UEA Break in Georgia

I know UEA was a while ago, but we don't really have internet right now. (I can't wait to live in a normal house.) Anyways, with a long break from school we decided to take one last trip with the kids, because who knows when we'll be in the mood to fly with four kids, not to mention we'll have to start paying for Kate soon. Somehow Tami committed Jared into going out to Georgia at least once while they lived there. Luckily we had lots of sky miles saved up so Jared could follow through with that promise. I love that I have a husband that appreciates and respects the close relationship Tami and I have.

We all had a blast. The kids were so happy to see each other and not only was the trip relaxing we got to do a lot. In addition to visiting their home in Augusta, we visited Savannah and Tybee Island (Savannah's beach). Tami found us an amazing beach house that has been featured in a few magazines and a book.

Here are a some pics from our trip.

SAVANNAH

We had dinner at the famous Pirate House. It's been open since 1753 where they served seafarers and real pirates. Parts of the famous "Treasure Island" story are thought to have happened in the Pirate House. The kids LOVED this, especially hearing about it's history and the ghosts that haunt it today. 

TYBEE ISLAND:

 

This is the cute fish camp cottage we got to stay in. 

FORT PULASKI:

I told the kids to look sad because they were locked up, this is what I got. 

THE BEACH

We had perfect beach weather, it was so nice. Grayson LOVED the waves.

THE CRAB SHACK

After dinner, we fed alligators. I my have killed one. I dropped a plastic bag full of gator food into the pond. One got the bag before we could get it out. Some of the workers spent a while trying to get it away from him without any luck. I felt so bad I had to stop watching. 

TYBEE LIGHT HOUSE

AT THE KAMERATHS

We loved just hanging out at the Kamerath's, especially roasting hot dogs, making smores and carmel apples. 

Thanks Kamerath's, we miss you so much. 

"Do you want to Hear the BAD news"

This is Grayson's way of announcing that we are having another GIRL. To be honest we were all hoping we would be having a boy. Grayson desperately needs and wants a brother. All he's been talking about for the last few months is how soon he would have two brothers, our dog Max and the new baby. I didn't want him to get his hopes up, so I was always quick to tell him it might be a girl.
Jared was sure it would be a boy. He told me on several occasions, that he felt like it was a boy. I told him, I wasn't going to play that game again. We were so convinced Grayson was a girl, I bought clothes and started making plans for decorating the nursery. We were even calling the baby Kate. After that ultrasound I morned the loss of my Kate for over a month. It wasn't fun. I tried my best not to set my heart on having a boy this time, and thought I was doing good. I wasn't happy going home yesterday.
Jared dropped me off at home and went to pick Grayson up from a friends. When Grayson got in the car, he saw the pictures from the ultrasound and got all excited asking if it was pictures of the baby. When he asked if it was a boy, Jared said read this pointing to the picture labeled GIRL. Grayson started screaming "No" and crying hysterically. When he came home and walked in with tears rolling down his face it broke my heart.
I don't want you all to think this new baby girl wont be loved. She will. Lydia was happy to get another sister. I am looking forward to having lots of lunches, shopping trips and girls weekends with my three girls. I hope Lydia, Kate and new baby girl have as much fun as Tami, Shelly and I have had over the years. Grayson can continue to enjoy his dad and Max on many, many trip to Schuster Creek and such.

Moving, Construction, and Strep Throat

We finally moved and are living at our new home. I wish we could say our home is done, but we still have a long way to go.  With our friends waiting to move into our old place we decided we needed to move as soon as possible. Of course we made sure we had a few things before moving in.  Some of the things we had when we moved in were:

-a toilet

- a shower

-a kitchen sink 

- a bedroom

The first few nights were interesting. We used the kitchen sink for brushing our teeth, washing hands, and shaving. Most of the rooms didn't have lights yet so we had to walk around with a lamp to plug in each room. It was a step up from camping.

Some things we are now enjoying:

- doors on our bedrooms

- a toilet and sink in the same room

- a working oven

- a washing machine and dryer

- a dining room with a table we can sit at

Things we look forward to having:

-lights in our bathrooms and kitchen

- a finished kitchen

- a family room

- a toy room

- no more construction worker in our home from 8am to 5pm.

I was trying to talk Jared into taking sick days from work for a couple of days before moving so he could help me pack up. He was so nice to do that. Unfortunately he actually got sick and was no help at all. After 2 days of a fever and sore throat he finally went to the doctor and found out he had strep (probably from Disney World). Luckily he got his meds. and was able to help on the actual move day. My family was nice enough to come and help, I just wish I could figure out what boxes they put what in. 

I thought I was safe from strep, but the next week, on Grayson's birthday, I woke up with a soar throat.  I was going to go into his school to take a birthday treat to his class. I thought I better get it checked before I went in. Unfortunately I was positive for strep and had to spend the day hiding from people while I was still contagious.  Luckily I caught it early and didn't have the horrible experience Jared did.

Even with all the craziness, we feel really blessed. We love our house so far and have been really comfortable. My only complaint is having more stairs to climb up and down. We can't wait to have everyone over when everything is done. 

Celebrating Six!

Grayson was so excited to turn six this last week. He keeps saying he can now do all kinds of new things now that he is older. He wanted a pirate birthday and kept inviting all his friends from school to "his party", forgetting that he wasn't going to have a friend party this year. I tried to make our little party with family as fun as possible. I had plans for making his pirate ship cake on his birthday, luckily the doctor said I could still make it as long as I was careful. I seriously wanted to cry at the thought of not making his cake. Making my kids a specially cake for their birthday is one of my favorite traditions. I am loving Grayson at this age. He is starting to be more responsible, and is a huge help. He's also a great friend, we have a lot of fun together.  

