A trip to Primary Children's hospital

Sarah was admitted to the hospital on Friday night because

she had a temperature. She just got released this morning

(Sunday). You will have to see my NEW blog to get

more details! My address is joans4andmore.blogspot.com

P.S. My blog has a lot of work and more things to add but

I decided I wanted to make my own for my little family.

Thanks for Your Prayers

I know I have been on here a lot lately, but I want to give Paula something to read now that it is her home page.
Remember when I asked you to pray about the job Ellery was applying for in Vancouver. I am guessing you heard through "the sisters" grapevine that he did not get it. We were disappointed, but felt like it was in God's hands. We are trying to do what we are supposed to and something else would work out for us. We talked about why is it we are almost afraid to pray for something we want so badly when it would be a good thing from our perspective. El said he thought that sometimes we are just pessimistic. I always think if I really want something there is a good chance God will use it as a test to see if I don't get it--what will my reaction be? Will I "curse God and die?" Or will I except His will for me?
Well a couple of days ago the company contacted him again and asked if he was still interested in the position. It had not worked out with the other guy. UMMM Guess we passed the test. Lots of details, but the long and short of it is we have the job!
He gave notice to Bonneventure yesterday and they were very gracious--wanted him to stay, told him the door would always be open if he ever wanted to work for them again. I think that is amazing because they could have been rude about him leaving after only 6 months.
We are so blessed. It will be a considerable raise from what we are making now. No apartment to pay for and close to home.
We see God's hand in this. The reason the other guy was chosen initially was because he actually had years of experience managing a retirement community while Ellery had JUST been the Director of Operations over SEVERAL. The staff thought the other guy would relate to them better. Ellery got this job here in Lacey so he would have the hands on experience to get the job in Vancouver!
I will miss Lacey, all the beautiful trails and walks I have had, the train ride each week, and the weekend with Ellery at the apartment. It has been a fun experience. Good thing I am almost caught up on the quilts I wanted to get done. I am easily distracted at home.
Again let me thank you for all your prayers. I know they helped!

Women at the Well

We performed last Thursday night. It turned out beautifully. I wish more had been there, but so many of us took part in the production, that I'm sure the attendance was much higher than usual. I LOVED it. I'm so glad that I'm starting to sing again and so many of the sisters who participated and watched were touched. Thank you, Le Anne for doing it last year and inspiring me to do it here in Richmond.

bglife

darla texted me this morning and asked for an update on the pregnancy, kids and cory so i thought i would put on the blog for all to read. i know you are all very excited.

PREGNANCY.....
i am officially 38 weeks one day pregnant and pretty miserable. i can't complain too much, because despite all the drama this time around has been a more positive experience than some of the others. now that is still not saying much. i do not like being tired all the time and wondering if this is what i might feel like for the rest of my life. the bright spot in my day is my run with my buddy jen or cory and sometimes little hazel, but the energy and life if feel during the run does not last for the rest of the day. i know some may think that i should save my energy for other less selfish endeavors like caring and feeding my family, but even on the rare days i don't run i don't have the uummff to do what i should. my lack of mothering is very evident as ALL of my children are having behavioral issues at school. that's right even my quiet little wilohm and bennett have been getting into trouble for talking and distracting behavior. and poor jack, who has always been very sensitive to how i act, has turned into a disgruntled teenager a few years early. yuck!! cory has been wonderful, totally supportive and loving as always taking up all the extras i have let go. he really is amazing, i am the luckiest girl alive. i did have a energy streak last week when my friend introduced me to a new chemical free line of cleaning products. i cleaned my house from top to bottom and even did the windows. AMAZING!! now i know that my sisters are very concerned that i am not going to wait for them to have the baby because i am dilated to a 3, am effaced and have contractions constantly. but not to worry little harris is very happy inside and so i will have to wait, wait, wait. ok enough whining. now on to........

