Days to Remember

Mormon Message

2011-03-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law, Brian Burnham, made a Mormon Message for the Church's international video contest. Here is a link to the voting page. Check out the videos and vote for his if you like it. His is called "Honesty-You better believe it!"

https://lds.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6xqzJg9pxBjzee0

Still Alive, Just Not Blogging

2010-12-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

Suzy

2010-04-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

She's only been here for three weeks and we are so in love with this girl.

This is not a joke . . .

2010-04-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

We had our little Suzy last night (3/31/01) at about 10:20 pm. We were scheduled for an induction on the 30th but the hospital was too busy so we ended up going in yesterday afternoon at about 5 pm. Lucy was so excited. Just as they were posing for this picture she said, "I have to say something to the baby." She then turned and said, " You're going to the doctor's office now, baby!!"

The induction went great and within 5 hours we had our little Suzy. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.

She actually has some hair, unlike her older sister. It appears a bit on the dark side, but we will see.

Mom and baby are doing well.

Drumroll, please . . .

2010-01-03T21:32:00.000-08:00

A Little Preoccupied

2009-11-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

So we've gotten quite a bit of flack for dropping off the face of the blogging world. I do very much apologize, but come on, we've been a bit busy around here....
That's right, I've been dang busy growing teeny tiny eyebrows and toe nails and ear lobes and bunzies, not to mention all those vital organs! And while I was busy doing all this growing (on the couch and in bed...) Byron was busy taking care of the house and kids and crazy life in general with a family of four kids, oh yeah, and working full time at his new job, which he loves by the way. I think he has had the harder job, but mine still seems to make me more tired.

BUT, now that I am 17 weeks along and feeling much more like a normal, regular tired busy mom, life is seeming more managable and the prospect of a new baby is getting very exciting. I have been a bit freaked out by the thought of FIVE kids, FIVE KIDS!, especially with a three year old and a two year old thrown in the mix. Woah! One night a number of weeks ago, when I was feeling lousy and the day had been particularly hectic and kids had been exceptional nightmares, I was scared. I said to Byron, "Who are we kidding throwing a newborn into the mix of this life??? It's going to be insane!!!" Byron, being the typical Byron, came to my rescue without really meaning to. He said simply, but with complete sincerity, "It's going to be perfect." I so needed him to have this attitude. Yes it is going to be absolutely insane, but it is what we WANT. There is no better insanity, no better true joy that will come from having another baby to love and care for and teach and cherish. Yes, I am terrified, but I am learning to adopt Byron's attitude. I am a slow learner.....

We get to find out the gender in a few weeks. We are trying to THINK PINK!!!

By the way, I am too lazy to scan the real ultrasound pictures we got at 12 weeks, this one was stolen from the internet. Our baby was WAY cuter....

Pretty Cute If You Ask Me

2009-08-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Lucy and Sam.

They're Growing Up Fast!!

2009-08-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

Well, two months since the last post and we have now been in AZ for about 6 weeks. More on that another time. We just needed a new post and first day of school pictures are a good excuse.

Jack is now 10-years-old and started 5th grade this week.

Max is 7 and started second grade.

Lucy will be in preschool. She turns 3 in a couple of weeks.

Sam is just a spoiled little boy who will get Mommy all to himself.

This is the us at Aspen Grove earlier this summer.

This is the entire Garn Family (-1 grandchild) at Aspen Grove.

MI Fave #6 Lake Michigan Beaches

2009-06-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

We've been to Lake Michigan to play at the beach four times now. We love it! The sand is wonderfully fine and soft. We love that we feel like we are at the ocean, just with smaller waves and no saltwater that the kids think is icky. We knew we couldn't leave Michigan without one last trip this summer, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. The kids played and played in the sand, we climbed the sand dunes and ran down getting nice and hot, then swam in the refreshing cold (freezing) water. The little ones were even happy to play without naps, amazing! It was so relaxing and great to make more Michigan memories.

MI Fave #5

2009-06-19T20:23:00.001-07:00

Fireflies!!

MI Fave #4 BERRY PICKING

2009-06-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

Each year we have thoroughly enjoyed our berry picking excursions. There are strawberries, blueberries and our favorite RASPBERRIES! The farms are all within a half hour from our house. Strawberries are not my funnest thing to pick. The plants are low to the ground and the berries are hidden under the leaves, and the first time we went it was 100+ degrees, 100% humidity and I was 10 months pregnant with Lucy. I never exaggerate... But, oh, the taste of those sweet candy like berries is so worth the back pain! We went with some friends just a few days ago and this time the kids were the perfect height for picking (and stepping on them) and the weather was beautiful! Blueberries are awesome because the bushes are tall, no bending there! And you can get 4 or 5 off the bush in one pull. We eat them fresh for a while then freeze the rest and enjoy yummy blueberries all year in oatmeal or pancakes or just because. The raspberries are the best because we LOVE how they taste combined with pounds of sugar and gelatin. Every fall we make tons of raspberry jam and each year we go through it faster and faster. Oink, oink. Our big boys have become jam snobs and refuse to eat store bought jam. I honestly don't blame them, but come on, we've been out of jam since February and they've got to be sick of Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches by now! But no, they think it's better than sicko jam... The best berry picking we have every year, however, is right in our famous Abbot Elementary's backyard. The Abbot Woods has hundreds of wild berry bushes growing in there and it seems no one else knows or cares. And since we didn't die the first year eating them, we kept doing it and loving it more each year. It is so fun to walk up to the school and go have a snack of handfuls of berries. We are sure going to miss these this summer and fall. The dream of Arizona oranges come this winter might make it a little more bearable...

MI Fave #3 ABBOT ELEMENTARY

2009-06-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day of school. A good time to give props to the best school in AA. (Which, by the way is the best. I am always joking (fighting) with my friends about OUR school being the best in AA, which is dumb because they are ALL excellent. It was confirmed, however, when one of the BEST teachers from highly acclaimed Dicken Elementary moved to Abbot and said that the Abbot community of parent involvement is AMAZING, way better than Dicken... or something like that...)

And thank goodness for those amazing parents who rally the amazing teachers here, so slacker moms like me who have 2 babies in 15 months can be literally nonexistant at school and still know that INCREDIBLE things are going on at school. It really has been a wonderful, supportive, growing place for our boys to be everyday.
First grade was a hard transition for Jack to be gone to school all day, but Mrs. Rutz read him wonderfully, not only challenged him the way he needed, but also gave him his quiet alone time he wanted sometimes during recess. Second grade was wonderful with Ms. Gause again challenging him and letting him be himself. Third grade would be a dream for Jack as Ms. Gause moved up with her class, he loved it and had a great year. He was disappointed when he found out about his fourth grade teacher, he heard she was strict and not much fun. After the first week it was a complete turn around for Jack. Mrs. Publiski won his heart and their entire class. They have worked really hard, but have had more fun than they can measure. She is straight forward and expects responsible students, it is a parent's dream!
Max was lucky enough to have the famous Mrs. Bradley who came from Dicken. She was the perfect transition for Max who was used to VERY playbased preschool and had never held a pencil or crayon for more than 5 minutes at a time. His already active social skills blossomed and she reigned those in for him. She even let him bring in Lucy for his shown and tell one day. What a teacher!
Max was lucky enought to get Jack's old teacher Mrs. Rutz, who again has been amazing but for all different reasons. Max has excelled in math, he gets it and he doesn't even have to think about it. But his reading has been slow going, and she has patiently pushed him and has given him the support and confidence he has needed. She even met with me early this morning to give me a good picture of what he needs for the summer to keep him going strong. She is amazing, she has taught at Abbot for 22 years and is now retiring. We feel so lucky our two boys have been able to benefit from her experience and no nonsense but fun learning classroom.
A shout out to Abbot would be incomplete without mentioning "Mr. T", the beloved PE teacher. We knew we were at a great place when the PE teacher's name is Mr. Tennis. No joke! He is Mr. Tennis and he too has taught at Abbot for 22 years. From the opening social, to the run a thon, the book fairs, and ice cream socials, we have loved our Abbot community. AND, it is down the street and around the corner so the boys have walked everyday, even in 12 inches of snow. It is the best! Go Abbot All Stars!

We've Moved!

2009-06-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

Not the big move yet... but we did move! We had to be out of our house the end of May and couldn't get into our new house in Mesa until the end of June, so we found a great place here in Ann Arbor to rent for the month. The movers came and packed everything up one day, loaded it all on the truck the next day and took it away to store it for a month until they deliver it to Mesa for us. You can read that again because I have to keep reminding myself that it actually happened too. REAL MOVERS! Not just the Elder's Quorum (not that they don't do a good job....)! And NOT paid for by us. Yeah for a real job!!! I still can't believe it.This is a picture of the great furnished place we found to rent in a great part of town on a great street with great neighbors. It has a great view of a cute little house out the front window. If it looks familiar it is because it is OUR house! That's right, we are now living directly across the street from the house we lived in for four years. It is really weird and was a bit hard watching the new owners move their things in and have a bbq in OUR HOUSE! We are getting over it and are so grateful to be surrounded by our familiar environment, the boys can still walk to school, play with their friends, and that we are done packing and moving. It sort of feels like we are on vacation in a nice summer rental home. We have been filling up our time with some of the fun things we have not been able to do in the last 4 years here. The other day we took the big boys out of school by surprise and the whole family went to the Tiger's Baseball Game. They were so excited and it was really fun to be doing something not associated with moving or packing or house stuff or even regular life. It is really fun to "vacation" in your own city, and we are planning to do a lot more of it until we move to AZ. We did find a great house in Mesa that we are super excited about it. For all you Mesa readers, it is North of McKellips, East of Gilbert close to Hermosa Vista Elementary school. That's right, right back in good ole Mountain View territory. Go Toros! Weird, I know. Here is a picture of our house, we still can't believe it is going to be where we will be living ... hopefully for a VERY long time!

