Miles between us

To me a good friend consists of  good conversation, being able to be yourself  and enjoying one another as who they are.  I have friends who I talk to on a daily basis or even an hourly basis. I have friends who I email consistently and friends who our relationship seems to be completely over a text message. As you can tell my friends mean a lot to me. They always have since I was a little girl. There was a time probably until I was almost 10 years old where I did not have a friend in the world.  I remember being in the 3rd grade and we had just switched schools. It was a small school, probably about 10 kids in my entire grade. At recess the girls would all split up into twos and that is who they would play with. I remember this vividly because the girls openly refused to play with me. Everyone of them. It was very sad but I still think I turned out okay right??? :) Maybe this is why I love and cherish my girlfriends and want to keep strong, family like relationships with them. As I am whenever anyone from my family or friends from home come to visit me I feel honored.  Its not a quick trip or an inexpensive one for that matter. The year Jackson was born I was overwhelmed with the support of my friends who came to visit me. My sister Lisa came when Jack was just two weeks old, then Brittany and her dad who is like my dad came, then Amanda came and lastly Kim and Stella.....It was very humbling to know that these friends cared about me enough to save money and take their time to come here.

Barbara has always made it a priority to come here almost yearly and has since I moved over 6 years ago. I have known Barb since middle school but we really got close once I moved out to WA and we lived minutes from one another. We practically lived together for two years, and in those two years I grew up and found the love of my life. Last year and again this year we had the pleasure of spending time with her son Leyton who is the sweetest little boy and one of the brightest I know. Leyton and Jackson were born only days apart and when they are here its like family. I don't feel the need to entertain or keep my house spotless. We lounge in our PJ's till noon, eat cupcakes every other meal and talk almost nonstop.  Those of you who have the pleasure to know Barb, know this is very easy to do!

We spent most of our time laughing at the boys as they are as wild as ever. It gave me a glimpse of what having two sons will be like. I also realized that if we decided or "accidentally" were blessed with child number 3, we would have to get a bigger vehicle. The Hyundai just does not fit 3 car seats!! Thank you Carol for lending us the expedition!!

We had a jam-packed week of play dates, pumpkin patch picking, fall festivals, and well dying my gray hair back to my un-natural color of blackish brownish. Leyton cracks me up with his "Okay Mommy" every time she says something to him. For example...Barb would say "Leyton eat your corn dog. " Leyton's response  "Okay Mommy" as he goes over and takes a bite of his corn dog. Barb "Leyton can Jackson play with that?" Leyton "Okay Mommy" as he hands over the toy. You get the point... I asked Barb if she could super nanny my kids in being so polite and being good listeners.  Yesterday Kevin and I were talking about how nice it was for Barb to visit us and I said "Okay Mommy" and Jackson got up off of his chair and started playing a game of "banging your head on the door" like him and Leyton did. It was funny to see him make that connection without us telling him.

Barb and I also had an afternoon or should I say just a few hours to ourselves while Kevin watched all three of the boys. Bless him as my friend B says. I was a little nervous for him but as always he kept them entertained by playing "the banging your head on the door game". They thought he was hilarious as I guess I do too. But during our afternoon out we went wedding dress shopping!!! Barbara is getting married and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. Watching her try on dresses and being able to talk about what is important to her and plan her day made me very happy. She was glowing and rightfully so. She has been waiting for this moment since she met her fiance.  I couldn't help but want to try on a few dresses myself. Like perhaps Kim Kardashian's dress. :) However, seeing Barbara so happy was something that is burned into my memory and I'm thrilled to have shared that with her. She is so in love and has been for years. She would tear up when talking about him and how much he meant to her. So sweet and I could not ask for a better man to be with her.

Tuesday morning came and it felt like they had just arrived when I had to take them back to the airport. I'm not so secretly hoping that Leyton's behavior has rubbed off on Jack while they are here but all signs point to he is no follower.

I love this picture so much I can't stand it.

 Craziness at the playgroup!!

 HA! Brecken looks as big as Leyton in this picture!

He loved the slide...but did not love waiting in line for it.

Let's not forget about Ziki!

 Arent they the cutest! I want to squeeze Leyton's face off here.

 I love this picture. You are adorable Jackson O'Hare!

I love this picture so much!!

 Yes my child has a pop...but it almost looks like PBR.