CORY.........
he is my favorite subject right now! after 5 years with the family business he has hung up the construction project manager role and has traded it for a much geeker role. something that i am very happy about. he now sits in his upstairs office working on his computer for hours and hours and hours and hours at a time. he has started his own web designing company and computer help company as well. i have a few friends that wonder why i am not scarred to death having a husband start something from scratch with not much of an income, but i have so much faith in cory's abilities. he is the smartest man i know (sorry guys). he loves what he is doing and is doing a wonderful job of teaching himself all the skills that he has had to let go since graduating from college. i did love columbia steel and that dave was such a wonderful boss, but this fits cory so much better. i can see him being able to grow so much more in a creative/technical field. oh and the very best part of all..........he has started running. i know and i didn't think he could get any better, but he did. he has finally found the joy in running or at least the joy of the feeling after he goes running. it is a dream come true. now on to.........

THE KIDS.........
well i kind of told you about them before, but it is not all bad. they are all doing very well in school academically and for the most part are good little babies that are soooooo excited to meet their new sibling. jackson is playing the trumpet this year and seems to have his dad's gift of music. he just got done with wrestling and he is AWESOME. very scrappy! and boy can he run. we went 3.5 miles last saturday and he didn't even break a sweat. benny is taking a break from soccer for the spring, but is taking a hip hop dance class (which i am not the hugest fan of but she has fun) and piano. she is doing wonderfully at both, because she is bennett and she is wonderful at everything she puts her mind to. she however is not good at entertaining herself. wow, it makes me a little crazy. with jackson who can read for hours and draw for hours more it is very hard to keep benny happy around the house. she would play on the computer forever but she is a little too smart for her own good and we are afraid that it would become an unhealthy obsession. wilohm has gotten very loud. that whole middle child not wanting to be forgotten thing is very apparent. he went and spent the weekend with mom and dad for his birthday and LOVED all the attention. since the olympics he has become obsessed with snowboarding and because that is not really an option he has turned to skateboarding. so cute! hazel is either a dream or a nightmare depending on the minute. unless you ask cory and then she is always a little dream come true. she loves, loves, loves, that her biggest fan is home now so that he can ooh and haa at everything she does. i do have to admit that she has gotten much better. she loves the days when she gets to go to work with danna. she feels like a very big girl visiting with gerda and playing with the puppy. she told mom the other day, "i know you don't like 4 year old girls, but i know you like me!". he he.

ok so that is where we are here in the great bg. sorry so long and boring but it has been ages!
love.......me

Everyone is tucked in

Everyone is tucked in, scriptures and prayers have been said, the house is straightened and now I am in the process of calming down so I can sleep. Breakfast tomorrow at 8, train at 11:40. We had so much fun. Made them dinner. The sisters came home early to hang out with us. One of my Laurels is a fairly new convert and I wanted the girls to just get to know them. They toured their rooms upstairs. I gave them two tests. Honest, they are the ones who wanted to do it because I had mentioned them in a lesson. One was How to Avoid Emotional Divorce by John Lund. It's about communication really. And the other was the Color Code--what kind of personality you are. We got a good laugh. Actually several!
Ice cream and several games of 10,000. Followed by the Ninja game and then I showed how to play the roll-down-the-paper-sack game. I am too old and stiff any more for that one. At midnight I taught them how to make braided bread and then we played more of 10,000 waiting for it to rise. They were impressed with themselves. The bread was great. So Much Fun just had to let you know. Missed my nap today but I will get one tomorrow you can be assured.
Calm enough now, love you night.

SLUMBER PARTY MY HOUSE WAHOO

Tonight is the beginning of spring break so the party is at my house. My Laurels are coming over for a slumber party. Meags asked if I was excited--Heck Yah. AS I get older and more in tune with my "emotional needs" I realize what I really like to do is play--a lot. And I have not been getting nearly enough of it. Meags is almost no fun now, Go figure. The kids have school which means they have to go to bed way too early. Ellery drops off about 9:30-9:45 so tonight looks like a good time. So much fun to be had and so little time to do it. We will just have to make the best of it. Right now I am going to go take a quick nap so I can stay up all night and fool them all into thinking I never sleep. I have a whole list of things to do and nowhere on that list is a movie. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Le Anne

It's a beautiful day!