MI Fave #2 SPRING!!

2009-04-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Spring in Michigan is amazing.

Unless you have lived somewhere where it does this:

you could NEVER appreciate this:
I have lived in Utah where it snows, and snows even more than here in Michigan, but it is different. Michigan winters are DIFFERENT. But, since this is a post about the favorite things of Michigan, I will definately NOT talk about the winter....

I love that when there is a random "warm" day in March, you know, around 55 degrees, you see hoards of people out jogging, playing outside, walking dogs (does everyone in Ann Arbor own a dog, by the way???), and all in their shorts and tees! Love it!

I love the light greenish yellow glow that all the thousands of trees get when they start to bloom. They drop the same greenish yellow color on the streets below and everything seems alive. Two weeks later, poof, you can't even see branches anymore and the leaves are bright true green, full as if they have always been that way. (There aren't many trees like this in AZ, you can tell this girl is fascinated...)I love that the trees that don't bloom green bloom PINK. And I love that I now have a daughter who loves pink and notices every single pink tree out there, and that is ALOT, mm, hmmm. These trees are awesome, little tiny flowers bloom really close to the branches so they look like fuzzy pink catepillars instead of tree limbs. They go from fuscia to light pink, eventually fall and turn green like all the other beautiful trees in ann arbor. Very cool, very girly!
I love that the sky is finally BLUE, with occasional white puffy clouds that actually have form to them (unlike the before mentioned evil winter...)

I love that Sam was confused and fascinated by his shadow because it was the first time in his life he had a chance to run around outside with a shadow following him.
I love the bright yellow Forsythia plants scattered throughout Ann Arbor. I love that our neighbor Flo taught us about forsythia and every spring when they start to bloom and we are driving around town we randomly shout out "Forsythia!!" every time we see these beauties.
I love the tulips and daffodils that pop up all over the neighborhoods, smiling at us, even through the late snowfall. It confirms that the snow will not overpower like it does in November, but that the sun and blue sky will be back. These flowers make me smile everytime I see them. You wouldn't have thought it'd take me 4 years to plant some of our own. It did. But we are enjoying them now and hopefully every spring I can think of my tulips and daffodils that are popping up in Ann Arbor, still making other people smile.I love that we can sleep with our windows open and feel the crisp cool air, but not freeze!

I love that I can run outside again. Hoooray!

Most of all, I love that we can spend all our time outside at the parks, on the trampoline, taking walks, doing bubbles or sidewalk chalk.... WHATEVER... it is outside and we are all much happier because of it.
Yes, we love SPRING!

Michigan Favorites

2009-04-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

I told myself that if I ever started a blog, which I wouldn't, it would never be just a travel/events log. Well, I did start a blog, and it has become a travel log. Hate that! So, even though I am dying to post about our super fun Easter Spring Break trip to Alabama, I am going back to my initial desire to capture some of the every day memories of our lives. (I'm sure the AL trip will sneak in somewhere...)

Since our weeks are getting to the counting down stage, we decided to start posting some of the many favorite things we have loved and will always love about Michigan and our four years here. These are things we will truly miss about living in Michigan. Each individual in our family has different things we love and will miss, so we'll document as many as we can. Sounds fun to me! We'll see how we do...

For the sake of what is most on my mind right now, I will start with our house. We got an offer on our house when we were away in DC, decided it would be the best thing in the entire world if we didn't have to try to keep the house clean, accepted the offer and closed on it just last week. We are now proud RENTERS. It's time for another party!!! Who cares about trashing the place now? Just kidding... We have LOVED our tiny little box of a house! It has suited our needs perfectly and even though I don't want to share a bathroom with my four kids for the rest of my life, it worked well thus far.

So, top things I have loved about our house:

1. the BASEMENT
Ooooh, I love our basement. The best place to send the kids away from me, a place big enough for them to run and jump, play swords, make HUGE forts (and messes), do my craft projects and leave forever because I never finish them, have movie nights, fake camping nights, grown up game nights or kid birthday parties (I mean who needs chuck E. Cheese when you have a basement??). It is the greatest use of space a builder could make. In the long Michigan winters it has been a lifesaver and a blessing. If I don't have a basement in my future house I think I will miss it every day.

2. the THREE SEASON SCREEN PORCH
We so made fun of these when we started looking for housed in the midwest, but once again ate our words and have LOVED it! It is attached to our garage and sits in the back yard. We have had many a ragin' BBQ's in our back yard. We always serve in the porch, kids eat on the tramp or on blankets outside, and the parents try to hide from them in the porch (and stay closer to the yummy food.) Our own little family has many week night dinners out there, rain or shine. The metal roof makes the rain sound wonderfully alive and even though you can hardly hear one another, it is a fun experience.3. STICKY VINYL TILE
So this was a toss up between storage space and the tile. But really DIRT COLORED kitchen flooring changed my every day life dramatically, tile wins out. We had horrible white linolium that we had had in every house or apt we had lived in and I was at my wits end. No matter how often you swept or mopped, still dirty. We decided to put sticky tiles down, but didn't like it when we laid them out square. We turned them on the diagonal and loved it. And even though it was a bit trickier that way, it was way worth it. Now, word of advice: I would only recommend these for very temporary living, since we have had some trouble with some of them sticking. But, I am completely, totally, with passion recommending them for the fact that it makes your floor the color of dirt. I sweep, looks great. I don't sweep, it looks great! Mop? Who needs to mop? LOVE DIRT COLORED FLOOR!!! Plus, people always think it is real tile, and who am I to make them look foolish?? Love the floor! We have loved our house!

Washington DC, in a nutshell

2009-03-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

This trip was absolutely amazing. We stayed with Byron's cousin on his mom's side, Bob, and his wife Suzy. They were wonderful hosts, making us feel like we belonged there. Jack and Max became fast friends with Rachel and her Wii, and Lucy loved her girly toys. Their adorable two year old Daniel took to Sam and his blond hair and Sam loved the attention. It was so great to push ourselves seeing sites all day then return home to a great meal and a relaxing home where we all felt comfortable. What a vacation! None of it would have been the same without the Halls. We so admire these great people (and still can't belive they have a married daughter and two sons on missions! Suzy looks younger than me! How pathetic for me!)

So in a nutshell, we hit the museums: Aero and Space (camera was dead), Natural History, Library of Congress, the National Castle, the Holocost Museum and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. All of them were amazing in their own ways, we think the Library of Congress might have been the coolest, at least in Jack's eyes. The building is absolutely amazing. It was pretty impressive, though, seeing millions of dollors being printed right before our eyes. Wow. We saw a stack huge stack of money and decided it was around 32 million dollars (pennies from the stimulus package...)

We hit the Monuments and Memorials:
We picked the warmest day of the week to hit the outdoor sites, and even were lucky enough to be able to meet up with our friends from Ann Arbor, the Elders. It was beautiful weather and great company for a perfect way to experience DC.
We saw it all.

The Washington Monument.We went all the way up, which was fun to be able to see all of DC from a bird's eye view.
Max "holding" the monument. So clever...

The World War II Memorial
Lucy and her cute posing friend Ashlyn. The had a great time (respectfully) running around.
The memorial was very neat, but the fountains were dry and not running, as was the reflecting pool, which was a bummer.
We still imaged it all, including the blooming cherry trees. It was truly beautiful!!
The Arizona/Michigan rivalry in our house lives remains strong.

The Lincoln Memorial
Our favorite!
This is so, so, so impressive.

favorite picture from DC

2009-03-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

Man, where are those parents????

The Garn Family Goes to Washington

2009-02-22T20:36:00.001-08:00

This is what we have been up to for the past couple of weeks. We made this "Giant Overwhelming To-Do List" of things that needed doing before our house could go on the market.

As you can see we pretty much did it all!!
(editor's note: We did do it all, and a ton more, and thanks to my Mom, cause without her we couldn't have done even close to what we did!!)
And so . . .

Our house is on the market!
(click on the picture to see our listing on Realtor.com)

The kids have this week off from school and with the house ready to sell we decided it would be a good time to get away. Saturday morning we got up early and left for Washington DC. We were glad to be getting out of town before a storm dropped 6 inches of snow on Saturday. The drive took about 9 hours, which included stops for eating. The kids did great!

We stopped for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory which is a favorite of ours and a place we would usually not "waste" on the kids, but this was vacation and a special occasion. Unfortunately, Sam had a huge BLOWOUT poopy diaper that got literally on every piece of clothing he had on (including socks and shoes). Given the choice of buying expensive clothes for him or rummaging through luggage in the car I decided that having him wear a pink sweatshirt of Lucy's and a diaper was best.

After all of that we arrived at my cousin Bob's house. He and his wife Suzy are saints for being willing to take in a crazy family of six.

Sunday was church and family day. We drove to my Uncle Byron & Aunt Hazel's home in Alexandria, VA. It was great to have a visit with them.

Finally, we drove up to the temple where my Aunt Nadine and Uncle Bob are serving a mission in the Visitor's Center. The temple was beautiful all lit up. We had a great visit and Lucy took a quick liking to Uncle Bob (who doesn't?).Now we are ready to see the sights of our nation's capitol. More to come . . .

Lucky Seven

2009-02-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Seven must be a lucky number for this dude.

Max turned seven this week and was treated like a king. Breakfast in bed, out to lunch with mom and Sam (not Lucy per his request...) and dinner with the family at the traditional birthday spot, Red Robin. Wow, do you think food is important to this kid? I wonder where he gets it from...
So if all that wasn't enough, today he had his friend party. He wanted a DRAGON party, so we went with the whole medieval theme complete with saving the princess and all of her accessories. The boys had a great time and were very well behaved. Sometimes it is scary thinking of 10 boys in your house for two hours, but they were really delightful. They played a ton of games, had pizza and cake and ice cream, and of course battled with their new swords. Max said his favorite part was opening presents, so we might only do that next time. He is so glad to be seven, and we are glad he is ours to spoil!One quick story about Max. Byron was reading to him the other night before bed when Byron noticed it started to get quite stinky. He asked Max if he needed to go to the bathroom and Max said "Yeah" and hopped up to go. Byron said he came back THREE seconds later. Byron asked him if he already went. He replied, "no, it was just my underwear pulled up too high." Haa! What a great kid!

