Not Quite Uncle John's

Sarah and I decided to take the kiddies to a pumpkin patch on Friday. I can't believe this post is so timely. That really is only because I brought the camera with a dead battery AGAIN and Sarah took these picture for me and then emailed them to me, which meant I didn't have to get around to uploading the pictures myself. In Michigan, there is place called Uncle John's Cider Mill where they have cider, duh, and a pumpkin patch. I was hoping this would be similar, but alas it wasn't quite up to par and I found myself really wishing I was in Michigan. The whole time we were there all I could think about was the awesome cider and donuts I could be having at Uncle John's and it kind of made it hard for my to fully appreciate this pumpkin patch. However, it was not a complete bust. EZ had a blast, since he isn't teased by the memories of delicious cider and donuts and since they had animals. He just gets so stoked to see horsies and goats and so forth. This place had a llama as well and EZ kept saying "humm humm" to it because again that is what the llama says on Diego. We really need to cut back on that show. So here are some pics of the fun. Thanks Sarah for bailing me out.

Enjoying the hayride to the overcrowded playground. There was a huge field trip that day. Not the most ideal situation.

EZ and pumpkins of course.

EZ feeding the goats. I love watching him get over his wimpiness. He was really proud that he touched the goat.

Ice cream treat on the way home. Pure joy.

Enchanted Rock

I feel like I always start out my blogs saying something like "a week and a half ago". Well this post is no different. This time it is 2 weeks ago. Someday I will be on top of things. So yeah, 2 weeks ago we went camping with some people from church. Our friends the Larsens (EZ's friend Briton) were kind enough to share a camping site with us and all their gear. We went to Enchanted Rock State Park, which as you may have guessed, is home to a really big rock that you can hike.

I was leery about taking the kids camping and hiking, especially EZ. The camping part started out all right. We had a good dinner and smores and all that stuff. Then when it came time to put EZ to bed there was trouble. He sat in the tent and whined for about an hour before finally falling asleep at 11pm. John shared a tent with him and I shared one with Netta. EZ woke up every couple hours throughout the night because he kept rolling into John or into the side of the tent and then he was up and ready to go at 6:30am. Lucky for me Netta went right to bed and slept till 7:30am. I felt bad for John, but part of me thought it was a good thing, since he got a taste of what it's like to be a nursing mother with a newborn.

I was even more scared to take EZ hiking, because he isn't really all that adventurous. Oh and a little before we left on the hike he fell off a small bridge and landed on his head. Not a good way to start things out. Much to my surprise EZ did great. He was able to do most of the hike on his own and he seemed to really enjoy himself. The whole time I kept saying "I am so proud of EZ". I must really underestimate what he can do because he keeps surprising me by doing stuff I am sure he can't or won't do. My favorite part of the hike was when John told EZ to climb and EZ starting singing "sube". (I assume that's how you spell it). We were both confused and then I remember that Diego sings a song about climbing and that is how you say "climb" in Spanish. So now we see another very small benefit to letting EZ watch hours of Diego.

Of course I brought the camera with a dead battery, but luckily we also had our video camera so I was able to take some video of the hike. The first one is of us close to the top. I apologize for the noisy background. It was windy and I had no idea it was going to be so loud on the video. The second one is right at the end and you get a good view of what we climbed up. Sorry if these are lame, but of course they are exciting to us!

Cleaning Up Galveston

About three weeks ago John went with our church to help clean up in Galveston. It took me this long to post about the trip because John took a disposable camera and then we had to get it developed and we are just so spoiled by our digital camera that I kept forgetting about having to get it developed. Yeah I know I'm lazy. So anyway, this trip was a lot different than the last one. Last time John spent the whole time hauling logs and branches and stuff, but this time was spent "demucking houses". Basically, it meant going into homes in the hopes of salvaging them, by taking out everything that was water damaged from the floors to the walls and the appliances. Oh and not to mention all the other stuff in the house. The whole island smelled bad and the stench inside the houses was even worse. They had to wear masks and special shoes and gloves. One of the big jobs was getting the appliances out and the worst of which was the refrigerator. Because the fridges were filled with rotted food and sea water they weren't allowed to open them and they had to duck tape them shut and haul them out. Unfortunately for another Church group one of the fridges they were moving started to leak and the smell was so bad that grown men started throwing up. The last time John went was physically draining, but this trip was more mentally and emotionally draining. You just can't image the damage that these hurricanes cause and we feel like the news this time kind of covered all the hype up to the hurricane but kind of has ignored what happens afterwards. It was a very humbling experience.