Why thank you U2. Yes it is! This morning i went for a 3.5 mile run. i was only supposed to go 3 miles but i went a little further. that's right further! Haha actually the part that i'm happy about is that i ran it at a faster pace than i ran my 5K a couple weeks ago! I was getting really down about the fact that i've gotten so slow since i stopped running a few months ago but i think i can work back up to that. i dream of being fast. some day.
The second fantastic thing that happened today was that i went to the Dentist! most might not be excited about this but i heart it. i haven't been to the dentist in over 3 years! No cavities though and they will remove my horrendous permanent retainer and get me a removable one for only $50! i'm so dang excited!
I would write about our trip to St. George but i don't have any pictures on this computer so i will wait for that. Love you all. Keep running!!

Update on Sarah!

I would have to say that this is the most

fun I've had in a long time. Sarah was 2

days old in this picture!

I have been able to take off a week

and a half from work to come and

be with Chelsea. I have to go back

this Friday and it's going to be

really hard for me. I definiately

have attached to this little girl!

She has been an angel! Well I'm not

there at nights but Chelsea is doing

great with keeping her on a schedule!

She is eight days old in this picture. Chelsea has

been a natural mother since she was 5 years

old. Joey put a hold on us putting bows in her

hair for now. The hospital uses Elmer's Glue

now and since we don't go out anywhere

we can get by for now. She's beautiful without

her bows anyways!

This was today, she's 9 days old. Chelsea is getting

her ready for Lindsey to come and see her for the

first time. (She was in Key West for Spring Break)

Isn't she beautiful! (Well I guess I could have

photo shopped the boog in her nose!)

Honestly, I can't get enough of her!

When we change her we found it best to put

her little gloves on so she doesn't scratch herself

to death!

I think Lindsey was pretty excited. She says

that she will be her favorite aunt and if

you ask her why, she says because she

is with Keat and Isaac!

Linds loved how she rolled up in a little ball!

A visit from Cort and Rodg!

And dang, I just deleted the picture of Joey that was next!

Also I didn't get a picture of Ashley visiting her but she

actually saw her before she went to Mexico on

her Spring Break. Keat and Ike love her and are so

good with her. We love our new little addition to our family!

bglife--run

i know that mindi has done a lot more research than i have done on the subject, but i told ellynn that i would write a little about fueling for the big race. well it all starts during the training. eating is part of your training, yay food. you have to train your body to eat before and while you run. the best way to do this is trial and error. this goes for hydration as well. i am also i HUGE fan of shot blocks, choppers, etc. now i have carried a full peanut butter and banana sandwich during a run, but these are much easier. i eat my sandwich before my run. and drink. drink when you are thirsty and if you are like me and sweat more than a fat horse you may need to add some salt/sodium replacement. good luck anyone training for up coming races. i can't wait to get back to my love.......racing. so fun! hopefully there will be a lot of us there in june!
loves...........me

Eat to Run

Way to go, Ellynn! I ran 5 miles this morning and I'm looking forward to 12 on Saturday. Can't believe I hated running 6 months ago, now I can't get enough. I realize that I'm a big dork; when I decided to get into running I also had to read as much as I could about running. Then reading about running wasn't enough, so I started reading about what to eat while training and how to cross train and everything that should be done to avoid injury, ect. So in addition to running 4 days a week, I'm biking 3 days a week, weight training 3 days a week, and doing yoga at least once a week. As far as eating, I've never felt so good as when I'm on the cross fit zone eating plan (although I cheat all the time because I don't have enough self-control/self-discipline):
http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/cfjissue21_May04.pdf

http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200601/fitness-grains.html
I just have to keep telling myself that I'm working too hard to let it all go to waste by eating badly. Here is a great recipe I discovered and tried on Sunday:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/moroccan-sweet-potato-stew
I added about half the spices and plan to add chicken to the stew next time (we had a vegetarian over so I thought I was doing good serving her this dish, except later I discovered I poisoned her by using chicken broth. She never said anything, though).