Can you say SPOILED?

2009-02-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

We can. Dang spoiled. This is where we were last week. This is where our kids werewith this amazing woman.

Yeah, it ruled.

Byron had a conference at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. His conference, air fare and hotel room paid for. It was rough. Actually I still can't believe we were there! It is an amazing concept to me, we are so dang lucky.

The resort is located on a tiny island called Paradise Island. We decided that while we were there it was almost Paradise Island. It was uncharacteristically cold and windy. Now, lest anyone thinks I'm complaining, let me inform you I am not. I am just trying to explain why I came back from a 5 day trip to the Bahamas just as pasty white as your average midwinter Michigander. Believe me, I would NOT complain about a five day trip anywhere without kids, let alone to the Bahamas. It was absolutely wonderful, relaxing, rejuvenating, and downright fun. Just not in the sun.

We had two views from our corner hotel room.
We chose to look out the second one the most.

Byron had conference every morning, afternoons off, conference in the evenings, and nights off. That meant sleeping in for me, reading in bed, running OUTSIDE, and hanging out by the pools waiting for Byron and for the sun. This is how he typically found me. These were all the people who were joining me. Wimps. It wasn't that cold, it was in the 60's!

We took a ferry across the harbor to Nassau to do some shopping in the markets and found some yummy Bahamian food: conch fritters (mostly fritter, little conch).
We had a great time exploring the resort and all the marine life. We decided the sharks are much better to watch in the cool aquariums they have all over, not at night in the open pools just next to your sidewalk path. Cool, but creepy. We also had fun finding different places to eat and just being able to talk instead of shoving food into four other tinier mouths.
Friday the sun did come out for about an hour and a half. (Yes, we took a picture, it was thrilling!) We cheered, we warmed up and we did some sweet waterslides and rides. Saturday afternoon the sun came out and smiled down on us and amazingly enough, the clouds didn't come back. We actually applied some sunscreen, swam in the ocean, and soaked up what sun we could while trying to not get blown away. Sunday when we woke up to leave for the airport, it was all blue skies, not a cloud to be seen, with a nice island breeze. It was the Paradise Island we knew existed. Just our luck.
I guess we'll just have to go back another time...

He's the Man!

2009-02-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

So Byron has outdone himself again. He is always the greatest in regard to help around the house and with the kids. I mean
THE GREATEST.

For example, a couple of years ago I went to the temple one night with a friend who's husband was on call so Byron was going to cover watching their kids if her husband happened to not get home in time. Well sure enough her husband was stuck at the hospital so she was bringing her four kids over to add to our three. Great kids, but not the typical dream night for a guy. My friend described it the best when she said something like this: It doesn't get much better that I can leave my kids with not only a pediatrician AND worthy priesthood holder but someone who will make homemade sugar cookies just because it would be "fun". That's right, he thought it would be fun to do sugar cookies with everyone while we were gone. I told him he was insane and to have fun with that. When we came back the house was spotless and I asked him if he decided not to do the cookies. Oh no, he did them, he said it was fun. Yeah, ok.
Things like this happen regularly. So it wasn't surprising when he decided to make cinnamon rolls with the boys. Once again, I was the scrooge not wanting to spend the time or make the mess, but he did it all without a blink of an eye.(These cinnamon rolls were DIVINE by the way, no surprise.)
But like I said, this is normal. But he has branched out over the past couple of weeks. We have been working to get our house ready to sell and he has become a regular plumber and handyman (crack and all...no picts, this is a family blog.) He has replaced two bathroom faucets, the kitchen faucet, the disposal and two toilet seat covers. This is a big deal, since we really aren't the fixer-upper types. I have been so proud. But what is even a bigger deal and makes me even more proud is that he landed the perfect job in the location of our dreams. That's right, we're moving back to Mesa! We found out just before Christmas, but as things are getting more solidified, we are still finding it hard to believe. So once again, Byron has outdone himself, not that anyone's surprised...

Birthday Stud

2009-01-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

When I found out we would be having a baby in December, I felt horrible that we would be giving someone such a terrible birthday. I swore to myself we would not get his birthday lost in Christmas. Never. It would be special and separate and he would never get shafted. We're only at his FIRST birthday, and look, he already got shafted because his birthday post is AFTER a very lame Christmas post. Byron says, No poor Sam, he doesn't even know. I say poor Sam because I think it is just a glimpse of what is to come. Poor kid!

At least his birthday was great! This picture shows the very best thing about turning one: he is now a real kid that gets to travel like the rest of us. Way to go, little man!Sam had been cutting teeth for a couple of weeks prior to his birthday and had been CRANKY! But for his birthday he was back to his normal, happy, easy going self. It was great! I have always taken the camera into our kids' room on their first birthday so I could get a shot of them first thing. Here he is in his glory: Pink Binky and all... (fourth kid getting shafted with a left over older sister's Binky) The big kids were so excited for him to have his birthday, even if he didn't know the difference. So the whole thing was for them as much as him. They woke up to the table set up for a party with balloons and party hats, you know, the works! I decided to really spoil the kid which meant no errands! It was playtime at the mall with friends and chinese food for lunch.He loved dinner of black beans and rice (Freestone blood, I know...) and his "balloon" party. He got the biggest kick out of us singing Happy Birthday to him. He smiled so big and started laughing. We all loved it so much we did it again. He got his very own green balloon cupcake and devoured it way better than any of our kids on their first try. He didn't care much for his presents, but Lucy and the rest of us sure did. It was a fun day, and all in all, I don't think Sam Sam felt like he got shafted one bit. We'll have to see about future years when he will actually have an opinion... We sure love this baby!

Merry Christmas To All...

2008-12-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

... and to all a good night!

The Greatest

2008-12-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves their parents and thinks they are great. And really, they probably are. But my mom IS the greatest! I mean, who else comes out to stay with you for a month just because you want her to? No one but my mom! Who else helps you clean, cook, take care of kids and works on projects ALL day long, and feels like SHE is putting you out? No one but my mom! Who else will watch me struggle with my kids and see me lose my temper for a whole month, and still think I am a great mom? NO ONE, but my Mom (ok, and Byron). Seriously, she is THE greatest and we had such a fun time with her here. We always think we have so much time to enjoy, and we do, but it goes so fast!
We did projects: assembled 48 I Spy Bag kits for our RS super saturday, scrapbooked (that I only do once a year as a demanded christmas gift for gmas and gpas), did lots of early christmas shopping, reorganized my 72 hour kits, and figured out christmas cards. I'm sure there were lots more. We did cooking: Thanksgiving yumminess, chocolate caramel pretzel rods, lots of soups and breads and a few new recipes. I love cooking WITH my mom and being able to just ask her to show me something instead of calling her on the phone and trying to imagine what she is explaining. We did fun things for the kids: 1st annual family carnival nite (thanks Wallises for the great idea!), movie nights, story time, FHE. Anything with Grandma turns into fun. I love the interaction and relationship she develops with my kids when she is here for an extended period of time. They truly get to know her and love her and miss her when she is gone. We did cleaning: Ok, not a ton this time, but she did reorganize my laundry room, and speaking of laundry, that woman can do laundry like no one else I know. I turn around and a whole weeks worth of laundry is washed, folded, AND put away! Amazing!

Mostly when she is here we just talk and talk and talk. She is an amazing woman that finds the good side of anything and everything, and feels so blessed by such little things in life. She devotes her life to serving her children and grandchildren. She is the greatest. We miss her, don't know if we can wait for February! Yeah, that's right, she's coming again, to once more, inconvenience us by watching our kids, cleaning house, cooking, and doing projects. SHE IS THE GREATEST!

My Michigan Girl

2008-12-18T18:10:00.000-08:00

I am sure that Michelle is planning on posting about Sam's first birthday, which is today. But in case she wasn't I am going to put a picture of her here. That will surely get her to post something because she will not want a picture of her at the top of the blog. I really like this picture. She is super cute. Love you, babe.

What could be better than a JOB in Phoenix?

2008-11-26T21:05:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, Byron IS actually going to be done with his fellowship this summer. He has been looking into various practices and is starting to interview for jobs. But really, what could be better than a job in Phoenix?
Nothing, right? Right now it is 75 degrees and sunny in AZ. Always sunny! Big draw. Mexican food galore. Mmm... Mattas, Filibertos, Serranos, El Charro, Mi Amigos, mmm. Big draw. Our family is in AZ. Our little Sam is #26 grandchild on BOTH sides of the family. All of the Garn cousins are there and the majority of Burnham cousins are there too. That's a LOT of family. Many people would think this is a reason for not wanting to live somewhere, but not us. We love these people and want to hang out with them on a regular basis. Huge draw! He did Residency there and has lots of connections. Big draw. I could go on and on about all the things that are pulling our hearts back to the Valley, but I won't, it would take too long. So again I ask, could there be anything better than a job in Phoenix? Well, DUH! Yeah, a job in MESA! For real? Well, I guess we'll see next week. Byron is interviewing with a Pediatric Cardiology practice that is based in Phoenix. They service the entire Metro Area including Mesa. We have always dreamed of how sweet it would be if Byron didn't have to commute to Phx. With the building of the new Childrens Hospital in Mesa, we thought that maybe that would be a reality somewhere long down the road. Well, it might be sooner than we think. The Phx group needs a guy in the Mesa clinic. Hmm, isn't that interesting. The problem is that Byron has been in training way too long (news flash there!) and he is too subspecialized. He is training this last year in interventional catheterization within pediatric cardiology, but not many practices need an interventionalist right now, including the Phx group. The new hospital won't even be done for another year, and the cath lab will take even longer to get up and running. So initially Phx was talking about not needing a cath guy right now and we were looking into other options. Now they are interested in making some arrangements, giving Byron enough cath cases in Phx to keep his skills up until he can get up and running at the new Mesa hospital. OK, sign him up! I can already smell the orange blossoms! Just kidding. We are not jumping the gun, we know that there are about a billion if's and but's that need to be resolved and that the timing just might be off. Then we will go somewhere else and yes, Mom, we will still be happy! But even in our very realistic even doubtful minds, it is all very exciting! We can't wait to hear what the Phx group has in mind when he interviews next week. Wish him luck!

