JD's eight and Michigan ain't so great!

What?? My little man is 8 now! He's starting 2nd grade this week! He's going to be baptized soon! He's going to be driving soon! Holy crap, he's going to be moving away to college soon....ok, getting a bit ahead of myself, but man time flies!


JD had a fun little birthday party on the 28th. He invited 4 of his closest buddies to play laser tag. They had a great time getting all sweaty and violent! The party-goers watched Alvin and the Chipmunks on the drive to and from the laser tag joint. I hadn't heard this particular group of friends laugh so hard together so it made me giggle a little.




Afterwards, we rounded up a bunch of neighborhood friends to inhale some cake and ice cream.


Later that night, JD attended his first cub scout pack meeting. Oh my, I've been looking forward to his participation in scouts for a long time, so it was fun for both of us. He'll get his bobcat award at the next pack meeting.


The next evening, our family celebrated JD's "family" party at Chuck-e-cheese. What kid doesn't like this germ-infested paradise?? We had a great time wasting major coinage on silly games. Christian was in heaven! I have to mention that this place tends to attract the lovely people of the world (you know, kinda like Walmart does). One of them (a young kid) kept following Joel around asking for some tokens. Nice. Anywho, the birthday fairy brought JD 3 Star Wars Lego sets (of course) that he spent the entire next day assembling. All in all, he came away extremely elated with how his birthday turned out - mission accomplished!



Now on to a much sadder event: the Michigan vs. University of Utah football disaster, I mean game. So I've wanted to attend at least one football game in the "Big House" here at U of M before moving day. I got my wish this past Saturday. Joel was able to get some nice tickets from someone in his program. I was quite grateful for the seats because I wasn't about to sit in the student section - you have to stand the entire 4 hours! No thanks! After walking at least 20 miles from our parking spot to the stadium, mama's body needed to sit in the shade. That's exactly what I got to do. I felt bad for the rest of the stadium - most of them were in the blazing sun! The exciting part of the game didn't come until the 4th quarter. I was actually standing during a big portion of it - that says a lot! Our poor team has a bit of work to do if they want to be part of the Big 10 again.


Ok, so did I fool you into thinking I'm a football fan? Did I sound all sporty? Well, I'm not. I don't have anything against football, I just don't follow it. In fact, during the half time show, they gave a big award to the famous U of M football coach that just retired. I leaned over to Joel and asked, "...so what did he coach?" He just looked at me like, "...are you freak'n kidding me?" I just laughed and whispered, "Good thing I didn't say that too loud!"

So anyway, here is what I remember most vividly about my experience in the largest stadium in the country: When I caught my first glimpse of the size of the packed stadium, I actually got dizzy. I guess there were over 108,000 fans in the stadium that day! Amazing. When I sat down, I had to get really cozy with this old (ok, ancient) Korean man that kept text messaging his Korean friends about the status of the game. Yes I was reading his phone and not watching the game. Also, I couldn't stop staring at his big wart thingy growing on his cheek. It almost brushed up against me a couple of times, so I had to be on guard. I think the sweaty hair on it did in fact make contact. I'll miss that man. There was another man, I mean woman or man, that will forever remain in my memory of this place - and Ann Arbor for that matter. I glanced back at him (row behind us) once and kept sneaking a peek whenever I could. He was so interesting to look at...he had long hair, an adam's apple and a french manicure. I stopped wondering when he stood up and boomed out (in a very manly voice) an obscenity to the refs. I'm going to miss Ann Arbor. Seriously, I love it. I remember going to our famous art fair one year having to explain to JD why some men like to dress up like drag queens in public. Good times.

Anyway, Joel and I had a great time and I was super happy to have experienced the "Big House" thrill before our move. BTW, thanks to all of our loved ones (back in Utah) that sent those thoughtful text messages to help us through the dark minutes following the game. Couldn't have survived it without your love and support! Yeah, you suck too!

Yes, I really am a freak...