Here are a few more websites I found helpful/interesting:

http://www.marathonguide.com/training/articles/MandBFuelOnFat.cfm

http://www.hornetjuice.com/whats-the-perfect-workout-to-burn-fat.html

http://choosecherries.com/Uploads/Content/Red%20Recovery%20Routine%20FINAL.pdf

Then a favorite salad recipe from RW:

Great Grain Salad

2 cups-Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, bulgur, barley, wild rice, or couscous

1 cup--Chicken, turkey, eggs, beef, pork, any kind of beans, tofu, or tempeh

1/4 cup-Feta, cheddar, Swiss, Jack, Parmesan, or cottage cheese

2 cups--Broccoli, cucumber, tomato, carrots, corn, peppers, celery, snap peas, or green beans

1/4 to 1/2 cup--almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, flax seed, wheat germ (vit E may reduce muscle soreness), basil, mint, dried blueberries, or goji berries.

Mix and match and eat.

Also, Runner's World has some tutorial videos online that are pretty good:

http://www.runnersworld.com/video/1,8052,s6-6-0-2,00.html?bcpid=2884340001&bclid=1504353735&bctid=64041958001&cm_mmc=training-_-2010_03_23-_-training-_-VIDEO%3a%20Build%20Better%20Legs
They have a 30 minute "Core Values" workout you can buy for $7.99 on iTunes. I like it because it is more than just abs, lots of stretches and arms and legs. Plus they say things like: "doing this video will improve your running times, prevent injury, and {make you awesome}." I believe anything I read/see/hear, therefore I believe RW.

Full, 1/2, 5 K Training!

Hey guys! I just realized that our 12 week training program for this Provo Marathon that Mindi posted about started THIS WEEK! I know there are a lot of us that want to do this so i thought we could train together kinda, through the blog. Start like a support group type thing to encourage each other. Plus i think it will help us all stick to our goal. Like they always say, performance improves when we have to report on it, right? RIGHT!

i'm probably the worst off out of all of you. I have A LOT of weight to lose and A LOT of mileage to build up so even if you don't want to do this for yourselves, do it for ME because you LOVE ME! and it's my birthday in one week!! AND it's SPRING! there is no better time to start running than in the spring.

so here's the link that Mindi posted: http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm

This program has your long runs on Sunday so i just switched it so i rest on Sundays and then my long run is on tuesdays. That's just what i did. You do what works for you. I'm really excited about this guys! "If we all work together, together it will all work out!" name that movie.

Coming home..

My cousin Ivy sent this to me. Once again, it made me appreciate Mike (and the many others) who have given and sacrificed so much time in service of our country. Very sweet. Worth a "click" and a few minutes..

Ah Spring!

Last Tuesday I got to go to the hospital to see Chels, Joey and Sarah. It was awesome! I'm so excited for you guys! Jackie, Leashy and Jess met me there. It was a little crazy with all the kids. They kept moving us further away and one guy told us we breed like rabbits. I wanted to show him what else we are good at with my elbow in his nose but he ran off like a real man right after he made the comment.
Afterward I got to see Leashy's house (so cute!) and we took the kids to the park. Oh how I love spring! And how I have waited long in frigid darkness praying for it's warm embrace!


















It was so nice! We fed the ducks. The kids played on the playground, and Finn threw bark. He took interest in nothing else. Thanks girls for a great day! I'll be up again soon!
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Hello!

Joan has been telling me forever that I needed to read the blog and as you all might have noticed I have tried on and off to make blog reading a habit but have failed miserably. Okay so I finally realized the only way I would ever be successful was if I set it as my home page. So I've been up to date for about a week now. I have to admit it's a lot easier to stay caught up now that all of you have stopped writing as much. Though I figure that's a result of facebook and your own personal blogs. But I am excited to stay caught up on what's happening in all of your lives.