 Driving the Tractor. Jack is steering and Leyton is doing the petals!

I love this picture.

 My beautiful boy!!

It was a complete wrestle fest when Kevin was home.

New News!!

BRECKEN
Brecken is now rolling from his back to his belly in seconds flat. He almost refuses to stay on his back. He is getting up real high on his arms and spins himself around the room. He is getting around without crawling yet.  He is also trying to sit up from a lying down position. Its almost frightening. He absolutely loves the johnny jumper. He could stay in it for hours if I would let him. He no longer appreciates his swing or lounge bouncy seat. He is beginning to be "okay" with his bumbo but would prefer it if you would just sit with him on the floor while he stands or sits. He is becoming more of a hip baby every day, which makes me happy yet sad since it means he is becoming less babyish every day. He is now interested in toys!! Its fun to see him really pound on a musical toy and grab and mouth all kinds of other toys. Jackson is now obsessed with all the baby toys too. We have started to "take turns" and share. Its very hard for Jackson but hopefully in 3 or 4 years we'll be past this. :)

I know that I'm a little biest in saying that Brecken just has the most sweetest little face and most beautiful eyes. His eyes don't seem to be mine or Kevin's so I'm not sure where they are coming from but they just glisten. His eyelashes are so long and he is the most amazing cuddler. Every time Kevin holds him, which is often, he says "Isn't this guy just so sweet?" Its true. We both feel so blessed with such amazing boys. Very different boys at this point, but so incredibly special.

He had his 4 month appointment a few weeks back and he is over 50% in his height. He may be the first O'Hare to reach the top shelf in the kitchen without a step stool. He weighs about 11 pounds 14 oz. He is very content, loves to laugh and smile. He is sleeping from 9:30PM-4-6AM. Naps are almost non-existent, but we are working on it and he screams bloody murder everytime you even think of putting him in his carseat.  I guess not everything can be perfect.

Excuse me Mr. Binks...My thumb is moving in.

Helping mom get ready

The mom shoulder.....It will only be another year before I wear a clean shirt.

JACKSON
Jackson is loving school. His teacher tells him she loves him when she puts him in the car every afternoon and kisses his cheek and forehead. This makes me well up. Its very apparent the kids love her too. If she is not there in the morning when I drop Jack off and another teacher is filling in, the kids are all so sad. She is most definitely made to be a preschool teacher. Like today she tells me when she finally got into the class room, a little girl told her "Ms. H it is about time you got here.." It makes me very happy we did chose this school even though the number of students in the class room made me uneasy at first. We have already had 2 homework assignments. #1 being the letter B...we had to find things and paste them on our letter that we made at home. And #2 being the letter C doing the same thing. It was really fun to do with him and we tape them on the fridge and talk about all the things that start with both. Its rewarding to be giving him the chance to grow his mind. Its also fun to tape on the fridge all the projects he has done at school. He will run and point to them every so often and talk about them.
****Jackson also brought home his very first illness from school. It only took a week. Just a head cold. Passed it to me, Kevin then lastly Brecken. It was real fun to see between the two boys who needed the humidifer more. I never thought I would need two humidifers but I guess that is now on my wish list. Jackson's head cold soon turned into the WORST ear infection in history of Team OHare. He woke up from his nap (which is never a plesant adventure) and he was unconsolably crying, grabbing his right ear, and pounding his head on the couch, floor and chair. He wanted to be held, but not wanted to be held. I was hysterical at this point. Brecken also decided to become hysterical too. The calm part of me thought, it has only got to be an ear infection. The part that was coming out of me was "OMG did he lodge something into his ear??? What is wrong? What if its something much bigger!!??" So I called the doctor and got an appointment for 1 1/2 hours later. Called Kevin and we all went as a family to get there an hour early and have them tell us they are running 40 minutes behind..Needless to say after a very exhausting evening it was only an ear infection but it was a very hysterical moment in my life. Seeing your child in any kind of pain is a horrible experince. I feel like becoming a mother/parent there is nothing worse and I would do anything if I could and can to take it away.

Potty training is still on the go. We kind of fell off the wagon for a bit because life here has just been crazy, and well a day spent with Jackson O'Hare and his stubbornness I'm sure you would agree. I have a few new ideas and I am ready to do this. We just need a weekend that is clear and ready for us.