Fall Favorites

2008-11-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Our fall was jam packed with visitors and projects and get-aways and beautiful weather and FUN! Hence the lack of blogging. I am going to try to quickly post some of the highlights so I can get back to randomly posting nonsense. It started of with a WONDERFUL visit from my two sisters, their two kids each, and my mom. We had 5 adults, 2 big kids, and 6 kids under the age of 3 here in our tiny little house. It was GREAT! (No, we're not polygamists!!) We mostly took care of kids, a lot! But it was so fun to do it together and to see and hear how they make things work in their homes. My sisters are FABULOUS moms and it was so healthy for me to be with them for an entire week and pick their brains. We couldn't even fit everyone in our cars so we only did two excursions that were musts: pumpkin farm and church (and church we decided could only be an hour because it was during naptime for 6 babes!) The weather was GORGEOUS and we spent all our time outside. I'm not sure if right now I miss my sisters more or the weather....just kidding guys! What a fun time we had!

We then had a great visit from Grandma and Grandpa Garn. Grandpa was presiding at a Stake Conference in Grand Rapids so we packed up our crew and joined them for the weekend. It was wonderful to be with them for extended periods of time to visit, but also to hear them speak and testify of the Gospel. It was such a treat for us! We were so lucky to have Grandma stay with us longer for almost a week. The kids got to really know her and do fun things that Grandma Garn is great at doing. She is one of the most positive people I know and I love having her contagious attitude around. I put her to work helping me with projects I have been wanting or needing to get done. She helped me bottle 24 cans of chicken, start assembling I Spy Bean Bags, and made Jack a vampire cape for Halloween. It was so fun to have her here and we are so glad they are no longer on the other side of the world; the other side of the country is much better! Byron and I were able to have the get-away of a lifetime! If you've never been, you HAVE to go to FORT WAYNE, INDIANA! OK, so I am being sarcastic, but it really was a fabulous time! Anywhere without kids is a great place to be! PLUS, if you meet up with really fun people, it is even better! My sister and her husband were coming out to the midwest for a wedding so my mom and my other sister and hubby decided to jump in on the fun. We got to do all kinds of great things that we don't get to do with kids. We went out to eat 6 DELICIOUSLY GLORIOUS times, saw two movies, played a round of goofy golf (don't ask who won, or lost...), went to a musical, slept in, worked out, and went shopping. Most of all we talked, and talked, and talked. UNINTERUPTED! It was amazing.And thanks to good friends who helped out with our kids, they survived extremely well without us. Hmm, guess we better go again! By the way, if you ever have the chance to go to this restaurant, GO! It was so dang good! Go Fort Wayne! And hooray family!!

Vampires, Cheerleaders, and Harry Potter, OH MY!!

2008-11-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

So this is about as generic a post as it gets--kids in Halloween costumes (no offense to everyone else who is doing the same), but it has been over a month since our last post and as junior partner on this blog it is all I can muster tonight.

In order of appearance:

Jack--The Vampire

Special thanks to Grandma Garn who was here in MI for the week of Halloween and made this cape for Jack's costume.

Max--Harry Potter

Max was also Harry Potter last year (although with a different cloak). Needless to say we were very glad when we were struggling to decide in the very week before Halloween that he chose a costume that we already had on hand.

Lucy--Michigan Cheerleader

We had a hard time deciding between the many costumes we had for Lucy, but anyone who has lived in Ann Arbor and knows the passion for all things UofM will understand why this won out.

Samuel--Dinosaur (maybe Alligator??)

Sam really disliked this costume (and we really are not sure whether it is a dinosaur or alligator). He wouldn't keep the hood on and so the best picture of him is with the hood off. Still pretty cute though.

Finally, this is really disgusting.

Both boys hit the Jackpot . . .

and participated in the ritual of sorting the candy.

Max was obviously thrilled . . .

and when we put it all together in one bag it totaled . . . .

15 POUNDS!!!

(I have to admit my hypocrisy of calling it disgusting when I am eating as much as anybody else!)

--Byron

Pre-winter Projects

2008-10-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

Knowing we will be TRYING to sell our house this coming spring, we've been busy getting some some things done outside before the winter comes. Move over "Get It Sold", here we come!!!

Before

And afterBy the way, these pictures are of our 3 season screened in patio adjacent to our garage. We totally made fun of these when looking for homes in MI, but we love it and have spent many a fun gatherings in this patio. Hmm, maybe it's time for another, now that it actually looks decent.

We stained our deck and the fence in the background (even though in the picture the fence is not stained yet.) They look so much better! It has rained since and the water just sits on top in little happy puddles for Lucy to stomp on. I LOVE IT! No after pictures of the tree ring, but with the circle complete and filled in with mulch in the center... it looks pretty snazzy, believe me!

We rewarded ourselves with this:
Come on, we deserved it!!!

(ok, the caramel popcorn didn't have anything to do with being a reward for projects, it was just so unbelievably good that I have still been dreaming about it and just wanted to look at the picture every time I look at my blog...)

It's Official

2008-09-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

He's mobile!

Queen Lucy

2008-09-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is now TWO!
Ok, she has been for 3 weeks now, her mom is just slow...
Alas, she did turn two and had the birthday any 2 year old would LOVE. This is the conversation we had at the dinner table about Lucy's party.
Boys: Who are we going to invite? Can our friends come too? Can it be a water party?
Me: Does Lucy like it when her friends are here?
Boys: No
Me: Is Lucy nice to her friends?
Boys: No
Me: Does Lucy like to share her toys?
Boys & Lucy: No
Me: Does Lucy like it when mommy talks to other grown ups?
Boys & Lucy: No
Me: Should we invite all Lucy's friends and their families to her party?
Boys & Lucy: No

So it was decided. Let the spoiling begin. We had just a family party, with balloons for the girl, cake for the girl, presents for the girl, and ring-around-the-rosie for the girl. She had a ball and didn't have to share one thing!Here are some thing I always want to remember about my newly 2 year old LUCY!

She recently woke up at 6:15 am (ugh), calling "Momma....Momma.....I'm Darvin'!" (Starving)

She has ears like an elephant and constantly keeps us up to speed on what is going on in the neighborhood even though we are inside the house, "oh, airplane", "oh, choo choo train", "oh, doggie", "oh, beep, beep", "oh, copter". She hears all of these way before I even notice.

Her "hair" finally blows in the wind, at least when she is on the swing!

We taught her that instead of hitting and pushing and yelling "go away" when someone does something she doesn't like, that she should just say "no thanks". There are many times when we hear her angrily yelling "NO TANKS! NO TANKS!"

Lucy LOVES baby Sam Sam, as we call him, (she calls him Dam Dam) She loves it when he comes in her crib to play or when she gets to play with him in his crib. She always wants to feed Dam Dam, which I hate because it is messy baby food, but is pretty cute.

She is a pretty dang good eater and I can almost always get her to try one bite of anything, then of course she usually eats the rest, but even if she doesn't, she will at least try it.

Byron taught her to fill in the blanks: "Daddy is the ....." she yells, "BEST!" "Mommy is the....." she yells "CUTEST!" (yeah, we're brainwashing, whatever!)

My mom made her a little snuggly when she was born and she LOVED it and always slept with it. We lost it at the waterpark resort so of course my mom made her another one and sent it in the mail. We made a big deal that Grandma made it just for Lucy (so she would give Sam's back to him) and she was pleased as punch. That was months ago. The other week church changed to the horrid 1 pm slot so I brought the snug for her so she would fall asleep. Yeah right. She told 3 different people, while showing off her snug, "Grandma Made It, Lucy." She seemed so endeared to her Grandma, it made me happy inside!

She's the worst dancer ever, but she loves it and does it all the time.

She loves PBS's Super Why! Did I say loves? I mean is ADDICTED!

She can belt out the Indiana Jones song with the best of 'em.

She loves to go to Nursery now, and thinking of church, she doesn't escape to go up to sit with Byron on the stand anymore Woohoo! (except for last Sunday, darn it!)

She throws a fit with the best of them, but she snaps out of it pretty easily.

Boy I love this girl! Can't get enough!

Hard Hearted?

2008-09-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

Once again it is back to school time and with both boys now gone all day I am too excited. I realized a few years back that I am a "special" mom. I was taking Jack to his first day of Kindergarten, surrounded by moms putting on a brave face and wiping their tears. I didn't get it. I gave Jack a high five and a "see you in a few hours" and whistled a happy tune the whole way home! I wondered what in the heck was wrong with me. Do I not love my little boy as much as these concerned, compassionate, emotional moms? I got over that pretty quick. Of course I do! Jack and I had a unique relationship, and he was very ready to be at school and I was very ready to have someone else inspire him, teach him and help him grow. I thought it was great! And I still do! I think I am a much better mom in shorter segments of time. I know I need to be totally positive and patient for 2 hours in the morning. Then I can regroup and unwind (with my two little ones) and be ready to be "on" again for another 5 or 6 hours, even though those 5-6 hours are the most crazy, frantic time of the day. But if I can break it down I do much better. The whole 14 hour straight thing day in, day out does not bring out the best in me. So, when it is time for school to begin, I say Hallelujah! Don't get me wrong, I still worry to death about my boys up there at school. Are they fitting in? Are they being nice to kids around them? Are they going to make it to the bathroom? Will they be respectful to their teachers? Can they stick up for themselves and make good choices? It goes on and on. My prayers have come much more frequently in the last three days. But does it make me cry? Not gonna happen, the smile is too big! Both Max and Jack wouldn't look up for a picture, getting too big for mom to hang around! Now I get to spend more time with my two little rascals! While we were walking home Lucy said, "Jack, Max?" I told her they were staying up at school to learn ABC's and numbers. She said, "How....Bout...Lucy?" Soon little girl, too soon! Maybe the tears will come then? (I doubt it.)