The guys ready to serve in their "Helping Hands" shirts.

Inside one of the houses they helped "demuck." John said it was really sad because people desperately wanted to keep their belongings but really pretty much nothing was really safe to keep because of all the water and mold damage.

A tree ripped to shreds. Some big trees survived but basically all the leaves were dead. It looked like winter, but they were surrounded by the heat of summer.

A gas station and the attached convenience store destroyed.

This boat may look like its just sitting on the side of the road (which would be crazy enough), but it was blown on top of a fish bait shop.

This huge pile of debris was about 3 football fields long and 10 -12 feet high the whole way. They have found bodies in there and there are so many missing people that may never be found.

What was a restaurant along the beach.

Let the Halloween Fun Begin

With Halloween coming up with have noticed some changes in Netta. Here she is looking cute and sweet in her regular jammies.

Then we change her into Halloween jammies and she turns evil! Hopefully you can click on this picture and view it larger because the red eye make it really creepy up close!

The other day there was this festival at a Church and they advertised a petting zoo. Of course we had to stop by with EZ's new fondness for animals. We walked all over and couldn't find the petting zoo. We finally asked someone who said it wouldn't be arriving for another hour. I was pretty irked. How can you advertise a petting zoo and not have it there for the first half of the festival. Anyway, it wasn't all a bust because EZ was able to paint a pumpkin, which he loved so much that he threw a huge fit when we had to go home. Gotta love kids.

Riding the Train

In south Austin there is this huge park called Zilker Park with all this awesome stuff like an amphitheater, botanical garden and a zephyr (a miniature train, which I only know the meaning of because it said so on line). Our play group went there a week ago and we had a blast. Again EZ's girlfriend Briton was there so of course that made it all the better. I really like this picture with EZ not looking and Netta's gut hanging out, but hey you take what you can get with kids.

Briton and EZ sat in their own row for the whole 25 minute ride. I was really proud. They are so blond and pale they are glowing.

Here is Netta's enjoying the train ride. Gotta love the cheeks.

After the train there was a playground with this dolphin thing and I made the mistake of saying "Say Cheese" before trying to get a picture of EZ on it. I really do need to remember to stop saying that.

Hairy Man Festival

In Round Rock there is a Hairy Man Festival every year. I don't remember the whole story, but basically there is the legend of some boy raised by wolves who was really hairy when someone found him. So they celebrate hairiness and have a contest to find the hairiest man and help local organizations raise money through activity booths. One of the activities was a petting zoo. EZ loves animals, but usually from afar. Anyone with pets who has had us over knows that EZ gets all excited to see the dogs and such until they try to get close to him. Then he just freaks out and cries. So at first we just stood outside the petting zoo, but EZ seemed really excited about the horse so we thought we would check it out. Much to my surprise EZ actually touched the horse. He probably didn't pick the best end to stand by, but hey at least he touched it.

We went to the festival my friend Katie and her daughters Briton and Amelia. Briton is 3 years old and the love of EZ's life. EZ doesn't really like the girls his age in nursery and he seems to be attracted to Briton's maturity I guess. She finds his boyish charm amusing. Anyway here is a picture of her petting the cutest little pig.

After seeing how much EZ loved petting the horse we decided to give the pony rides a try. I was even more hesitant about this sense he barely enjoys carosel rides, but again EZ proved me wrong and had a blast. It was all he could talk about for days.

I loves this shot of EZ's hair blowing in the wind and in this next one I have no idea what his gesture means, but I love it as well.