So just in case you weren't aware of what a freak I am, I thought I'd share a great little memory that occurred our first summer in Michigan. You see, I'm feeling a little nostalgic with the start of school around the corner, so I've been thinking a lot about JD's first AND second day of kindergarten.

So rewind back 2 years ago to the first day of JD's afternoon kindergarten. I was super nervous about leaving my baby to his own devices - as any typical mother would be. I took him to school the first day to meet his teacher (this dumb school doesn't believe in back to school night PRIOR to the first day). We came a little early and she didn't like that. She told us to come back in 12 minutes. Strike 1, but not a big deal.



I didn't trust the school because of their total lack of organization and communication. They screwed up with JD's bus situation so I decided to go and observe how the school would handle the first day bus departures. I just sat and watched. I couldn't believe what disaster I was witnessing. The buses were late so there were kids all over the place. The poor little kindergarteners didn't know what to do. There weren't any adults helping them. Kids were crying and confused. Strike 2. Now I'm getting mad.



Of course I made sure the neighborhood kids were on the right bus (except that was screwed up too) and I followed them home. So up came the bus with all the excited mom's waiting to greet them. They got all frantic when I yelled, "The school was a mess today & the kids are on the other bus that drops off up the street!" All the poor moms took off running to save their babies. There was confusion and tears. The worst part was some poor kid didn't get off the bus and his mom was running frantically trying to find him. He was still at school. Nice. Strike 3. Time to call the principal! She assured me that all of the problems occurred because the buses were late. Yeah right.

So of course I followed JD's bus to school the next afternoon (he was in 1/2 day kindergarten) just to find the bus driver totally confused as to what to do with the poor 5 year olds. I got out of my car to lead her and the kids to the right destination. Strike 4. Can you fire a school?

So this is the worst part. The day that will forever live in infamy. So I obviously felt that I needed to go to school again for the bus departures. I had to freak'n park behind the school and drag my 2 kids around to the front just to turn around again to head back home - I was a little late to see for sure if JD was on the right bus. I figured I had better hurry home so that I could maybe beat the buses and be there for my baby. Well, I was a little frantic so I kinda ran a little red road sign (yeah, a stop sign) in the middle of campus - in front of a campus police car. The chase began.

By the time I noticed the flashing lights behind me, I was going through a busy intersection. Now I didn't know at the time that Michigan has this RETARDED law that you have to pull over the moment the lights flash - even if it's in the middle of a 2 lane road & cars have to wait for the ticket to be written! Yup, that's safe. I just assumed that I would pull over in the first safe place which happened to be the entry into family housing. I kind of pushed my luck by not pulling into the 1st parking lot. I wanted to pull into the 2nd lot so I could be there for my poor baby on the crazy bus! I motioned to the cops that I was pulling over into the next lot. They didn't like that so they got on their loud speaker and screamed, "PULL THE CAR OVER NOW!"

All of Northwood heard it and I'm sure some people thought it was some drug bust or something! I parked just in time to see the bus pulling up. Poor JD got out just to see two police (campus that is - do they count?) officers slowly approaching his mom's car with hands on their pistols - just in case the crazy soccer mom would bust a move. I tried to explain, but they treated me like a hardened criminal. My poor neighbor (remember this Talli??) came over to see what was up and one of the freak police officers yelled at her, "STEP AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE!" She was like what the crap?? My other neighbor's family was watching from their front window (remember this Michelle??). Poor Camden cried, "Mommy, I don't want Heather to go to jail!"

Wow, that was great. I was the new gal in town and here I was in all of my glory! In the end, I got a ticket for running a stop sign (geez, it was a California stop people!). It was super expensive so I decided to plea insanity in my court appearance. I was super nervous, but the judge obviously felt sorry for me and cut my ticket in half.

I was so mad at the school that I let myself turn into a super freak! Oh the things crazy soccer moms will do for their babies! JD's 1st grade experience was more pleasant because I was better prepared to handle things - even though the school was still a mess the first day!