Proverbs 22:6

2008-09-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Creepy

2008-09-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

We like to plant LOTS of tomatoes because we really like tomatoes, and because we also like to share. You know, with, like, neighbors and friends. We didn't have this in mind:
These things were huge and they were eating my tomatoes! After we found about 4 of them, and their giant poop, I was pretty creeped out. Fortunately, after googling "disgusting tomato caterpillars" I found out that they would not devour me and my children, and that to get rid of them I simply had to cut off their horn until green blood comes out and throw them out for the birds. Or stomp on them. Or cut them in half. Or drown them in water. Ok, very creeped out. Definitely something for the strong man of the house. When Byron came home, he and the boys pried them off the plants, took them far into the backyard snipped them in half with trimming clippers, oohing and ahhing over the green oozing blood, and threw them in the garbage. We haven't found any more but I still feel totally violated. Hungry?

Birthday Surprise

2008-08-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we have a NINE year old! Yes, I know it is just one year past eight, but nine just seems like a lot more years. This is what our Jack looked like when we moved here to Michigan 3 years ago. This was taken on his 6th birthday . Time has just flown and here we are in the same porch but with a BIG KID! Woah! And what does every BIG KID need but a surprise birthday party!!! His friends and their families did a great job keeping it a secret. He thought his party was going to be on Monday, his actual birthday, but we surprised him Saturday evening, two days early. These boys of ours have totally been into the Indiana Jones hype so we thought an Indy Adventure would be right up their alley. They all had to work together to find an antidote to save birthdays around the world. They were given clues and, thanks to the best Daddy, homemade whips to help them along the way.
They had a great time, then enjoyed pizza and watching The Last Crusade. Lucky for us Jack thought it was the best party ever. Whew! I was afraid he would still want his Monday party because the surprise one was not what he wanted. Fortunately he loved it. Much to Jack's disappointment, his last baseball game fell on his very birthday and we made him go. Gratefully he got to enjoy the team's only win of the season and he played well and actually enjoyed himself. We of course had to still do the traditional birthday dinner at Red Robin, even if it was two days later. It ended up being a five day celebration and after being spoiled like this I think Jack knows he is officially nine years old now, and that we love having this big kid in our family!!

More Fun in the Sun

2008-07-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

So camping is fun, but it isn't my favorite thing. I like to go because I loved camping when I was a kid and I want my kids to have that experience. Well, camping with babies isn't fun. We have two. (Ok, so Lucy really isn't a baby anymore, but it is still two sets of diapers, two cribs, two high chairs, you get the point...) Well, camping it the rain REALLY isn't fun. It rained both nights we camped. So you would think we would have had a horrible, nightmare of an experience. Oddly enough, it was quite the opposite. We had a blast! I think there were a few things to our advantage: friends, the beach, and twin 12 year old girls! We met up with our long lost Ann Arbor friends and it was so great to catch up. Max and his bestest buddy of 3 years didn't just gel right away after the year hiatus, UNTIL they remembered their common passion : Computer Games! They sat like this for 45 minutes straight, totally captivated in conversation, it was a riot! I basically didn't hold Sam for two days straight because he was passed from one set of eager hands to the next. Lucy thus had more Mommy AND Daddy time than she has had in a long time so she was super happy. We camped at Warren Dunes off the "coast" of Lake Michigan. Basically Lake Michigan beaches RULE!! The sand is finer than California sand, the waves not quite as big but big enough to play in and not feel like you are going to get dragged out to sea. The greatest bonus is the FRESH WATER! You can actually clean off from the beach and get clean! It totally feels like you are at the ocean, but it is fresh lake water, AMAZING. Plus there are incredible sand dunes close by that are super fun to climb up and jump or run down. The boys loved hiking and exploring, just couldn't get enough. We all had a ball and decided we definitely have to go back before the summer is over. There are more friends going in August and we are thrilled because we realized that we DON'T have to go have another camping experience to enjoy the beach. I mean, why press our luck? Camping with babies and rain and mosquitos was great and all, ONCE, but who are we kidding? It couldn't be so great the next time, especially without the twins! We think we are the smartest people in just planning a day trip, and we can't wait for another day at the beach!

Family, the Fourth, and Thirty Four

2008-07-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful week we had. We were so lucky to have Byron's parents visit us for almost one whole week! They are on their way moving from Hong Kong to Salt Lake City via Ann Arbor then Mesa. They get to spend about 3 weeks in AZ but they have to spend their time at doctor and dentist appointments and split the rest with 5 children, 5 spouses and 23 grandkids. Well, we got them here at our house for 6 full days by ourselves!! We still feel so lucky. They came at the perfect time with the long 4th of July weekend, Byron's birthday and absolutely gorgeous weather. Ok, except for the huge storm that knocked our power out during our barbeque and stayed out for the next 30 some hours. Our kids thought it was the best barbeque ever and still ask if we can have another barbeque durning a rainstorm that knocks out the power. Sure, why not? We celebrated Byron's birthday at Greenfield Village which is a Henry Ford museum of cool historical things village style. It was really interesting and fun to walk around while visiting. We ended the day with nothing else but birthday dinner at Red Robin. We were too stuffed for cake, which was a good thing because our power was still out when we got home. No baking here! Byron got one candle on the candlestick Max shaped himself at Greenfield Village. What an awesome birthday for one great guy! We were invited to breakfast and a bike parade on the 4th. It was so fun with great food, fun friends, perfect weather, and a relaxing atmosphere way better than any city parade. That night we had our own fireworks show in our backyard that was spectacular. Ok, maybe not spectacular, but it was super fun with fireflies adding their own sparkle of light, and knowing we weren't having to battle traffic and crowds. Grandma and Grandpa got the MVP award for coming to help with family pictures. I knew we needed extras to help situate and make kids smile, and they not only fit the bill but were the best. They danced and told silly jokes and fixed clothes and basically were awesome! What a relief that is over -- pictures are never my favorite. We haven't seen them all but here is a sneak peak of the sneak peak we got. I'm quite excited (mostly that it is done!) We spent the rest of the week doing the normal things like cooking and eating (a lot!), going on walks, church, and trying out fun gifts from Hong Kong. Mostly we just relished being together, letting the kids really get to know Grandma and Grandpa. It was so much fun, we are so sad they are gone. Lucy really took to Grandpa and today was asking for him, it was so cute. They definitely made a lasting impression! Luckily Grandpa has a church assignment in the fall that will bring them back to Michigan. It made saying goodbye so much easier. We can't wait to see them again!

Beach Bummin'

2008-06-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful week in Southern California. We stayed at a beach house on Capistrano Beach, a nostalgic place where we used to go with my Harbaugh grandparents and cousins. Oh, how I loved those trips to Cali! My mom has always wanted to recreate these wonderful memories with her own family and we were finally able to do it. Byron has joked that any reunion with my family is "girls camp". Well this was way better than any girls camp I've been to! My mom did an amazing job of creating an incredibly fun week for her 6 kids, spouses and 25 grandkids. We had beach olympics, sand castle competitions, Chinese day, smores around the campfire, boogie boarding in the waves, Bonko night, and a Sunday fireside. We ate incredibly well (meaning way too much food and delicious desserts everyday!) My mom even had Burnham Capistrano Beach 2008 shirts made for each person. I was the lucky one who got to celebrate my birthday there with everyone, including Byron's two sisters and their families who came for the day. It was a blast! We ventured off the beach one day and took our kids to Legoland, they had a ball, (minus Max getting sick and throwing up about 4 times while we were there.) The best part of the whole week was just being with everyone, getting reacquainted with all the kiddios that seem to grow up so much in the months we are apart, and laughing with my siblings. They truly are some dang funny people. What a Burnham Camp to remember! Way to go Mom, it was the BEST!

Sam Recap

2008-06-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

So I think I jinxed Sam when I wrote about the fourth baby being bliss. All you have to do is mention how great something is to have it turn on you! He is still such a dang cute baby but boy has he been a terrible sleeper lately. He is addicted to his binki and won't go to sleep unless he is TIGHTLY swaddled, but he is getting old enough that no matter how tightly he is swaddled he squirms enough so that his little hand pops out by his face and he grabs his binki and messes up the whole system. Sheesh. Maybe it is time for him to learn to sleep without it all but I sure liked it when he just slept and didn't mess around. Sheesh.

On a brighter note.... Sam rolled over for the first time a few weeks ago and has continued to go from tummy to back. We have to watch him carefully when he is on the ground because his big sis likes to lay down by him and sometimes misses and sits on him. Or pokes him in the eye. Or tries to "hold you" as she says over and over. So sometimes I feel he spends too much time in the bouncy seat on the table, but at least it is safe. They all love to play with him. Jack came through the kitchen pushing the laundry basket with some Webkinz and Sam. He's just a part of their favorite things! The other night Jack had been holding Sam like he always does: Jack lays on the couch or ground with Sam sitting on his belly like he is riding a horse. Jack holds his hands and talks to him and sings to him and jostles him quite a bit. Jack loves his little baby Sam and takes every opportunity he can to hold him. Well this night, Sam showed Jack just how much he truly loves their play sessions. He nailed Jack smack in the face with puke. It was so funny, Jack was so startled and luckily didn't just throw him down because he really didn't know what to do. We were all there to witness this and thought it was most funny because Jack had done the same thing to Byron 8 years ago. Sam has been the lucky kid around here that gets to go on date nights with mommy and daddy. We find it amazing how easy it seems to just take one baby with us instead of the four kids. We have sure had fun with our little addition. He is a happy baby, quick to smile and easy to distract when grumpy. We love our little Sambo!