Zoo Fun

So I mentioned we got to go to the zoo while we were in Dallas and it was a blast. I love Austin, but my one complaint would be that there isn't a good zoo. There is a wild animal preserve/zoo type place but its almost an hour from our house and not very big. The zoo in Dallas had tons of cool stuff for kids. EZ fell asleep right when we got there, of course, but soon woke up and was so excited to see all the animals from Diego. This one stretch of exhibits I swear was straight from the last couple episodes of Diego we had just watched. I guess there is some value to that show. They also had a neat petting area where you could even touch birds. EZ of course didn't touch any of the birds, but he seemed to like getting close, which is a big deal for him.

For me, the best part was EZ getting to show off his sun glasses.

Here is EZ doing to the Robot and below is EZ doing his best modeling pose. He cracks me up.

Back in March we mad EZ ride a carousel and he hated it, but this time he warmed up to it. Poor John tried so hard to get a good picture, but that's tough on a moving, spinning object. Right after this picture the man in charge stopped the carousel to yell at me and make me get off the horse. Oops.

Summer Fun

Here are some pics of the end of our "summer fun." Mind you it's still like 85 degrees out, but it's getting cold enough at night that the swimming pool is a bit too chilly. Especially, since me, EZ and Netta are all kind of particular about how warm the water needs to be. Netta didn't get to do much swimming since EZ can't swim on his own and juggling the two of the would have been impossible, but she did get to dip her feet in a couple of times to check it out.

I love this bathing suit and I am pretty proud of myself, because I got it for a dollar. Technically it's for an 18 month old so she could be wearing it for a while. I know I mentioned her fat arms earlier, but I just can't get over it. On a day to day basis I don't necessarily think about it, but when I see pictures like this one it is almost unbelievable.

It was hard to get a good picture of Netta and EZ together, but I think this one turned out alright. I especially love the look on EZ's face.

Say Cheese!!!

New Toys

We recently busted out the jumperoo for Netta and got her an exersaucer. She is getting so strong it's freaky. Hopefully she can work off a few pounds. There are some really cute outfits she never got to wear, because she got too fat too fast. We call her Fatty McFat Fat. I promise not to call her that once she gets old enough to remember. I don't want to give her a complex. So here she is enjoying the jumperoo. I think her face says it all.

EZ really likes Netta's exersaucer. He had a hand me down one, which was nice, but not as fancy so I think he is a little jealous. Poor EZ instead of getting all the new stuff like a first child should we were students and he got tons of the garage sale stuff and now Netta is getting the good stuff. Oh well he'll survive. If you notice EZ's great pose, that is him taking a picture. He does it almost everytime I say "Say Cheese." I will have to stop saying that so I can get some normal pictures. I like this pic showing Netta smiling up at EZ. I am amazed how much she loves him. She gets so excited whenever he gets close to her. It's so cute.

And finally here is Netta showing just how much she enjoys EZ and her new toy. And of course the mysterious rubber bands around her arms.

Now and Then Part 2

Oddly enough we have another set of friends from Michigan here in Texas with us. This goes all the way back to my sophomore year at BYU. Ruth and I were roommates and friends with a group of guys, which included Gavin, and of course since I mentioned these two, they later got married and after finishing their undergrad degrees moved to Ann Arbor Michigan for Gavin's law degree. A year later John and I followed for my job at Michigan State. (Somehow we managed to survive the Michigan vs Michigan State rivalry. Like I really care. Ha!) A couple of days after arriving in Michigan, Ruth told me she was pregnant then 3 months later I gave her the same announcement about myself. Her son Caden was born the beginning of March and EZ followed at the end of May.

Here is a pic of EZ and Caden when Caden was about 9 months old and EZ about 6 months . As you can see EZ had a little weight over Caden despite the age difference. Well after 2 years together in Michigan, Gavin accepted a job in Dallas and then that same summer John had his internship in Austin, so we weren't apart for long. Of course we had to return to Michigan after the summer, but voila we returned to Austin a year later. We went up to Dallas about a week and a half ago and got to see those guys again and how the kiddies had changed. Here is a pic of Caden and EZ at the zoo. (More pics of the zoo trip to follow).

Oh and of course also during that year apart I got pregnant with Netta and Ruth got pregnant with her little girl Brynlee. This time I got pregnant 3 months before Ruth, so you would assume my daughter would be quite a bit bigger since EZ is still a little bit bigger than Caden, and you would be right! Here is a picture of the girls hanging out. I guess all my kids are going to be huge and all of Ruth's are going to be skinny.