Now here's where my own personal guilt trip begins... I realize that I have fallen behind when I had to read who posted the sweet baby birthday wishes to Geof. since I didn't recognize Ruby. By the way, Adam and Mindi she's beautiful! Then I realized that I missed wishing Geof. Happy Birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEOF. (2 days late). Oh and the birthday wishes from the sisters were so sweet. Darla, I hope Women at the Well was a success. I sang in the performance our stake put on about 5 years ago and loved it. Finally, Mike I hope everything goes well for Matthew and his family. There's truly nothing more painful in my opinion then watching your child suffer. He will be in my prayers.

I love you all!

Women at the Well

I've probably already mentioned this, but I offered to do "Women at the Well" for our ward's RS birthday celebration. It's tonight. I'm so excited. We had a dress rehearsal last night and it went really well. There's a handful of non-members that'll be there. So awesome!

Georgie

I'd like to add my own small tribute to George. Geof.

Meags that's funny that you and Geof. didn't get along until you started running cross country together because it wasn't until i started running cross country with him that WE got along. that's weird. But even then Geof. and i didn't hang out much until after his mission when we lived in the blessed Provo house with Jesse. "Best times of my life maybe". One time Geof. stood in the middle of the family room and i jumped from couch to couch as we sang "i am 16 going on 17". I loved doing family scriptures and prayers together and Geof. falling asleep while praying and talking about work during his prayer. and that happened a lot. We had so many fun times. but it didn't end when Geof. moved. Playing Bop It. We rule at that game together! and i love love LOVE watching stupid movies with you George. the Musketeer will always have a special place in my heart.

Geoffy you are such a good example to me. You have such a strong testimony and understanding of the gospel. and you taught me how not cool it is to talk badly about other people. I LOVE YOU!!

Prayer requested

A close friend of mine from school was concerned because his son was having headaches. They rushed their little boy up to Stanford today because they thought he had fluid on the brain. Instead they discovered a tumor at the base of his skull that they are going to try to remove with surgery tomorrow morning. I humbly ask for everyone's prayers on Matthew McKaughan's behalf tonight and tomorrow.

Mike

a small tribute to geoffy

so i think i will just tell a few things that make me love my little brother so much. i may have mentioned these things before, but it never hurts to repeat good things......
when geof. and i were little we were like oil and water. when we were in disney land and we had to have handhold buddies we never wanted to touch each other. that was very typical of every day life until geof. entered the 6th grade and i was in 8th. we ran cross country together and became best friends. that is also when i descovered that if my friends did not have a crush on my big brother they had a crush on my little brother. it was fun becoming friends with geof. he was a great kid and i had been missing it for my whole life. we could talk about anything and he was so fun and smart! when we moved to utah my favorite part of the day was driving to and from school. we loved listening to our a.m. only radio, waiting at train crossings for trains that never came in the winter wondering if the big yellow boat would start EVERY morning.
i think during our time in west layton geof. learned how to make every situation better. part of that skill came through his study and love of the scriptures. his example helped me through our next move to battle ground. he was so good to me! walking me to all of my classes sticking up for me to upper-classmen and then baptizing the love of my life. geof. you have done so much for me. i know he seems like a grump but really geof. is a lot more tender than he lets on.
geof. i love you and i am so grateful for your friendship. i miss you and can't wait til we can grow old and rich and have time to play together again.
love........me

Ruby wishes Geof. a Happy Birthday

Hi Uncle Geof! I hope you are having a great birthday. I stick my tongue out at you to express my love and admiration.

So I hear you live in Virginia. Where the heck is that? Up there somewhere?

Waaaaaaaaa. I realized that if you live so far away I will not be having any birthday cake with you today. Waaaaaaaa, I love cake. OK, I'm done. Anyway, hope you have a great birthday and end up with a good cake. Something like this maybe:

He's 30, folks.