Max Recap

2008-05-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

A few new things have been in store for Max this spring. He is starting to learn to ride his bike without the training wheels. He isn't too thrilled to keep trying, but he is so close! Max has also started soccer for the first time. We realized with Jack that we started him way too early at three years old (first child excitement). So Max is just beginning and it has been the perfect time for this six year old. We have had so much fun watching him; he is aggressive and follows along with the game and has ALMOST scored numerous times. He is highly motivated with rewards and is always asking us if he can earn something if he does something. Before every game he asks if he can get a reward if he scores a goal. He is quite manipulative because it is usually something I want to agree to like a place to eat out for dinner or movie night for the family. It has been pretty funny, even though we are trying to teach him to love to play and do well simply because it's fun (yeah right, I'm out there cheering my lungs out so we can go to Red Robin!) In the few games Max has played he has handled the ball 10 times more than Jack did in a season. They are definitely two different kids with very different personalities. Speaking of being highly motivated by rewards, Max has gotten some pretty great "treats" with good haircuts the last couple of months. Mas HATES to get his hair cut, and even though we've made progress over the years it still isn't a favorite activity for anyone involved. So, like any good parent, we bribe him. Max said he would only do a buzz if he could have a mohawk. We said what the heck, why not for the day, as long as he would be PERFECT for the haircut in the morning and later to get the mohawk gone. It was sweet! We had planned to go bowling that day, and one of his best buddies was having a birthday party later that afternoon. We got the funniest looks from people wondering what kind of people we were to let our six year old kid wear a mohawk. He was the HIT of the birthday party and thought it was the coolest day ever. He finagled 4 Oreos out of the latest haircut, but I tell you, he was an angel for both haircuts, and our house was actually peaceful (or at least our neighbors don't think we're abusive anymore!)
Byron took the boys to our ward Father's and Son's Outing and they had a blast. They were the first ones to the site and Max was thrilled because he helped Byron build and start the fire that ended up being THE fire that everyone used the whole night. Way to go buddy.
One last thing about Max. He is the best brother ever. He always is thinking of Jack and how he can make him happy. He and Lucy have a special relationship. He is in school every morning and she gets so excited when it is time for him to come home. He plays and plays with her and makes her so laugh all the time. She calls him Maxers and says it so affectionately. The other day after playing on the trampoline and doing every single thing she wants him to do, he said, " I am so done playing with her." but two seconds later he was back at it. So cute!

Jack Recap

2008-05-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

There have been so many things going on lately that I have not written about. I decided to post them categorized by individual children. This time the first shall be first....

Jack has been a busy kid this spring. He was able to participate in his first ever Pinewood Derby. He totally designed the car and Byron helped him cut and sand and install weights and paint. His car did really well the first few rounds, including beating car designed by the Ford Engineer Dad. After winning twice they decided Jack's car might be not within regulation. They said it was too long with the weights sticking out the back. Hmmm. Thought the cars were inspected BEFORE the race, but whatever. Jack and Byron took the weights off the back and stuck them on the sides. The car won it's next race, but fell off the track on the next one and it was down hill from there. Unfortunately our boy got the sweet taste of victory in his mouth early on, only to have it turn a bit sour. We were proud of him, though. He kept a good attitude, and really only complained a little bit on the way home. Leave it to scouts to teach boys the hard lessons of life and how to deal with them. Jack also had his piano recital a while back. He had practiced and practiced his songs for weeks, and was so bored of it he raced through the songs. His teacher was really concerned that he would not be able to keep the right tempo and recommended Byron sitting with him to count with him. Jack really thought he could do it on his own, (and we did too...his teacher is a little over zealous!) The recital was on a Sunday immediately after our church, so he hadn't practiced that day, and heaven forbid he ever practice on Saturday, so I was a bit nervous for him. He was calm as can be and performed wonderfully! He was proud to be a part of the recital, and was even talking about next year's performance, which is a huge thing considering he regularly goes through phases of refusing to play after this year! All in all, it was victorious!A few months ago we discovered that Jack really gets a bum deal around our house. He happens to be home only during the really chaotic times of the day. In the morning before school when it is rush, rush, rush. After school when it is homework, piano, scouts, sports. Dinner time: eat, sit down, eat, sit down, sit down, sit down. Bedtime for the little ones occupies all our focus, then it's nearly time for Jack to shower and go to bed. We don't think he really realized this, nor did we for a while, but after many struggles of behavioral issues, we took a different look at things. We decided he needed some Mommy Time. Once a week we have scheduled a time for he and I to spend some alone time together. It has made such a HUGE difference. It doesn't even matter what we do. He just knows that on such and such a day, at this time, he will get his special time and it somehow makes everything else okay. He gets to pick (within reason) what we do, and it usually isn't very long, but it is enough. We have worked on his pinewood derby car, gone to a book store, shopped for shoes at Meijer (that was random), played the Easter Bunny, and played catch with the football. I have found that it is harder to be frustrated with him when I have more positive experiences with him. For a while the only interactions we were having together were nagging and negative. After having good moments together, I feel like he knows I really care, and I can see him in a different light too. Plus, it has truly been fun to just hang out with my boy! Hooray for Mommy Time and hooray for Jack!

Therapy and Psuedo-Therapy

2008-05-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

There have been a number of things this past month that have made me feel "normal" again. ( I know many would argue that I have never been normal...) Between having a baby and nursing that baby every 3 hours and throwing out my back, I have not been able to do a lot of the things that help me feel like something other than a slave to my house, children, and aging body. I started physical therapy for my back and it has been wonderful! No miracles or anything, but definite changes and relief. This means I have been able to RUN! Woohoo! I haven't run since before I was pregnant with Lucy. It feels great (actually there's a whole lot of jiggling going on that doesn't feel so great!) , but hopefully my back will hold up and I can continue to pound it out on the pavement. It feels fabulous! I also mowed the lawn yesterday, which takes me back to my teen years and is totally therapeutic! A few weeks ago we gave Sam a bottle for the first time so I could go to the temple with our Relief Society sisters. It was so needed! I hadn't been to the temple since Dec. and was in need of a spiritual boost and was greatly filled. Next we had a girly night where two friends came over and we made dresses for our girls. It was so fun! It made me remember that yes, I can do something other than change diapers and pick up all day. Lucy totally didn't need another dress, but turning a couple of pillow cases into a dress for her was what I totally needed! Date night with my hubby was also pretty sweet. Byron owed me a date from FOREVER ago because I beat him in bowling, thank you very much! This means he had to arrange babysitting and decide what we were going to do. Dinner and a movie is an all time fave, but lo and behold, he came up with something better: dinner and shopping at the outlets! And not shopping for the kids (well a little) but he said it was shopping for me! With being fat and pregnant for 18 months out of 2 years, not to mention the postpartum fatness, it has been a long, long time since I have shopped for myself. I didn't find much, but the fact that I could shop kid free and with someone to show off to, it was a blast! Book club is also mega-therapy for me. I love, love, love to read and escape in a good book, but I love going and visiting with the girls even more! I came home from the last one and Byron said, "How was it?" I said, "great, but my back hurts. I think I sat in the same spot too long." He said, "Yeah, well FOUR hours is a long time." I said, "Duh, it wasn't FOUR hours! OH MY GOSH! I was there for FOUR hours?" Sorry, Elizabeth, we stayed a loooong time, but truly, it makes me a better woman. Maybe not the next day when I am so tired, but I continue to find myself chuckling over past book club conversations and it just makes me happy. Each of these things has made me feel whole and well again. Hallelujah!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

I could try to list here many of the reasons why I love Michelle so much, but it would be in vain. I think that I could very literally go on all night. I will list just four:

Jack

Max

Lucy

Sam

I want to say to Michelle personally what Elder Holland said to mothers of the church collectively.

"You are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He knows that your giving birth to a child does not immediately propel you into the circle of the omniscient. If you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do. You are doing God’s work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging."

Thanks for everything, Michelle. Especially bringing these great kids into our lives.

Love you, Babe.

4th Baby Bliss

2008-05-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

Our little Sam is now four months old and he has been so much fun to have around. We were quite nervous for #4 baby to come along, mostly because Lucy was going to be so little and her behavior would be a complete wild card, and also because 4 kids is a LOT of kids. I think we were so geared up for life to be completely chaotic that when it has come down to being just chaotic, we have found it all to be very enjoyable. Most of this comes from finally having some experience under our belts, but also because Sam is really a good baby (ok, and because Byron is in his research year and is more flexible than ever before.) Here are some of the things we have decided are quite nice about having a fourth baby:

knowing he can cry for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and he is NOT going to die or even remember it just a few minutes later
knowing that yes, schedules are nice and make for happy babies, but they are bound to get messed up easily (shots, sickness, travel, growth spurt, etc.) so chill out and be more flexible
knowing that when schedules get messed up, it really only takes a few days to get back on a schedule so chill out and be more flexible
we can change a diaper faster than Dash
watching the older kids love him and include him in their play (LOVE this, it's got to be my favorite thing about having more kids)
feeling confident that Jack really can carry him all over the house, including down the stairs
knowing that I really can lose THAT much hair in one washing and I really won't go bald
telling people that are admiring our two little ones that we have two bigger ones at school (I love the reactions)
my mom being willing to come for 6 weeks when Sam was born (no, that's not a typo, yes, I know I'm spoiled and I love it!)
knowing that it really is a short amount of time that I will be sleep deprived and nursing nonstop, so it really isn't that bad
knowing that it really is a short amount of time that he will be a little baby and just relish in his every detail: from the smells to the smiles to the touches
realizing that I have had 3 other babies so I should know what to do, but that even though I can't remember anything, it's ok and Sam will survive
having really low expectations of self and house because wow, we've got 4 kids

Of course there have been times when it has been overly hectic because of the baby plus 3 other kids, but I try to picture dealing with it all as if he were my first baby and I am so grateful he is my fourth. I'm sure he will be more adjusted and easy going than my others. Come to think of it, I am a fourth baby and my mom always said I was such a joy. Little did I know it had way more to do with her view of things than really how I was as a baby. (Dang, I thought I was special!) I realize now it was just the 4th baby bliss!

