love love dolphins. Growing up I always wanted to be a dolphin trainer, part of me still wants to.

Hershey

2009-06-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hershey is such a fun place. It is divided into two parts...Chocolate World and Hershey Park. Chocolate World is all about the chocolate. You can take a tour ride on how chocolate is made, help make/ package chocolate, shop, etc. Hershey Park is a huge amusement park. We spent two half days and one full day in Hershey. It was a ton of fun.
Chocolate World

Here we are at the entrance to Chocolate World. We are soooo excited. Anything with chocolate has to be great!

After our tour on how chocolate is made the boys decided to test out their skills. Here is Casen working with the Hershey kisses.

Jace hard at work.

Both boys learning how to package the kisses.

Our youngest Hershey Factory Worker.

Hershey Park
Here is the family at Hershey Park (sorry the picture is so dark).

Grandpa, Nana, and the kids. This is where you measure how tall you are and then you have a candy bar assigned to you (this helps determine what rides you are tall enough to ride). Casen was a Hershey bar. He is our little dare devil.....anything they let him ride, he will ride. He rode several roller coasters, some of which went upside down and everything.

Here is Grandpa and Casen Followed by Skip and Jace.

Pure Joy!!

Gettysburg

2009-06-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

While on our trip we stayed in Hanover, PA. This is about 15 minutes from Gettysburg. Because we stayed so close we were able to go to Gettysburg a few times. Skip loved this. He really enjoyed visiting all of the sites and learning more about this battle.

Here is a couple of pictures of the family at the Pennsylvania Monument. This is one of the most grand monuments at Gettysburg (If you look really close in the first picture you can see us standing at top of the monument)

Here are the boys trying to figure out how the cannon worked.

Here is a picture of Grandpa and the boys at Gettysburg.

Kirtland, Ohio

2009-05-17T20:13:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went to Kirtland. We have lived in Erie for almost two years and have passed the Kirtland exit numerous times, and yet to have stopped. For some reason we thought it would be a long drive off of the freeway....little did we know it is literally right off of the exit.
It was great to be able to visit these historic church sites. Here are some pictures from our day trip.

Here we are in front of the Kirtland Temple. We went to the temple's visitor center, watched a film, and went on a tour.

After going to the Kirtland temple we went to the LDS site. There was so much to see here. There was a visitor center, film, and tours of the historic sites with the missionaries. This was so neat to think of the things that have occured in these buildings, the people who once were here in these buildings. Here we are at the N.K. Whitney Store.

One of the reasons we went to Kirtland last weekend was to see the Angela Johnson's "The Healing Power of Jesus Christ" exhibit. This will be leaving Kirtland soon. This exhibit is incredible.. what a talent she was blessed with (and did not even know she had for years).

Updated Pictures of the Kiddos!

2009-05-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Cora's Blessing

2009-05-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

Cora was blessed yesterday, May 3. It was a special day for our family.

Pictures of Cora

2009-04-27T12:49:00.001-07:00

Here is Cora's baby announcement. Michelle was so sweet and took all of these great pictures for us and then did a baby announcement. Thank you Thank you Michelle. I posted our announcement along with some of my other favs.

Easter

2009-04-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year. We were lucky and had my mom and sister here to celebrate with us (they flew in for a week and a half to be here when we had Cora). It was so much fun to have them here.

Here is Casen, Ciara, and Jace decorating Easter Eggs.

I love how excited Jace was doing the eggs. He thought this was great fun!

Here is Cora and Dad supervising the egg dying. Cora was not impressed.....Slept through the whole thing.

The Easter Bunny found us. He brought the boys remote control 4 wheelers and a basket. He brought Ciara a movie and her basket. Cora got an infant carrier as well as a basket.

Casen was very good at finding the easter eggs this year. The Easter Bunny did not fool him.

Jace absolutely loved all of the candy that came in his Easter Basket, especially the peeps. We ended up having to hide his candy from him. If we hadnt he would have sat down and ate it all in one sitting.

Cora Lynn Johnson

2009-04-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

So....On Sunday April 5th we were busy celebrating Casens birthday until about 5pm. Then I started having contractions, consistently. We hurried and called Michelle and Matt and went and dropped the boys off to them. They had there first ever slumber party that night with the Bairds. Thanks so much you guys are the best! Then Skip and I were off to the hospital.

I was kind of dying the whole way to the hospital that we were going to have Cora on Casen's birthday. I really did not want my kids to have to share their special day. My goal was to hold out until after midnight.