Speech Therapy. We are there Monday and Friday mornings for 30 minutes. She takes him back all by himself (my big boy) and me and Breck sit out in the waiting room. I sat with him for the first two weeks and he does so well. She has set up 4 numbered bins and in each bin is a different activity. He loves this set up and he loves her too. After they are done she gives me "homework" for the week and tips on what to help with and how to.  She said he is doing AMAZING and she is very impressed. Makes me wonder if he really needed it in the first place. We went there a while back and she came out with another child because they needed to use the restroom and Jack thought she was coming to get him so he was UPSET when she left without him. He screamed for the next 10 minutes. Two other ladies in the waiting room both said to me "ohhh that's so cute that he loves her so much"...yeah I wanted to shoot myself. Brecken in one arm and trying to contain Jackson in the other. Yeah real freaking cute. But....I wonder if its this, school, or him just getting older that is helping him. He is talking much more now or I should say talking with words since before it sounded like he was Chinese. He is saying bizarre things like bicycles, toothpaste, pumpkin, and it is very clear like you or I would say them  but I have yet to hear him say cat, dog or cup....I guess that is the stubbornness in him. He is so smart and I hate comparing his speech to everyone else's child but I guess in the long run he will talk and with his babble it will be nonstop so I should probably  just enjoy this.

Mr. Independent-So he has now learned how to open all doors, use the water dispenser on the fridge, get food out of the fridge and pantry and pull up chairs to get stuff off the counter and is refusing to eat off of any plate that is made for children. It looks like he doesn't need my help anymore. So we are now in phase two of child proofing and it does NOT make Mr. Independent very happy.

On another note, Jackson has decided to stop eating every piece of paper and cardboard in the house so I have taken the books and puzzels out from hiding. They are disgusting since they look like a pack of wild dogs mistaked them as a tasty treat but at least we can still manage to read them. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to be on the show "Obsessed".

hummm...something is just not right with this picture??

Don't mess with me

This past weekend, someone mistaked Jack as being a girl....I wonder why??

Once a Year....

We love to have visitors. We love to entertain. This may explain why we have built a bar upstairs in the "Family Cave". Every year the Hunt family comes down from OH and stays the night with us before traveling along down to the beach. Every year we sit, laugh and catch up on our new adventures, talk about our kids and maybe play a drinking game or two. This year was no exception.

They arrived a little after 5 PM with a big box fan in hand and ready to start their vacation.  The girls were a year older and more beautiful then ever. They always keep us laughing with their stories and how "grown up" they can  be. They only had one request, to get some cupcakes from a local cupcake bakery here.  But before we could manage to fill that request we cracked beers open and started the reminiscing. As the year prior, we played Truth or Dare with Maddie again. Nate is always keeping me laughing because well he is just funny and you can't help but like the guy. One of the "Truth" questions Maddie asked her dad was "Have you ever kissed another guy".......We'll let the answer to that go unknown. So the game ended with Nate running around our cul-de-sac with his shirt off screaming. Our neighbors must really wonder about us sometimes. No surprise to any of you who read my blog regularly is that I love to shot gun a beer. Something about it reminds me of being 17 with my girlfriends. So true to form I make Jill shot gun a beer with me as I do every year. She needed a little bit of a notice to get geared up for the event so like I do with Jackson I set the "carrot" timer and when it went off, we were off....and for once in my life I won!! Sorry Jill. :)

All in all its such a fun night when they come. Kevin and Nate stay up until all hours of the night...or early morning (5AM),  Jill and I have good conversations and play Yahtzee, Maddie makes us laugh with her cruise director love song tribute and Shelby makes us want to be 13 again thinking that nerd glasses and fake mustaches on your finger is whats cool... It never seems quite right that we only see each other a few times a year.

Shelby and Brecken

Madison and Brecki

Jackson LOVED Maddie. He followed her around the ENTIRE time they were here. He was so sad to see her go.

Little "inexpensive" gifts...

It seems as if the littlest gifts make the biggest smiles, especially when you are 2. Once each spring and fall our neighborhood has a yard sale. I love this and I look forward to it the second it gets posted. I have gotten almost all of Jackson's and now Brecken's big toys from them. We have purchased a rocking fish ($5), a kitchen ($25), tool set bench ($15), table and chairs ($20),  a basketball hoop ....oh wait that one I actually dumpster dove for :) but you get the point.