It's About Time

2008-05-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

I know that is what you are all thinking. Heaven's, it's what we're thinking! But really what it comes down to is that it truly is all about time. And we just don't have enough of it. But now more than ever I am realizing that time does go by so fast and if we don't document some of these even seemingly trivial things that we do everyday, we will never be able to remember any of it. So even if this isn't the greatest blog you have ever seen, it is finally here and will serve the purpose of letting us post the details of our lives and letting you in on it too.

Under Construction

2008-04-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

Please forgive our blog redo, we never have enough time to finish what we start! I'm sure it will be the greatest thing you've ever seen when we are finally finished. (Yeah right!!!)

Oops

2008-04-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was at TJMaxx with my four kids, which was probably a big oops to begin with. But it was just a quick trip to return something and check out the toys. I asked the boys to keep and eye on Lucy while I looked at the clothes "right here" next to the toys. Pretty soon Max said, "Where's Lucy?" Both of the boys were looking around and when they couldn't spot her right away I told Max to stay with Sam, Jack to go this way, and I would go that way. We couldn't find her, and I didn't even have time to get nervous when I heard overhead, "Could the mother of the young girl with the pink bow please come to customer service." Then of course, they repeated it, "Could the mother of the young girl with the pink bow please come to customer service." OOOPS! Even worse than me feeling guilty for losing my daughter was that I was somewhat proud that she was recognized by her BOW! How lame am I?

True Heros

2008-04-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

We have always loved Conference weekend and even feel an excitement as it approaches. We love hearing from prophets and apostles and feeling their love and concern, we love the break from regular church meetings, and we love feeling apart of something great throughout the world. Once again, this past weekend we felt inspired and rejuvenated.

For the last six years, April Conference has brought a different excitement. Since Byron's Dad was called to the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy he has received his assignment for the upcoming year the Wednesday after conference. Each year we anxiously await word of what they will be doing when July rolls around. He served in SLC for a year, and they have been serving in Hong Kong for 5 years now and have loved it immensely. Byron and I had the amazing opportunity to go visit without kids in 2003, and then again with the boys for a month in 2005 while Byron did a medical rotation in a hospital there. It was wonderful to see his parents embracing life there and working hard to serve the Lord. They have been so far away from their now 27 grandkids, and even though the world is a smaller place with the incredible technology we enjoy, they have missed knowing them close at hand. There are so many other things they could be missing, but they don't focus on those things either. Never do they complain or wallow in pity. They have been wonderful examples to us and we have felt so blessed for their desire to serve.

This weekend was likely to bring big changes for them. It was looking like they would probably be leaving Hong Kong, and, getting released all together or reassigned back in the states (UT). Since a call to the second quorum is typically 5 years and he had already served 6, they were thinking it quite possible they would be settling back in AZ for some grandkid/golf time. Surprise, surprise: they received their assignment to serve in Salt Lake. They once again have aligned their will with God's and are ready to serve with a good attitude. They are amazing and we love them dearly!

Easter Festivities

2008-03-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great week celebrating the Easter Season. The weekend before Easter we attended an Egg Scramble at Vet's Park, which was more like a free for all in the mud. Great fun for the kids, not so much fun for the inside of our van. Later in the week we colored eggs and had a ball seeing who could get theirs the darkest shade. Each day during the week we tried to talk about the Savior's week before the resurrection. It really made Sunday more meaningful, not to mention helping our week to be better too. The Saturday before Easter some ward friends were getting together to do an egg hunt for the kids. With the 5+ inches of snow we got the night before, it turned into a sledding/egg hunt outing. It was actually really fun because the snow made it easy to hide the eggs (you could just throw them on the ground and they would vanish) and it made it pleasingly difficult for even the big kids to find the eggs. The Easter Bunny has been so kind to agree to come to our house on Saturday before Easter Sunday. This has worked wonderfully for our family, allowing us to focus on candy and stuff on Saturday, and the Savior on Sunday. The Easter Bunny had a junior Bunny helper this year which I read on his blog was a super cool new thing for him and the junior Bunny (I am trying to be vague, but if you are thoroughly confused, please let me know!) The hunt for the candy was a riot this year with Lucy being the star of the show. She was a little shocked by all the candy around and that we were letting her eat whatever she wanted. She had her little fists full of candy, and the eggs that were not wrapped would immediately go into her mouth. I think she was afraid we would all of a sudden tell her she couldn't eat any more so she was going for as much as she could as quickly as she could. That day she learned to say "candy" and her new favorite word was "open". It was pretty funny.

Sunday was a delight with no bishopric meeting in the morning (thank you kind Bishop!) so Byron was able to help get everyone ready and we all drove to church together. What an Easter treat for me! We had a yummy ham dinner with some friends, the Mitchells, and our next door neighbor, Flo. I was so glad we had been talking about the life of Christ throughout the week, because I had multiple "friends of other faiths" ask me if we celebrated Easter. I was able to tell them a little about our focus on the Savior and how grateful I am for the resurrection. And of course, back to real priorities, I had to get some shots of Lucy in her cute hand-me-down Easter dress (thanks, Emily!) and her snow queen coat direct from Gma and Gpa Garn in Hong Kong. I thought it was too funny with her out there in her spring dress checking out the snow. She did not want to come inside even though it was freezing. Good times, good times!

Real Priorities

2008-03-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

Anyone close to me, or an acquaintance in the store, knows I am totally bugged by the fact that my ONLY daughter has no hair. She was so squeaky bald as a baby, she was "smooth as a seal"! All three of the boys had way more hair, in fact, right now, Sam at 3 months old has more hair than Lucy does at 18 months old. DUH! Well she is finally not bald, even though there isn't much there still. This picture represents a great day for me, however. It was the first time I pulled her little wispies into a ponytail on the top of her head. It was nearly impossible, but I somehow made it work. What fun, what fun!

Spring in Michigan

2008-03-21T19:04:00.001-07:00

I was talking to my sister Amy on the phone last week. She lives in AZ, where it is nice and springy and the day we talked I believe it was around 80 degrees and sunny, of course. I started telling her how wonderful it was here, that it was warm and sunny and almost felt like spring was approaching. In fact it was almost 50 degrees! She said I was psycho, that she would die if it was in the 50's. I told her it felt so warm finally that Max and his friends were heading out to jump on the trampoline. Again, she thought we were crazy. I thought it would be a good laugh for everyone in warm places to get a glimpse of Max enjoying our version of spring, with proof of the lovely weather, so I took a picture of him, then of our computer. The true irony hit about 10 minutes later when I was no longer on the phone with my sister, but looked outside at the boys to find them with their shirts off! I opened the door and called out, "Hey, you crazy boys, get your shirts on!" The great Michigan response from Max, "But Mom, we're HOT!" You gotta love it! By the way, this is what it looks like today, here in "Springy" Michigan. You don't gotta love this! In fact, we really quite despise it!

Jack Of All Trades

2008-03-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

We were trying to remember how long ago Jack began racing. We do not remember him racing in Milwaukee, but vividly remember him racing when we lived at Grandpa Harbaugh's house during Byron's intern year of residency, which would've made Jack 4 years old. So for the last 4 years any time Byron or I leave the house in the car, Jack wants to RACE. He waits until we are pulled out to the middle of the street, counts to three with his fingers, then takes off as fast as he can. Sometimes he races all the way down the street, but usually he goes just one house away, raises his arms in victory, then turns around and goes back inside the house. Jack is PASSIONATE about racing! He loves it and nothing deters him from doing it. So much so in fact, that we have had to make rules about racing over the years. Jack can no longer race before 7 am and cannot race after 8:30 pm. These rules have come after episodes like this where Jack could hear Byron leaving for the hospital at 10 pm or so and was devistated that we wouldn't let him race. He has also lost "racing privileges" at times for leaving the door wide open consecutive mornings, letting our beautiful Michigan winter into our home. As you can tell from the pictures, even the weather doesn't discourage this kid. He will plow through snow or carry an umbrella. He doesn't even care if other people are in the car, and some of you lucky people may have had the privilege of driving somewhere with us and racing this speed demon of ours. This all sounds pretty intense, but mostly it is just such a normal part of our day now that we don't even notice it as being unique. The other day when there was a ton of snow and I once again thought he was crazy for wanting to go out there and race, it occurred to me that I needed to capture this and write about it because it really defines Jack and makes up who he is. He is an ambitious, driven kid when he wants to be. The years seem to be racing by and I don't ever want to forget my boy happily racing along beside me! (Notice the pajamas and my boots, sweet combo!)