When we got to the hospital (around 7pm) my contractions were about 6 minutes apart. I was already hurting. I was sad to hear I was only dilated to a 3 when I got to the hospital. Over the next couple of hours my contractions got a lot closer together and much stronger. I really really wanted my epidural. My nurse told me that my doctor wants you to be dilated to a 5 before getting the epidural. This is sooooo different than how they do it in Utah. In Utah you can get an epidural before you are really even hurting. So I told myself make it to a 5 and then I will be set. So the next time they checked I was a 5. I was so happy, finally I was going to get my epidural and some relief. They paged the anesthesiologist.

So the anesthesiologist shows up and begins to try and place the epidural (I have had two epidurals that were easy to place and worked great). He was having a lot of trouble placing the epidural. He could not get it placed where it needed to be. He attempted 3 times to get it placed. I was then feeling really light headed and I heard the nurse say something to the anesthesiologist about she was losing me. Skip later told me that I passed out. After so many attempts to get the epidural......unsuccessfully......Dr. V (ObGyn) said I was going to have to deliver without an epidural. I was dying. The pain at this point was worse than I even imagined labor being (and I imagined it pretty bad). About a half hour later I was a ten and was freaking out about the pain (literally.....freaking out). I am one of those people you do not want to watch deliver a baby with no pain meds....I was screaming, dying. The pain and pressure was unbearable. They kept telling me that she was right there. Dr. V could tell it was a big baby right when she started crowning. Dr. V grabbed a vacuum and started trying to pull her out while I was pushing. This is so far from my perfect delivery I had wanted. I really do not like the idea of using a vacuum or forceps during a delivery but to tell you the truth I was in such incredible pain that I did not care what she did as long as she got her out. Finally....Cora was born at 12:55 am.

It is amazing to me that even though in my mind this was truly a nightmare delivery it is all worth it when she was here. All the nausea/vomiting, pregnancy aches and pains, and the worst delivery ever, all worth it when this amazing little person gets placed in your arms.

Here are a few pictures from the hospital......more pictures to come in the future.

Here is Cora right after she was born. As you can tell she does not know what to think about this whole thing.

She weighed 8lbs. 8oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long

The proud big brothers

So sweet!!

Ready to go home.

Happy Birthday Casen!!

2009-04-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Casen. His Birthday was on Sunday, April 5th. We started his birthday celebration by having his birthday party on Thursday at the Bounce Zone. He had a lot of fun with his friends. This is the perfect place for them to run and be crazy. On Sunday we celebrated his birthday with just our little family (until about 5pm...and then....more info to come).

Here is a picture of Casen and Jace before his party started. Both the boys were very excited about Casens party
.

Here is Casen on one of the many bounce things.

All of Casen's friends at his party

Casen opening his presents....he was very spoiled.

Blowing out the candle!

Happy Birthday my sweet Casen!!

Our California Trip....Disneyland

2009-03-11T17:35:00.001-07:00

Here is the first picture of the day....We are just entering Disneyland and are walking down Main Street. Everyone is really excited to be in Disneyland (especially Casen, do you notice he is carrying the map, he wanted to plan out what we should do....so cute).

Here is a group photo we had taken when we went over to the California Adventure Park. (Wow am I huge or what.....I am so glad I will always have these pictures to look back at to see how big I am at 35 weeks pregnant).

Here we are after just riding Splash Mountain.

This is Jace and his cousin Parker, checking out WALLE.

Here is Casen playing in the Tarzan Tree House.

Here is a picture taken of our family over at California Adventure.

Our California Trip....Bryan's Wedding

2009-03-11T16:09:00.001-07:00

On Friday, March 6 my brother got married. It was a beautiful ceremony with an incredible setting. We were all lucky that Bryan and Jana chose to get married in Newport, California. This made it a wedding and a vacation all wrapped up in one.

Here is Bryan and Jana during their wedding ceremony.

Here is a group picture of my side of the family. We were really lucky that all of my parents and siblings were able to get together for the wedding.

It was so pretty at this beach that we decided to grab a picture of our little family.

Here is a picture of Casen playing in the water. If you notice he is wet in the above pictures. The water was like a magnet drawing him in. He was completely soaking wet from head to foot by the time we left the beach.

Bows and Bow Holder

2009-02-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

My friends and I got together, a couple of weeks ago, to make bows and hats. I really wanted to learn how to make these cute hair accessories for my baby girl. It was so fun and they are actually not hard to make (especially under the direction of Suzi. Thanks Suzi). Here are a few of the hair bows and flowers that I made that night, and a few since then. I was totally not prepared for how addicting it would become to make these.....HaHa.

Because I have made so many bows and flowers for my baby I decided that I also needed to make her a bow holder. For those of you who know me I am not the crafty type but I gave it a go. Here it is......

IS IT EVER GOING TO STOP????