Poor JD is so my experiment in parenting. Poor kid. Hey, at least I care right? Hopefully this year (2nd grade) will be much better. Wish me luck!

Do you see that JD is happy in all of his pictures??
See, I really am a good mom - he wasn't aware of
the chaos around him. Mission accomplished.

Signing our life away...

So Joel signed our life away for the next 3 years today! He signed the contract and FedEx "ed" it this afternoon. Yeah! We're excited about it too! I know many of you have heard our exciting news already, but just to make it clear... Joel was offered a job in Idaho and we're both grateful and pumped about our future.

During our month long trip in Utah, Joel met with various anesthesia groups in Idaho and Colorado. We weren't expecting to get a job offer a year in advance, but that's exactly what happened. I'm sure you are wondering where exactly we're off to. However, I don't exactly want that public, so....if you've gotten an email with the actual city in Idaho, then I like you. If not, I either don't like you (ha ha), don't know you, or I don't have your email in my address list. If the latter is the case, then give me your email address and I'll send it your way.

We got totally pampered by the hospital - something we're not used to AT ALL. They paid for a hotel for 2 nights so that Joel could work with the team and decide if he liked the situation. I got to just relax without any kids for 2 whole days. It was a beautiful thing. When we arrived, we were greeted with a huge gift basket full of treats and such - that was fun. We were also treated to a fun dinner with the docs and their wives.

So after a long day in the OR, Joel came back to the hotel with a big grin on his face. He asked me what I thought of the city. I could tell right away that we would be living there. Joel loved the working situation and I liked what I saw of the city. I was still quite sick by that point, so I just kind of drove around and rested in the hotel room. Nice.

We had dinner plans that night with the cardiothoracic surgeon, vascular surgeon, anesthesiologist and their wives. They were all big city folks that ended up in this smaller town. Each was of Latino descent which I loved - it reminded me of my college days (I had 3 Latino roommates). I felt very "un-stylish" next to these ladies - they were all beautiful and very polished. I was wearing some ugly jumper dress thing (the only thing that fit me that day & I was green with morning sickness). We had a great evening hearing their individual stories of how they ended up in Idaho.

The anesthesiologist was working in Miami and making a lot of money, but was never home. His family wanted a slower pace, so they checked out a bunch of small towns across the country. The cardiothoracic surgeon, who was in Atlanta, was specifically contacted by the CEO of the hospital in Idaho to open this new cardiovascular hospital. At first he absolutely refused to move his family to a place like _____. But through a serious of funny events, he too ended up there. The vascular surgeon's story is the funniest of all. The cardiothoracic surgeon wanted to team up with someone he trusted. He called his buddy, Juan - who was trained in the states, but living in Peru. Let's see if I can remember their conversation:

"Hey Juan, do you want to come and work with me in Idaho?"

"OK."

"Um, do you want to come visit first?"

"Um, it's ok."

"Ok, do you want me to buy you a house?"

"Um, no, it's ok."

"Do you want me to get you an apartment?"

"Ya sure."

"Well, when can you come?"

"Um, let me see....January."

And that was that. When he arrived, he was wearing a tee-shirt and exclaimed, "It's sooo ______ cold!"

Anyway, we laughed pretty hard at that story. The team Joel will be working with seems really tight and super nice. It seems like a nice fit for both of us.

So even though it's something like 10 months and x days (but who's counting) before we move, we're busy looking at homes, researching schools and all of the fun things that come with moving. We're so grateful for this opportunity and hope it all works out for the best.

Sometimes it just feels good to sign a bit of your life away!

A Surprise Vacation!

So 3 little angels from Utah decided to make a last minute trip out to Michigan for a 5 day visit. They were my 3 little angels because they saved me from my mundane "I think I'm going to kill myself if I have to suffer one more day of pregnancy sickness" life! I found out last Tuesday that they would be arriving 2 days later - short notice, but such a welcome surprise. So my mom, sister and niece arrived on Thursday and we started our super fun vacation the next day.