It's your birthday Geof. George (he says that when I say "Geoffrey George", he doesn't like the way it sounds...hm...). We went to John Mayer last night and it was so much fun. Our friend Brent was a third wheel but we couldn't have picked a better third wheel. The concert was actually pretty lame. I recognized one song and although John is a great musician, he wasn't in a performing mood last night. A 20 minute drum solo, 30 minute guitar riffs (using drum sticks to play)..., just a whole lotta "jammin" that bored the audience. However, we had a blast making fun of ourselves and John. Happy birthday Geoffy.

Congratulations!

She is so beautiful! Chelsea, I would love to hear the birth story when you feel up to it.

Love you, Aunt Paula

She is here!

Look at the proud father!

Sarah Elizabeth Covington born at 8:37 a.m. March 15, 2010

7 lbs. 2 ozs., 19 1/2 in. long

It was pretty exciting in the beginning but after about an hour

and a half the excitement wore off

and the waiting began.
The most beautiful baby ever!!

She was so calm and so wide awake!

Just minutes after her birth!

I'll let Chelsea give you the details, but as you know she went in about at 8:00 p.m.

Lindsey and I got there just before 10:00 p.m. At 11:30 p.m. I took Lindsey home to

finish packing for her Florida Spring Break trip. We came back and poor Linds hung

out all night long until about 5:20 a.m. She missed her birth but look at what a

dedicated sister she was. That pictures was taken when it was pitch dark!

I'm sure the birthing story will soon follow, but as for me I'm taking a nap!

Congratulations Chelsea, Joey, Keat and Isaac. Chelsea you did amazing!

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of it. Love you!

Sarah's On Her Way!!

Today Chelsea has been having contractions. They have been going on for about 7 hours. They are now 3 minutes apart and she called me and asked me to come and get the boys. The doctor told her to come on in. Here they go!

Isn't this the cutest thing ever. Joey, cutting her toe nails! She was actually

having a contraction right then.

A family picture right before Cortney and I took the boys! They are so excited!

It was the funniest thing ever. Joey was saying outloud the checklist making sure they had

everything. He and I have been going to this preparedness class each week and he is big

into food storage and 72 hour kits. When I asked him if he had his, of course theres always one that he carries in the car! He had the car packed about 3 hours before this though. They have had everything by the front door for about the last 3 weeks!

Isn't she the cutest thing ever. She got a little teary eyed at this point, so of course that didn't help me any. This was taken about 7:20 p.m. I'll keep you posted!

My 5K group

I ran a 5K this morning. I'm slow and I haven't been running in months but my friend asked me to do it so I did. i'm determined to start running again. I really do love it!


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Asking for Your Prayers

To add to your list of people to pray for would you add your Dad/Uncle/Ellery. Monday morning he has an interview with a retirement company here in Vancouver.

It has all been rather random. He has done really well here in Lacey and not to brag but to state simply--he is currently their star player--no surprise. It has worked out better than expected but. . .there was this job opening on line. He applied and they immediately requested an interview a week ago last Mon. It went very well. They wanted him to interview with the director of operations the following Mon. That interview went very well and they asked if he could go down to Beaverton to meet with the president of the company and the owner. Three interviews in one morning. That interview went very well too. Next Mon. will be the last interview. They are down to just 2 men for the job.

Just to give you an idea in the almost 15 years we have lived here Ellery has worked here 18 months and 12 of them he was unemployed. We feel good about it which ever way it goes but it would be so nice, which is an understatement!!!

thanks

Utah Valley Marathon/Half/5K

I've been putting off this post because I know there are runners in the family who won't be able to join in, and I don't want to rub lemon juice into their lack-of-race-i-bility wounds, so to speak. But I can't contain myself. The Utah Valley race series is three months from today. I signed up for the marathon in January, only because Adam and Meagan and Brooke talked me into it. I'm on week 17 of my 30 week training. I'm slightly paranoid that the slightest injury will make all this hard work for naught, but so far so good. Is there anyone one out there that will join me in racing that day? There is a half marathon and a 5K, too. Three months is plenty of time to get ready. Pllleeessseeee?
http://www.utahvalleymarathon.com/

Freaky egg yolks

I hard boiled some eggs this morning for breakfast and as I attempted to remove the yolk this is what I found. A MUTANT EGG!!!
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Thanks so much for all the Happy Birthday Wishes, phone calls, texts, videos etc. It was so fun. I am sorry I was so hard to get a hold of, busy day with work and our Relief Society Birthday Dinner, but I had fun. You are all so beautiful!
I love you all. Take care, Mom, Aunt Le Anne, one of "the sisters," etc.