2009-01-30T17:30:00.000-08:00

Okay....so I have to do another post on this snow. It is the most insane thing I have ever seen. Never, ever have I seen so much snow in my life. Do you see these pictures. The snow is higher than our mail box. Everyday I think it is going to stop snowing and some of it will melt.....everyday I am wrong. I think we have three to four times the amount of snow we had last year. My question is who is going to go house shopping in weather like this? (probably no one).

Our House is on the Market!!

2009-01-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

http://8728Robin.info

In the middle of Winter!!

2009-01-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

Baby Hat Making

2009-01-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

So....while I was in Utah, My mom, sister, and I decided that we were going to learn how to make those cute little baby hats. We went to the craft store a little unsure of what we were doing and bought the supplies. When we got home with all of the stuff, we were surprised when my brother, Brady, said he knew how to make these hats. This is when it all started....my brother taught us how to make hats (Thanks Brady!) and my whole family got into it. It was so fun because now my baby girl has several cute hats and she is not even born yet. I have included a few pictures.

(For her wilder days)

(Soft and cuddly)

(I still need to get purple ribbon and put it through this hat)

Christmas Morning (Early)

2009-01-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

So....our family had Christmas a little early (for the second year in a row). Santa Claus knew we would be leaving for Utah to celebrate Christmas, with family, so he came to our house in PA a little early (Dec. 20). The kids were so excited that Santa had come. Here are a few pictures.

Here is a picture of the kids starting to open presents, Dad was helping.

Santa brought Casen: a Nintendo DS, Air Hogs Helicopter and Airplane, PJs, etc.

Santa brought Jace: Elmo live, a Car Bean Bag, Cars, Airplane, etc.

Overall.......the kids were very, very spoiled.

Work Christmas Party

2009-01-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

My work had a Christmas Party, both for patients on the floor, and for staff and their families. It was a lot of fun. Santa and Mrs. Claus even stopped by for a visit. Casen was excited to see Santa, Jace not so much.

2008-12-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving Week

2008-12-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. Skip completed another term of school and did great. Go, Skip!! We were both looking so forward to finals being over and vacations starting.

On Friday of finals week, however, our vacation plans changed. We learned that Jace would need to have his tonsils and adenoids out on Tuesday (2 days before Thanksgiving). It was good timing in that Skip would be off from school to be there and help out, but also bad timing in that we did not want to spend our Thanksgiving vacation in this way.

Tuesday rolled around and Jace had his surgery. Everything went well. We even had a friend in on the operation to take extra good care of Jace, Thanks Levi. The surgery went well and now it was on to recovery. Jace was every bit as crazy, coming out of anesthesia, as his brother has been. He was thrashing around not understanding what was happening. This is so hard to watch as a mom. I felt so bad for him. After being in the recovery room for a couple of hours we were able to take Jace home.

Jace's surgery has been a lot harder of a recovery, than I remember of Casen's. Jace has just been extremely moody. He also absolutely hates taking his medications....it takes both Skip and I to hold him down and give them to him, even then sometimes he spits them right back out. That part has been really frustrating.

So, this week was spent mostly relaxing, watching movies, holding Jace, etc. etc. We did have a nice Thanksgiving dinner with all of the fixings. Yummy. We were also able to get all of our Christmas stuff set up (at least as much as we are willing to do for this year). Here are some pictures.

Here are the boys hanging Christmas lights outside. Skip really did not want to hang lights this year but Casen was so excited to do it that it was a must.

Dad basically did all of the work.....while the boys played

Here is the final product. Not a lot of lights......but enough that the kids were impressed.

The boys were so proud of the Christmas tree they helped to decorate.

2008-11-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

Erie Winter is Here!

2008-11-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

So yesterday we woke up to snow everywhere. My boys were very excited by this, me not so much. Skip was excited because this meant he could finally try out his new snow blower machine. Casen was dying to make a snow man, or at least go drive trucks through the snow. Jace just looked out the window in amazement.

When Skip got home from school he bundled the little boys and himself up. They went outside and snowplowed the drive way and the side walks. Casen and Jace just loved playing in the snow.

*I would have gotten pictures outside but it was already pretty dark out, that is the problem with the sun setting so early.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

Our family had a great Halloween. As you can see Casen had to be a Transformer. This was very fitting for him because he is pretty much obsessed with Transformers. Jace got to be a bat for Halloween. I picked his costume out and was mostly looking for something warm for him, so he would not freeze during trick or treating.
Halloween started out in the morning by us going to Casen's costume parade at school. It was a lot of fun to see all of the kids dressed up. They were so excited for the parade, class parties, and then the trick or treating that would be that night. I am sure the teachers needed a lot of energy that day to control all of the excitement.
On the night of Halloween we had a bunch of friends come over for dinner and trick or treating. The girls all stayed at my house and visited, handed out candy, etc. Well all of the dads took the kids out trick or treating......Did we plan that good or what? Halloween was a ton of fun!