The thought of hang'n out in my little apartment for 5 days was enough to motivate me to make arrangements to head up to Mackinac Island for the weekend. I was excited to take my sister and niece up to see a Michigan landmark (I took my mom up last year). We got a big suite with 4 queen beds - right on the beach - sweet! We decided to stay in Mackinaw City and ferry over to the Mackinac Island the next day ('cuz it's so much cheaper!). We decided to bike around the island's 8 mile perimeter on Saturday. Oh my holy hannah - it was so hilarious! In fact, the whole weekend was hilarious - we were on the verge of peeing our pants the whole time! Here are some pics from our adventure:

Heading off to the island on the Star Line Ferry -
hotel in the background.My kids loved the
20 or so minute ride. We saw a couple of huge
freighters, fishing boats and such
on the Lake Huron passageway.

Our safe arrival on the island.
Off to rent some bikes...

One of our many stops along the route.
We were quite a sight - some pregnant lady pulling
a toddler, a brave grandma that hadn't been on a
bike in 30 years and a bunch of kiddlins.
You'll notice my sister isn't in any of
the pictures - that's just Jenny.

I made some lady take our picture by this rock
(we took a picture here the year before).
I needed a pic with my sister in it!

This picture is to prove to those of you who haven't
seen melately....I am oh so large! Can you
believe I'm only 12 weeks along in this picture??
My mom and sister kept teasing me
the whole trip that I had twins in there. Scary!

Ok, you're going to think we're a bunch of freaks,
but this is why Jennyand I were on the verge of wetting
ourselves all day. So like I mentioned before, my madre
hadn't been on a bike in a very, very long time so as
soon as we loaded up at the bike rental office, she had
her first spill. She got back up like a trooper and headed
off. Next injury came at our next stop. Sydney said,
"Grandma don't crash into that rock wall." No sooner
did she say, "I won't," that she ran straight into
the wall! Again, she shrugged it off and took off.
Her next accidentleft a mark (see below).
Mom was bringing up the rear and shortly after take
off Jenny heard a crash and started
laughing. Camryn said, "I think Grandma crashed!"
I immediately pulled over to save my mama. She
eventually came riding up with blood oozing out
of her arm - all with a smile. She was making us
laugh so hard - what a trooper! Just to top
her day off, when we went back to the hotel's
beach, a seagull pooped on her head!
You could say she had a bit of a crappy day!

Our hotel was beach side and right next to ferry.
The highlight for the kids was waiting for the
"huge" waves to form in the wake of ferries passing
by. We all enjoyed just hang'n out on
Lake Huron - absolutely glorious!

We couldn't leave without swimming in the pool.
Grandma even jumped in - not in
Christian style of course!

So we made it back to home base - after eating an
authentic German lunch along the way.
I absolutely refused to stay
in my jive-town apartment all day, soooo once
Joel got home from work, we took a couple of
canoes down the Huron river.

Oh my - we had so much fun! The ride was absolutely
beautiful. I was so glad to have my manly Joel
with us because at one point we had to get out of the
canoe and drag it down a bunch of steps just to
put it back in the water.
My mom got injured again because Jenny was
laughing so hard, she dropped the big heavy canoe
on my mom's toe. Nice. It was all bloody (see below),
but she just kind of said, "I'm ok!" Joel had to get
out and drag us part of the way - a low river.
Here are some pics of our river adventure:

This final picture is for you, my sister. See, you can't
escape the camera! You shouldn't try so hard to avoid
being in pictures because someone
will inevitably post a great big one of just YOU!

So, what did I learn from this vacation? I reminded myself that my family rocks, that the state of Michigan is absolutely beautiful, that girls just want to have fun, that JD thinks his auntie Jenny is hilarious, that Jenny's OB stories are freaky and that I love vacations!

Thanks for coming out my little angel babies!