To Wil

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/u4I7XJ1r1xdmeFuBxJLL8w?authkey=Gv1sRgCKSGrNfoyfzKtwE&feat=directlink
Hey Wil!! We're sorry we forgot your birthday last week. Just so you know, last week was one of the craziest, busiest weeks of our family's life. I promise!! We sure love and miss you and wish you could come stay with us for a month! Cole would be in heaven..(so would the rest of us).

Happy Birthday to yooooooooou!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I don't know quite what I would do without you. You are my "go to" woman and I love you. I hope that I can be as brave and as strong and as hard working when I'm 60 (first I have to get "as" and then get to be as old as you are). I hope you have blue skies and a happy day for your day!

...and, again

I sent the wrong video, Le Anne. oops. All those things I said about you being the best grandma and mom are still true, though. (;

to: Le Anne from: the VA Bennetts

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO the GREATEST GRANDMA EVER!! Have a wonderful day!

bglife

so is there a chels update? what day are you due? how are you feeling? with every braxton hicks i have i pray that it is the beginnings of real labor. i know not a good thing when i still have 4 weeks. well 3 1/2 if i get induced early. i can't really complain i am still feeling pretty good and am still running 3 1/2 miles a day. but this last part is soooo long! k this is not about me i really just want to know how chels is, i think of you often!
love......me

Baby Cadence :)

I'm not sure how many of you have met my big brother Darren, or his sweet little wife Brenda, but I couldn't resist sharing the news! They had their firstborn on Saturday! I am so thrilled! After a long, rough labor Cadence Darien Schaefer was finally here! (If any of you SAW Brenda when she was pregnant... she was quite a sight. She is 4' 10" and was just as big around as she was tall! That picture of them was taken about a month before the baby was born, of you can imagine!)

It was so sweet to look at that little one and think that there was a new member of the Schaefer family :) I love her SO MUCH!... Just like I love Jane, Sadie, Ellyn, Sawyer, Sierra, Kaia, Tristan, Ruby, Jackson, Bennett, Wil, Hazel, Baby Harris, Cole, Dayne, June Bug and Finny SO much too!

Aunt Jules :)

Carmel Update

Well, our family has just recovered from a nasty bout of stomach flu that hit the home like a tornado. At one point, I was jumping between Brooke, Jane, and Sadie all puking at the the same time while I was also sick. A couple of minutes later, Ellyn joined the party. Sawyer had it on Monday night and although he fully recovered within 24 hours (quicker than any of us), he holds the record for most puking in a night (about 30).

I am wrapping up my 3rd quarter here with finals starting next week. It will be nice to change pace again. Thankfully quarters are only 11 weeks so that prevents some burnout. I don't know how I ever did a semester system.

We are still loving Carmel, the pics above are from a walk Sawyer and I took the other day when I was experimenting with the camera. What a nice place to be!
Our lease is technically over in about 2 months. We are praying hard that we can renew it and stay in this home we love so much. That is my major source of stress right now. How I long for the days when we can own our own home and not worry about this kind of stuff!

But, we have an exciting Spring-Summer ahead of us. We were just looking at all the events coming up and it is quite impressive. U2, Coheed and Cambria, A's games, Big Sur mud run, Le Mans series races, MotoGP races, Rolex series races, Wicked, U.S. Open, family reunion, starting marathon training again, EFY for Jane, San Diego in September and much, much more.

Well I have to put together some homework that I missed while sick. Later.

Mike

Ellyn at Lover's Point

-- Post From My iPhone

Sunday walk

-- Post From My iPhone