Saturday morning came and it was still dark out and for us a bit chilly. I made coffee, brushed my teeth and put on my puffy vest and waited for L to arrive. The first stop I picked up a shopping cart. I have been wanting one FOREVER for Jack. $2. We drove around for a bit stopping at one here and there when someone gave us the scoop about 2 other neighborhood yard sales. We were so excited! So it was fun going to a different neighborhood and I picked up a bigger than a gallon Ziploc bag of figurines. Shrek, Woody, Buzz, The Incredibles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....ect and some yes McDonald happy meal toys were also included. But this bag of bliss brought MANY MANY hours of happiness to my son. It was his most favorite of all the toys I brought home. And still 3 weeks later he is still in love.

It was like Christmas morning after this yard sale. Kevin and I had smiles from ear to ear watching Jackson  be so happy. I live through Jack and his happiness and now Brecken too. Christmas this year is going to be very memorable and I look forward to feeling like a child again through my own children.

This was one eventful week!

I noticed just the other day when I ran through our neighborhood that the leaves were already changing colors and accumulating on the ground. It took me by surprise because it was still August at the time and I was not expecting to go from Summer to Fall so quickly. The temperature has been much cooler the past week and I can see pumpkin picking, decorating for Halloween and eating a Thanksgiving feast in the future. I love this time of year and perhaps it may be my favorite and we have started it off with one heck of a birthday party.

Kevin's 36 birthday is September 1st and every year Kevin wants to have a party. I think we may have skipped a few years but this year definitely made up for it. Now that we always have two kegs in the house (because my husband built a bar upstairs in the "family cave") I figured it would be an all you can drink kind of party, and to my liking it was. Our house the next morning looked like a bomb exploded. We had toys in every square inch of the house, the kitchen looked like a banquet hall that no one had picked up after and outside was filled with plastic cups, already shotgunned beer cans, and Popsicle sticks. It was like I was 18 again waking up from  a college party. I had to ask myself after we shotgunned 5 times throughout the night ,when will I be to old to do this? When will I be to old to poke a hole at the bottom of my beer, round up any suspects who can not say no and lose by spilling most of my beer down my shirt??? I don’t know the answer to that but I hope I haven't already reached that age.

September also rings in the school year! It sure is annoying when you get stuck behind a school bus or that you have to leave the house a little earlier because traffic is 100 times worse. But I remember when I was a child and being super excited for the 1st day of school. Most kids are even if its just this one day.   We would go school shopping about 2-3 weeks before school would start. We would each have a set amount of money we could spend (usually $100) and off we went. I of course fell in love with ROSS the first time I stepped foot in there. My mom and sister Casi would laugh at me because at that point in time, it was the happiest moment of my life. All this "name brand" clothing for cheap. Its heaven for a pre-teen from little town MT where the biggest store I had shopped at was Maurices or Herbergers. Then talk about school supplies. Why this stuff always excited me I do not know. I loved the smell of it. I would put it in my backpack and then back out. I would sit out in the living room looking and loving all my school supplies and and clothes and I would  give fashion shows to my parents until the day school started. Oh to be a kid again.  Jackson started his first day of preschool this week. I was not looking forward to it because once we went to the open house the week before I realized there were 20 students in his class. 2 teachers and 20 two year olds. Seems like complete chaos to me. Not to mention the lead teacher is very pretty (Kevin mentioned that he wouldn't mind taking Jack to school :O) and the assistant looks like Nanny McPhee. Not that looks has anything to do with the way they treat and teach the children, it just seemed so odd to me. All of it. Of course when we get there about 5 kids are screaming. Jack knows what's happening and I look down at him and see HUGE tears. My heart sank. How in the world are these women going to cuddle my child when they have 6 other kids to cuddle too???!! I walked out, leaned against the wall and sobbed. Literally sobbed. As I was walking out the director asked me if I was okay and I could barely get any words out. Pathetic I know. I did feel silly and a little embarrassed about my reaction but it broke my heart to leave him there. But when I came and picked him up he was happy and smiling...and the same thing the very next day. We will see how Mrs. McDreamy and Nanny McPhee do with my baby for the next couple of weeks.

First Day of School!

You would think we would have gotten a better picture but this it it! The very best one.