The Cake

Grayson and Lydia loved making everyone dress up and play pirates.

We survived Disney World!

Last week we were lucky enough to get a greatly needed break from reality and traveled to the Magic Kingdom with Jared's family.  One of the biggest things I worried about when we found out I was pregnant, was that I wouldn't be able to handle our  upcoming vacation.  When we left I seriously thought I was going to need to rent one of those carts. Luckily my body held up really well and I actually enjoyed myself.  Kate was also really good for the first three days, especially for not getting real naps. The last two days were another story, she developed a ear infection in both ears.  She was in so much pain we had to take turns staying at the hotel with her. On the last night both ears ruptured and she able to finally relax, making our flight home much easier.  Here are some Highlights. 

The Boardwalk Inn:

My favorite part of our trip was by far our hotel. It was a hotel on a 1920's boardwalk with restaurants and shops. It had the greatest atmosphere. I seriously could have lived there. The kids loved sitting out on the balcony at night to watch the fireworks show at night. 

The Lobby

Our view from the balcony. 

riding around the boardwalk

the pool

Aunt Abby surprised all the kids with new PJ's our first night. 

The Magic Kingdom:

We visited the Magic Kingdom on our first day. Since it was the middle of the week there weren't a lot of people. The longest we had to wait was like 20 minutes. Grayson's favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean and Lydia loved Splash Mountain. 

Ariel' Grotto

Animal Kingdom:

Lydia and I loved the Lion King show, Jared rode Expedition Everest 8 times, and Grayson loved the Dinosaur ride. 

Checking out the animals on our safari

Hollywood Studios:

We weren't big fans of Hollywood Studios it was a hot and crowed day. Grayson loved the Indiana Jones Stunt show and talked about it all day.  We also enjoyed a fun lunch with some of the characters from Playhouse Disney. Kate seamed to enjoy seeing the characters the most.  She wouldn't stop hugging JoJo.  

EPCOT:

We only spent a few hours at EPCOT. Most of the rides were for bigger kids so me and Lydia spent a lot of time waiting at the the ride exits. Grayson of course loved all the space stuff. 

THANKS GRANDMA, FOR ANOTHER WONDERFUL TRIP!

why I'm getting fat...

We are thrilled to announce   

Baby #4

Coming March 2009

I am 12 weeks and finally starting to feel like a normal person again. I've been pretty sick, but hopefully that is in the past. We don't know what in the world we are going to do with four kids, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. We were planning on getting pregnant this Fall, but were going to wait till after we were done moving. I guess someone had other plans. Life goes on. 

First Day of School

Because of testing last week, Grayson just started school today. He was really excited. He kept telling me he wanted to wear jeans and this sweatshirt to school. I kept saying it would be too hot. I didn't think he would be able to wear it for like a month. Who knew it would end up being 50 degrees this morning. I wasn't sad to leave him at school, but I also didn't want to leave. I could spend the whole day just watching him at school. I find it so interesting to see how he interacts with other kids and what he does. Seriously if there was an observation room, I would get a sitter and spend way to much time just watching him at school. When I went to pick him up I asked him what he did, he told me , "it's a secret." Everything must have gone well because I haven't head anything about not going back tomorrow.

We love our losing Aggies

Jared loves Utah State. He spends way to much time online reading about the Aggies. It doesn't matter if it's football or basketball (a sport they can actually win). Ever since basketball season ended last year, Jared has been focusing all his time on football. He could probably tell you the name, home state and strength of every player on the field. Of course he couldn't pass up a chance to watch their season opener in Vegas this weekend. We all went down to St. George with my my uncle Tom and aunt Jammie, who are also Aggie fans. I of course stayed back at the condo with my girls while they all went to the game. Grayson is turning out to be quite the Utah State Fan. He practice his fight song all day before we left. Even though they lost everyone had a great time. Thanks Tom and Jammie, we look forward to cheering with you for a few more games this season. Jared is used to cheering for a losing team, but I wish for once he could have the joy of seeing a win.
p.s. somehow Jared did talk me into buying our blue van simply because it was Aggie Blue.

We're still alive!

Wow, I never thought I would go over a month without a post. We'll just say our lives haven't been ideal for blogging the last month. Luckily through all the craziness we did enjoy a week in Bear Lake and a few other fun moments. We haven't moved yet and aren't sure when it will happen. Projects at the new house have shaped out to be a little more work than planned.I'm looking forward to school starting and having a schedule in our lives. Jared went back to school two weeks ago, even though he was working hard all summer I didn't realize how much I was using him here and there. We all really miss him. Here are some pictures from Bear Lake and other highlights.

BEAR LAKE


Our week at Bear Lake with mine and Jared family is always our favorite part of summer. This year was no exception. The kids loved the beach, the boat, and being with cousins. The adults loved the beach, naps, and lots of food. Somehow us girls managed to fit in a few shopping trips. My favorite part of the week was our own family Olympics. Inspired by the real Olympics, that started during our trip, we had a blast competing in our own events. Some of the events included a scooter race, marshmallow shoot, hula hoop rollback, and the usual yard games, boccie, croquet, and badminton. It took us a whole day to complete all the events. I am proud to report I tied for gold with my sister Shelly. We were too tired to come up with a tie breaker.



Shelly practicing for the marshmallow shoot

My dad competing in the scooter race. Too funny.


Our amazing Chefs


The boys loved playing pirates on PaPa Jerry's boat.

Three Weeks with Wyatt
Billy's son Wyatt was able to come to Utah for three weeks. Grayson, Porter and Wyatt were inseparable the entire time. It was hard for them to say goodbye when everyone had to go home.




Kidd Reunion at Schuster Creek
Jared finally got his graduation present.


Lydia with my cousins daughter, Ava.

Memories...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.