MidWinter Break

2008-03-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

Here in AA, it is so blasted cold for so blasted long that Spring Break for the kids is just not sufficient. So we get a week off school in Feb. and then again in April. I actually don't know the real reason why the public schools have the two different breaks, but blaming it on the weather right now seems about right. Typically the "breaks" don't seem like much of a break for moms at home, but I sure got one this time. We were lucky enough to be able escape the cold and the snow for a few days, which helped us embrace it when we got back and actually get out there and play. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that week, we went to one of the fabulous indoor water park resorts called the Kalahari. Resorts like this dot the Midwest, and for me will really be something we miss when we leave. I think it is a great family thing to do in the winter, and think it would be an awesome place to have a reunion for extended family. ANYWAY, the park is complete with wave pool, lazy river, kiddie splash zones, 2 family hot tubs, 2 surfing/boogie boarding simulators, and dozens of different types of slides. The resort also has other features outside of the water park, like a climbing structure, mini golf, an arcade, and various restaurants, and all of this accessible a short walk from your room. The boys had a blast checking out the different rides with Daddy, then taking me on the favorites. Many of the rides had height regulations so Max couldn't go on everything. Oddly enough, there was no restriction for the surfing simulator and he became the boogie board champ!! He loved it and from the start could stay on the board forever. He even got to where he was trying to tricks like riding on his knees or pulling his feet up over his back. Way to go Max! Jack loved doing everything, and since a friend of his from school happened to be down there too, they were able to rule the place together. Lucy didn't seem as sold as the others when it came to slides, or even water for that matter. She really liked going up and down steps and playing in the little bubbling fountains, and eating snacks on a chair. But, she looked dang cute in her swimming suit, even if she is almost transparent white! Little Sam was a good sport. Never in his life has this little guy been so warm, he actually got to hang out in a onesie and not wear socks! Woohoo! As for me, my favorite ride was the blue "toilet bowl". You start out on a raft down a regular tube but after a while it opens to a big bowl that swirls you around then dumps you out another tube to finish you off. I ended up being the one with my back toward the front so I couldn't see the drops or curves, and boy it was a great, scary ride!! It was great to put the little ones to bed or down for naps and have some fun with the big boys. Byron and I took turns doing this and it was wonderful having uninterrupted, quality, relaxing time with Jack and Max . Some families from our ward were also down there for a day and we had so much fun splashing around with them, and eating Cafe Rio Salads for dinner together, it was a blast! As for me, the favorite part of the trip was actually being warm and wearing FLIP FLOPS! This AZ girl knows what is truly important! On the way home it started to snow again and over the next day we got another 6 inches of snow! But unlike the typical Michigan winter day, on Saturday the sun came out in full force. It was still freezing but it made for a great day to play in the snow. The boys and I and some neighbor boys had a blast making a snowman, clearing off the trampoline, and of course having a snowball fight. It really was a great week for our family, I was almost sad when it was time to go back to school.

Tagged

2008-03-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

This week we got tagged, but not your typical blogging tag. Lucy got tagged by one of her "friends" with the stomach flu that has been going around. Everyone said it was just a 24 hour thing for them, but poor Lucy got to experience it for FOUR full days. So she and I have been enjoying the rocking chair this week, watching a lot of Doodlebop to stay happy during Sam's feedings, and trying to avoid getting puke on anything non-machine washable. I think she is finally on the mend just in time for her well child check up tomorrow, in which she will be at least 5 pounds lighter than her normal self. Jack got tagged with the corner of a cereal box right on the nose. He was reaching up to pull down the cereal from the pantry when another box decided to come too. It didn't bother him too much, he was too excited it was a snow day and he could eat cold cereal for breakfast! (His mean mom only lets him have cold cereal on weekends or after he's eaten something substantial!) I got tagged with single-mom-itis this week as Byron has been working late and our paths have missed each other every night. How do single mom's do it? My hat goes off to them! (Or anyone early in their medical training experience) All in all it really has not been a bad week, we are just looking forward to a great, healthy weekend. By the way, we are NOT tagging anyone. It all stops here!

A Day of Blessing

2008-03-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Today our little Samuel received a name and a blessing at church. This has always been a sweet thing for me, witnessing Byron take our little ones in his arms and use the Priesthood to bless our baby. Once again, I was touched. We are so blessed to have had four children now come into our family, and even though it makes life unpredictable and leaves very little time for ourselves, I can't think of anything that would teach us more or bring us more joy. What a huge blessing children are! Now if I can only remember that as the week begins once again.....

Way to go, Max!

2008-02-22T19:42:00.001-08:00

He did it. Our little guy turned six! Max was able to celebrate his birthday three times over the course of a week, and loved it. He shared Grandma Burnham's birthday party in Arizona and got tons of fun gifts from his cousins. On his actual Birthday we let him pick what special dinner he wanted, at home or out. Smart boy picked out, at Red Robin of course! He got to order a special drink, an onion ring tower, and a free meal that he was too full to eat. His favorite part was being sung to and getting a special ice cream sundae. What more could a kid ask for? Well, besides a party with his friends. We told him we had celebrated enough, but that he could have a low key party a few friends (meaning we didn't want a whole theme party where we had to entertain kids for hours.) He picked a pizza movie night which seemed perfect. It was a little more crazy than we had hoped, but the kids had a ball. (Note to selves: Don't invite older brother's friends to six year old party!) Max felt pretty special and that is what it is all about. And just so I remember in the future, here are six things I love about my six year old Max:

1. He is always thinking of Jack and is so generous
2. He always walks around with his arms folded
3. He loves to play with Lucy and she LOVES him to death
4. His smile is contageous, and actually all of his facial expressions are great, they make me smile
5. He totally prefers Daddy for everything (yes, I admit it, I love that!)
6. He has the bladder that must be the size of a watermelon...he can hold it forever!

Love you, Max!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

We veered from our long standing Valentine tradition today. We have always made heart shaped pizza for Valentine's Day. Max is having his birthday party tomorrow and wanted to do a pizza movie night with his friends, so I figured we don't need to have pizza two nights in row. We made heart shaped pancakes instead and it just wasn't the same. We just didn't feel the love! It was actually a fun day, school parties for the kids, and party at home because Byron got home early and was on call but home all night. Now that's a Happy Valentines Day! Here are a few pictures of our little sweethearts. I asked Lucy if she wanted to hold Sam. She was standing up and just stuck both of her arms out like, you bet, I'm all over that! I don't think sitting on the couch was as cool as she thought, but she still held him and thought she was such a big girl. Hope you felt the love today. Happy Valentine's Day!

The Blog Hole

2008-02-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

So here we are in the blogging world. How in the heck did we get here? I was adamant about NOT succumbing to peer pressure that "everyone's doing it" and "it'll make you feel good". My take was this: we spend way, way too much time on the computer as it is, we are already pretty good about keeping up with far away friends and family through email and smugmug, and what in the world would we have to say that would interest anyone? (Don't forget the fact that the basement where the computer is located is FREEZING.) So how did we get sucked into the BLOG HOLE?? A few things happened, and honestly, now I'm a blog addict. First of all, we got a laptop computer for Christmas. Suddenly my aversion to long computer sessions has vanished. I can work in my bed, on the couch, at the kitchen table .... anywhere, and it's warm! In the past, Byron would come read his book on the floor by the computer where I was working, just so he could be near me and better "hang out" for the evening. Now he can hang out by me much more comfortably. Second of all, I threw out my back. That is a whole other story, mostly an embarrassing story about people coming into my messy house to take care of me, and riding around the airport in a wheelchair while holding two babies. We'll save that lovely bit for another time. But while my back was out I found a bit of time on my hands while lying there in bed. I figured, if Byron is really going to do this blog thing, we've got to do it right. I don't really know what "right" is, but I figured it had something to do with getting lots of blog links in our "friends" list. :) Between being down and out on my back, and all the nursing sessions where I am forced to sit down for a bit of time, and going on vacation for a week, I have found myself with way more computer time on my hands than normal. Each time I am pulled back into the blogging world, wondering, who has posted something new since yesterday? What new pictures will there be? Who will I link to today that I haven't yet seen? It is all very intriguing to me, and very addicting. I have loved hearing the updates of my friends and family, the little episodes of their lives that I would otherwise miss. I have laughed out loud, been uplifted and inspired, and have even had tears come to my eyes while reading about YOU! So I am wondering: Now that my back is better and life is resuming full force with a newborn and a 17 month old, not to mention the 6 and 8 year old, will I still be able to live in the blog world like I want to? I have so many other "better" things that I "should" be doing, when really I just want to check out if Natalie posts another entry about panties!! I know the whole lecture about moderation in all things and I've heard it all about the dishes still being there when you're done, but really, how do you all do it? How do you live in the blogging world and still function in the normal world? I still haven't figured out what we could post that would even be slightly interesting (ok, the wheelchair in the airport might be a good one), but I figure that maybe finally I will at least get some record kept of part of our lives and I know I will feel good about that. Unfortunately for you it may be awfully boring, but well, here we are!

2008-01-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of our latest pictures. These kids sure are growing fast.

Baby Sam

2007-12-27T07:50:00.001-08:00

In addition to a new baby we got a new Apple laptop. I have had a good time making little movies like this.

Peterson or Garn

2007-12-27T07:23:00.001-08:00

We took these pictures while canoing down the river in Ann Arbor. It was Chuck who made the comment about what you get when you marry a Peterson or Garn.

2007-12-18T12:55:00.001-08:00

Lucy the Snow Queen

2007-12-07T20:38:00.001-08:00

Activity Scavenger Hunt

2007-07-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

This activity is a favorite for you boys,
You like as much as playing with toys.

To find the first item you need not climb a mountain,
Just go look where we keep the chocolate fountain.

Next go to the mascot of our favorite team,
He's very ferocious and his name rhymes with mean.

The next place may be the hardest of all,
You have to look behind the big silver ball.

Finally to know what you are going to do,
Look in the place where you might put your shoe.

I wish I could be there to enjoy this fun night,
Remember is better when you turn out the light.

Jack Jumping Off

2007-06-18T20:21:00.001-07:00

Jack really likes Star Wars and I don't like my voice on video. So this is what you get.

Lucy with Maraca

2007-06-18T20:19:00.001-07:00

Max on Trampoline

2007-06-18T20:16:00.003-07:00

Jack on the Trampoline

2007-06-18T20:16:00.001-07:00

Lucy Bouncing

2007-06-18T19:42:00.001-07:00

This is Lucy have a great time in her exersaucer.

2007-06-18T19:35:00.000-07:00