This week brought on a pretty miserable moment in my life so far. I have a family history of colon diseases...ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and the list goes on. Recently a family member had to go in and get a procedure done because they were not feeling so well and they found precancerous polyps in their colon. Since its highly hereditary I had to go get checked for preventative measures. I have been dreading this for quite some time. I like to eat. I do not starve myself EVER and for one entire day I could only have clear soda, broth, Popsicles, and Jell-O. I knew I was in trouble when I woke up at 3AM already hungry. Then I had to prep myself. The stuff I had to drink was awful. It smelled like a weird generic lemonade and tasted like...well its almost unexplainable its that bad. It made my eyes water, my nose run,  and I gagged every time I drank some. And I had to drink a lot. 1 gallon. Boy oh boy I thought I would never get through it. So with no food, drinking until I was sick, and no sleep I was one weak woman. But when I got to the doctors office (55 minutes after leaving my house thank you school buses) they drugged me up and it was like I was a very happy drunk. I don't know what they gave me but it was awesome. I think I was just in love with everyone. I remember telling the nurse in a drunken slur how nice my doctor was and I really liked him. I just wonder what else I had told them.  But I did come out of there with no cancerous measures and I don't have to go back for 10 years. I have HUGE delight in this!

I have mentioned in the past that a few of my girlfriends and I did a “kick off” to fitness and we had all signed up for a 5k.  I have run my fair share of races however it has been several years since my last. As the day inched near I kept putting off those runs and now that its here I’m thankful that we are only running a 5k instead of a 10k like I originally was trying to make them do. Kevin and the boys came to support me and Jackson was standing the the finish line run way as I came up. I waved to him and he was happy to see me and maybe a little shocked to but then instantly was upset since I didn’t stop and he proceeded to run after me. I finished in 33 minutes. Not my best, but definitely not my worst. I do feel like I ran a half-marathon possibly because I didn’t stop once and I ran up one big hill or though it seemed. It was fun to do the race with 3 other women that inspire me and to cheer each other on after we finished.  After the race our family went over to our friends house and had a celebratory beer which lead into maybe 60 celebratory beers. It was awesome because as I spent much needed time with my girlfriend, our children were happily playing in the yard, eating fruit snacks and also eating charcoal :). We did have big plans to go to a festival, but what is better then spending a warm day with your friends??

Some of my favorite women...Me, Shanna, Michelle and Jackie!

The most exciting end to our week is one to celebrate. A dear close family we know have been going through some rough trials on dealing with multiple awful trips to the ER, doctors, ect and were trying to find answers on what was happening to their little boy Caleb who is also Jackson’s best buddy. After 5 weeks of waiting for blood test results he is FINALLY out of the clear for a terrible brain degenerative disease (ADL). God is truly answering our prayers. Thank you for sparing this wonderful, beautiful child and family of this disease. We love you Nelson family!

Yes I need 2 binks.

I just love that I have a MILLION pictures of Kevin and the boys but none of me....:(

Home Sweet Home

Arriving back home got me thinking about what it would be like if Kevin and I had decided to move there. Kevin and I do not have any family here and before we had kids it really did not effect us much. Its crazy to think that I have lived here for 6 years and Kevin has lived here for almost 12 years.  After we had Jack it was more apparent how important family is and how nice it must be for those to have even a little family around. I'm not just talking about the "help" aspect of it all, however it would be nice to drop the kids off for a couple of hours, but just for Jackson and Brecken to really know his grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. All the family Sunday dinners and  attending sporting events and just every day life. I know I have missed out on a lot of my niece's and nephew's lives and now my family will miss out on my children's too. Its just bittersweet.

