Cousins....

Last week something amazing happened, Andy's oldest sister Aubrey drove here to OH with her four kids!! I honestly did not think it would happen, but sure enough, I was wrong. Lauren also came because she is done teaching and off for the summer, which helped out with the driving, and bonus we got to see her too!

I am disappointed in myself when I say that I did not take pictures pretty much the entire time they were here, but that should say a lot about how much fun we had. We took them to Malley's, twice, we went to the beach, we went to the pool, we ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, we watched movies, Preston, Luke, and Porter organized and re-built Lego's while Madison, Carlee, Abby, and Tessa played with their American Girl dolls. I got to workout with La La which was awesome and she taught me some new arm moves with weights, I went running with Aubrey twice which was so fun even though she is faster than me and suggests that we run to Malley's! Andy was able to hang with us a bunch too and hit the pool. Oh, the pool, that reminds me.....

we have this handheld fan (that Marin happened to steal from the Disney store) that Andy was using and putting next to every ones ear to make them think it was a bee. Of course he told Carlee to do it to Lauren. So La jumped up and started to throw Carlee into the pool. As La La was throwing Carlee into the pool, Andy walked over and pushed her into the pool, then Aubrey walked up and pushed Andy into the pool!! It was so funny and I haven't laughed that hard in a laugh time.

I can't say enough about how much fun we had and how much it means that Aubrey would make that trek with her kids, but we made some great memories and I got to spend time with her that I never have before. Love you Aubs, Tyler kids, and Lauren for coming.

And here are the only pictures I have of the trip....


Tessa with a normal smile.


Carlee, Abby (who was not looking on purpose!), and Tessa, there is my stinker.


Water fights are so fun.

A Dream is a Wish....

Carlee has been working for months on her dance for the big recital and it is finally done and over, and she rocked it. The dance world is so different from anything I ever have experienced, it's the hair, shoes, tutu's, makeup, curls, costumes, glitter, etc. I am not used to that, but I think we did okay and Carlee looked so cute.


Here she is before the show.




The backstage chaos and hanging with her friends.


Post show with her friend Adalynn.


The family


Porter is always taking care of Marin.


Me and my Carlee girl.


Daddy and his little girl. She was so proud of her trophy.


A kiss for Dad to say thanks for the flowers. She is always asking for the flowers at Costco when we are there.


This is the only video I have of the dance

New Month.....New Life

So June is here already, which also means new month, and a new rotation for Andy. This is his final rotation for his 3rd year of residency and he is doing something that he has waited a long time to do.....LIFE FLIGHT. Yeah that's right, he is a Life Flight doc this month, and yeah, it really is cool. The kids and I had a chance to go out to the airport and see him and the helicopter, there was a whole entire 12 hour shift where Andy did not fly and he quickly earned the nickname "white cloud".


I love this picture and how the kids just lined up to see the helicopter, they were in such awe.


Tessa was the first to see inside.


Porter was so in his element and ready for a flight. He immediately gave me this pose, straight from Top Gun (I love that movie)


Car is my happy girl and the helmet looks like it is so heavy on her.


Mom's turn. I could not believe how big it is inside the chopper, although I guess it has to be being that it can fit the flight nurse, patient, family member, the doc, plus equipment.


The kids were so interested in his gear.


If you look on the door on the right you can see three latches, those latches are the only things that keep the helicopter closed!!




A plane that took off when we were there. It was so hot this day, I feel like you can see the humidity in the picture.


He feels so tough and cool, but you know what, he really is and I love him so much.

Attack the bees....

We have a problem in our family, Andy says it is my fault, but it is so NOT. Our kids, well Porter who has made Tessa, are afraid of bees. It is to the point that they do not want to go out and play in the backyard. It is spring here, and on a nice sunny day the bees are out in full force visiting our neighbors lilac tree and occasionally they will fly over and check out the swing set in turn freaking out my kids. So the other night we were chilln' out back when the bees started showing up. P and C disappeared inside for a minute and when I yelled for them to come back out and this is what they looked like...



And here is what Marin looked like. She clearly was concerend



My kids are serious goofs and the make me laugh. The only thing that mattered that night was that they were outside and they felt protected. And as soon as Andy got home there was serious action taken against the bees.






I just wanted a smile, is that too much too ask?


Me attacking Tessa for not smiling.


This girl loves animals.




Best big brother ever!


Best Dad ever.

It is nights that make me love where I live and I am so excited for this summer and the visitors that we will be having!! All are welcome (especially those that live in MT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Greatest Grandma....

We are so lucky to have had another wonderful visit with Kaylee. She was here for about 10 days and it was so great, one of the best trips ever. The kids were excited when we told them just the night before, they are so homesick for family.

We didn't do anything major, well, two trips to Malley's is major, but really, KayLee just blended into our routine of dance, soccer, etc. It was so nice to have her help because Andy just started the worst rotation of our lives (trauma in downtown Cleve and he works a min of 80 per week, yeah single mom here. All the single momma's, all the signle momma's, put your hands up, oh, oh, oh, uh, oh oh oh, uh oh, oh, oh (love Beyonce)).

KayLee was awesome and bought Tessa a new bike and helmet, Porter got a lego set, and Carlee and Tessa chose some squinkies. The kids were in heaven playing with their new things with Grandma. She also was the queen of food, I think we ate 90% of the time she was here, the kids loved the cookies and brownies!(I am not a big baker)

I really cannot say enough about what a wonderful visit we had. It was so nice for me to have someone, well an adult, to talk to all the time. I know that there are things that we did that I am missing, so go here to see more about what an awesome time we had. LOVE YOU KAYLEE!!


Carlee still doing awesome on a 2 wheel bike.


Tessa with her new bike and Barbie helmet.


The beloved Ninjago legos.


The first few days the kids had strep and Grandma got to take a nap with everyone.


Carlee at ballet practiving for the upcoming recital.


She was so excited to have grandma watch her.


TUCK jump baby!


Our family has a serious chocholate problem.


Wow, they are all mine.


She is so like her dad.


The hardest good bye ever.

Binding Master....

A good friend of mine here in Ohio is having a baby girl, and I was feeling like I hadn't sewn in a while, so I asked my MIL to bring some fabric from UT so I could make a quilt (there is no selection here)! It was the cutest watermelon pink and green, I loved it. It was so fun to make. I was a little terrified of the binding, but I totally rocked it.

Rain, Rain, Go Away, no SERIOUSLY GO AWAY!

We have had some serious non-stop rain, and it is very annoying. I know I am not the only person that wishes that spring would really be spring. At least we have had a few good days here and there. Anyway a few weeks ago it rained crazy downpour rain for 5 days straight and proved to be too much for the drain in the backyard. Luckily I have a wonderful neighbor who we call Grandpa John who was out there trying to help us out before Andy was able to get home and work on the drain (which my man is amazing with his drain building abilities.) We had to go to Lowe's for a few things that night, and I was amazed at all of the flooding. We are so blessed to have not flooded in our home.


Porter and Molly examing the damages.


Too much water.