Oh EZ

So I left EZ strapped into his booster seat with some play dough so I could go take a shower and not have him demolish the house. When I came back downstairs he had thrown play dough all over the kitchen. Lately scolding doesn't seem to be getting through to him so I told him "No we do not throw play dough on the floor!" and then for added emphasis and to make sure he was listening I asked him "What did I say?". He sternly replied "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Well at least he learned a lesson.

Now and Then

We were very blessed to have our friends from Michigan, the Adams, move down to Austin last summer when we came down for John's internship. Sarah and I gave birth to our first kids around the same time, EZ in May and Sarah's daughter Claire in June. They were friends from day one. Here they are relaxing by our backyard pool. At the time EZ was very chill, as you can see, and Claire was not as excited about being in the water. They were able to spend their first year together between Michigan and Texas, until we returned to MSU for John's last year of school and Sarah and Aaron stayed in Texas for Aaron's job.

Well we were even more blessed when we got the job offer with Dell and Sarah and Aaron were still in Austin! It made the move so much easier. Sarah being here helped Texas feel like home right off the bat. Since last year Sarah and I have each had another kid, her son Noel was born in April and Netta in May. (As I write this I realize I don't have a picture of the two of them together. I will have to fix that). It is great having a friend in the same kid situation. Someone to swap babysitting and venting sessions with. EZ and Claire have taken back to the pool, but the roles are reversed. Since being stuck in the tundra EZ has not taken as well to swimming this year as Claire has. She is all over the place with no fear and EZ likes to stick to the top step. Here is admittedly not the best picture, but once taken recently at the pool. A lot changes in two years.

I HATE Chickering Health Insurance

In Michigan we had Chickering health insurance through MSU for a semester and they are driving me crazy. I had to pay $1500 for one semester of coverage so you think the least they could do was pay my claims but no I am still getting bills from two different services performed in November!!! I apologize to anyone reading this who heard me conmplain over the last couple of months, but I am still dealing with the same claims as before. It is so frickin ridiculous. So just the other day I got a bill and when I called the lab they said my insurance had not paid yet because they were waiting for me to respond about some previous conditions, which I did in January and then again in March, because the idiots lost the first letter I sent. So I call Chickering already annoyed and then the girl says "oh yeah we had everything we needed in May, but our system isn't automated so someone had to notice it to reprocess it." Are you frickin kidding me? That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Isn't that what I paid so much money for them to do? And we aren't even talking about big claims. More like $200. So then I call the lab back to let them know what is going on and I asked out of curiosity when exactly the insurance had said I was still missing previous information and they had said that on September 5th. I get so mad just thinking about it. How on September 5th could they tell the lab they were missing information they had had since May!! Didn't someone check my file before they told the lab that? I should have just gone without insurance. It would have saved me money and hours on the phone. So yeah for those who have spouses at MSU do not pay Chickering a dime. They suck beyond all possible suckiness and they are just ripping you off.

Cleaning Up Ike

A week and a half ago John went down to Lake Jackson, TX with a bunch of volunteers from our Church to help clean up after Ike. It was a long day with the most labor John has done since he worked construction about 8 years ago. They left early in the morning, around 4. (John of course opted to stay up way late playing video games instead of going to bed early, but if I starting talking about his gaming habits this post could go way off topic). The trip was organized by our Church and the Red Cross. They all got to wear matching "Helping Hands" shirts for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Basically they spent all day cutting up trees and carrying them away. The red cross searched out families who were too old or too poor to do the labor themselves and gave a list to our group who broke into teams and went out looking for those people. Anyone that wanted help had to give their permission and sign a waiver. It was a really long and hard day for John and his body took quite some time to recoup, but one house made it particularly worth the effort. This guy they were helping kept asking them for their names and seemed to be writing them down. Then he kept asking for the Church's phone number and no one was sure if he meant the local building or what and finally he said he wanted the number of the Church's headquarters so he make sure they all got commendations. John was joking maybe it would mean he would start getting paid for his calling for maybe a discount on tithing or something. But of course it was all worth it without any earthy reward. Service is hard for the body, but good for the soul.