FLYING
Some people have been unfortunate enough to travel with me. I am anxious, worried, impatient, annoyed and to sum it all up I am all around unpleasant to be around. My 2-year-old son seems to have inherited this trait from me. As Kevin and I are finding out more everyday that our eldest needs more attention then our youngest and this plane ride/trip was no exception. It started out good on the plane until we read all the books, played with all the flash cards, trucks and finished coloring (on the tray, and window of course. Sorry United!!). and all of this before the airplane even taxied out. You maybe wondering why in the world would we not bring a DVD player. Well let me explain. Our portable DVD player died about 3 weeks ago. Finally I bought one and we actually like it a lot better then our old one, but  it never came with a wall charger. So of course the day before we leave I go and buy one, bring it home, plug it in...just to find out that this particular DVD player does not have a battery to charge so therefore is useless to us on this trip.  PLAN B: The PSP. We searched all over (K-mart, Best Buy, Wal-mart, Target) for child friendly movies...we found NONE! Then we thought maybe we could download a movie off the Internet onto the PSP but that only resulted in a virus on our computer. PLAN C: Movie on our phone. Paid $2.99, downloaded to my phone on our way to the airport only then to realize that you need mobile service and or WiFi to watch it so therefore again useless!! So needless to say we knew that two 3 hour flights to MT would be bad, but did not realize just how bad bad could be. After sweating, crying and wanting to throw a few tantrums myself,  Kevin and I decided that airplanes would be non existent to our family until the boys can carry their own suitcase.

BEING AT HOME
We arrived in DL just in time for pizza at my moms and I was reacquainted with my nieces Maygan and Korri and my nephew Kordell, and for the first time meeting my newest niece Aspen. Kordell now resembles a man, and I say this not because he is taller than me or is a year older than the last time I saw him, it is because this young man of 12 is now sporting a mustache. Not just a little peach fuzz, a full fledged mustache. He is very proud and it just makes me laugh thinking about it. Maygan is looking so much like her mom and yes she is also taller. I felt a little slighted as she loves her uncle Kevin so much more then all of the rest of us put together. She would wait outside for him everyday until he came back from golfing. I think she made his head bigger. Korri is a new mom of little Aspen. They were both just so sweet and what a good mom Korri has turned out to be. I'm so proud of her because as we all know motherhood is hard, but think of being a new mom at 16....must be even harder right. Good job Korri!! Aspen is 9 months old now and we instantly fell in love. I walked in and she raised her arms for me to pick her up. You can imagine my delight in this.  She would touch her nose to mine then smile, giggle and nuzzle into my neck. Missing that this very second.

Korri Jo

 Kordell and my sister Sherry. You can't really see the stache, but its there I promise.

Ohh sweet love.

Aspen enjoying her 1st ice cream. She loved it!

It was so nice being at home.  My sister Casi would Jack for a while so I could decompress, which was much needed on this vacation. It was almost as if Jackson and I were brother and sister. Fighting and not getting along. The Tri-County Fair was going on while we were at home. So everyone was kept busy by multiple trips to the fairgrounds to get ribbon fries, cotton candy, sno cones and plastic swords.  My sister Sherry was kind enough to stay with both the kids for several hours while Kevin and I went out to the rodeo and then out on the big town. We remembered what it was like to take too many shots, laugh, and apparently dance all night. I most definitely payed for this as Saturday morning rolled around and I couldn't roll my head off the pillow. Not to mention Kevin "had" to go golfing and I was yet again the mother of 2 children who were in need of much attention. I literally thought I was dying as I pulled myself together and took the boys to the annual parade. Jack was a maniac and was running all over the place and I quite honestly did not have it in me to chase him. Thankfully my dad took Jack to get a "pop" and his mood changed immediately and I just wanted to cry. The parade started with the most amazing start that I have ever seen in any parade. There were about 20-30 horses running with 1 cowboy on each end. It was a stampede and it was absolutely breathtaking. I was standing there with Jack in my arms just in awe. It was beautiful. Jack sat on my lap, Breck in his aunt Casi's arms and we gathered as much candy as you would get on Halloween night. I'm not kidding. They also passed out bottled water, Popsicles, otter pops (which I haven't seen since I was a kid), Frisbee's... It was all very generous and  fun. After the parade was over, Jackson still did not want to get up off my lap and quite frankly I didn't want him to. Its not very often Jackson takes a 5 minute break.

Sherry, Casi, myself and Brecki

My dad and Jackson instantly had a bond. My dad has a "man cave" or a "shop" in the back of the house. He takes much pride in this. My father is very crafty and has always has had little projects that he worked on. I remember when I was a kid he built a little cabin with chairs, beds, you name it. If its in a real house he built a miniature one for this cabin. He has become interested in model car/trucks. He puts them together or finds them at garage sales. He had them all labeled by year and make. It circled the entire room. Jack just found this fascinating. He would grab any hand he could and take them back there to see it. He would say over and over and over "TRUCK, TRUCK, TRUCK". I would say this was Jackson's highlight of the entire trip. Grandpa sent Jack home with 2 TRUCKS.

 Grandma snuggling with Breck..

 Grandpa and Jack

We also traveled a little bit out of our way to see my other sister Lisa. We had lunch at BW3's, which is Kevin's all time favorite, and then went to a park. It was beautiful and warm this day and almost cold in the shade. But my highlight was sitting there and catching up with my two sisters, which doesn't happen often enough. Its crazy to see Lisa looking almost identical to my mother. Its times like this that me wonder what my mother is doing and think about just how much she has missed out on our lives.

Sherry, Lisa, and me

Two of my girlfriends traveled several hours to come see me all the way from WA.  Its very sweet to know that there are people who would travel all that way to meet you "half way". Thank you ladies, it means a lot. All of my girlfriends from home have babies and they are all boys!! It warms my heart to see them all together playing. I think they enjoyed playing together as much as us ladies did. Owen (Brittany) was very much a busy body. Its a no wonder his mom is such a skinny mini. He just strutted around with not a care in the world. He was just busy and curious. Leyton (Barbara) was a bit quiet at first just observing all the craziness but then he wowed everyone with his extensive vocabulary and made everyone laugh with his funny lines. He also looks like a Swedish model.  Jack was a bit of a bully and a share monster but at least his good looks made up for it, or one can hope. Ryder (Carrie Belle's) is just one amazing kid. Ryder loves his iPod, DVD player and laptop. He just can not retain enough information. He is so witty like his mother. He just makes everyone laugh and as long as their is WiFi around he is one happy camper. Anthony (Marie) is just so sweet and has the absolute best facial expressions and he looks just like his mama. He was also very shy but boy that boy sure can imitate some noises.  Brody (LeeAnne) and Brecken being the newest additions they were so sweet and good and barely made a peep. Brody looks so much like LeeAnne's little brother to me and he was such the snuggler and that boy loves his paci!  They only thing they both needed practice at was letting their moms sleep at night!! The only one missing was Amanda. :( I love that even though we all live miles apart we still get together once a year and its like we never miss a beat.  I love my girlfriends. Each of them are so different but together we are a force to be reckoned with. We are loud, we think we are funny and we love to have a good time. Kevin just has to join us because I'm afraid we would be too annoying if he didnt. What a guy. I am so greatful for all of these women. We have gone through so much together and I love the bond that we have. I miss them so much. I wish that our kids could grow together like we grew up together.   We have such a history and I know that we will always be there for one another...heck I've been friends with some of these girls going on a 20-year history. I feel old writing that I have a 20-year history with anything.

 Owen, Leyton, Anthony and Jack

Brody and Breck

Owen, Leyton and Jack....This picture cracks me up!

Someone is very happy.

Anthony and Marie

Carrie Belle and Ryder Roo

Auntie Barb is loving on Brecki

LeeAnne, Marie, Kev, Britt and Me out after the rodeo

Hugable Brody



All in all I had a great time with my sisters, mom, dad and girlfriends. I will miss sitting at my moms kitchen table and laughing with everyone. Casi has a contagious laugh and it makes me happy to hear it. I loved my mom holding Brecken and Brecken falling alseep with her gentle rock and Jack taking dirt baths outside. I hate to miss my sisters Sherry's pregnancy as she is 12 weeks this week and she is so excited. But while it was good to go "home" it feels really good to be "home". Its strange when you can call two places  home.  I wonder what life would be like if we were to live there near family and good friends. Would my life be easier? Would I be more fulfilled? I dont' know. I'm guessing it would be about the same except really cold.  I am happy where we are. The older I get the more I want to build strong relationships. I beleive I have built some of my strongest relationships here where I live now because I need to depend on others who are not family and long standing friends. My girlfriends here now are amazing and I feel like a lot of us are in the same situation without any family so we tend to fill that void. I love hearing the kids call me Aunt Krissy. Surragate Aunts and Uncles and Breck and Jack sure do have a lot of those!! Our friends here are our family and I can't imagine not ever crossing paths with them. I probably won't ever know what its like to live at home at this point in my life. But I am thankful for the friends that have become my family here and if I were to get married again today we would have one heck of a wedding party.

Megpie!

 He litterly was rolling around in the dirt.

Aunt Lisa and Breck