~~~Weddings ~~~

Well, this is all new to me! Wedding planning.

It is fun, and sometimes a bit stressful, and fun, and crazy!

The Engagement pic's are so fun. You can find them here at:
http://agreenfieldphotography.com/blog/?p=8867

Bill asked me the other day if I was glad we didn't go through all of this craziness... * (side story below, if you want to know)

Honestly, I sort of wish there had been a little craziness. It's what we girls do, I think!

We got married, that's all. Ok, SEALED for Time and All Eternity, which is way more than just getting married, but, no reception, no party, that was it. We had hired a photographer, but with the change in dates, he had gotten a job out in SLC, UT and was moving and tried to hook us up with another local photographer, but it never ended up working out. Bill's dad took some fun pic's so we do have memories of our day.

We stayed at the Marriott in DC for two days, then when we got home to Bill's parents house, they had bought us a cake with a little bride and groom on top. It was very sweet of them. (then a week later we went to Disneyworld for a week).

Because of the date of our marriage, we had to change our date from May 24, to June 20th, due to some military dates, etc. Very few of our friends were still around, once graduation is over, everyone leaves, that's it, they are gone! We had lived in NY for 4 years, Bill's parents had retired from the Military and lived in Virginia where Bill hadn't lived since elementary school, (he went to West Point straight from Germany where he attended High School.) My family was from out west and in Idaho, and I hadn't lived there in nearly 5 years, and my parents were both gone, so, we just didn't have anywhere with lifelong family and friends to really have a reception at.

So, here we are and this is the first Wedding reception I've been priveleged to be a part of the planning and all the excitement!

I will be posting more updates and sneak peaks as time goes flying by and of course when the wedding is over we'll have all those lovely pic's and stuff to post as well.

*********************************************************************** When Bill and I got engaged, we had a long engagement, since he was a cadet at West Point, and you can't be married and be a cadet... so traditionally there are quite a few weddings in the hours/days after graduation. It's a pretty big deal. Many people get married in the Cadet Chaple on post. (Last week we watched an episode of Cake Boss where they were asked to make a cake for the 100th anniversarry of the Cadet Chapel. It was fun to watch and hear them talk about the history, etc. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/11/cake_boss_recap_buddy_honors_w.html
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100608/NEWS/100609797
http://www.westpoint.edu/Dcomm/PressReleasesbd/nr37-10cadet_chapel_centennial.html)

Anyway, when we got engaged, Bill called my dad and asked for his approval. My dad passed away a month later. Then we waited for a year for Bill to graduate, and of course we didn't plan a wedding at the Cadet Chapel, we planned our marriage at the nearest LDS Temple - which at the time was Washington D.C. to be sealed for time and all eternity.

In the next months I went to California to visit my good friend and she went wedding dress shopping with me. I found and bought a dress, and drove it across the country from CA to NY.

I wanted to have friends and family at my wedding, but due to various circumstances, that wasn't completely possible. We ended up getting married on June 20th, nearly a month after graduation, and in the Military, it also happened to be after the move exodus had begun for families moving duty stations.

As it was, we had a dear family I'd know the whole time I'd been attending Church at West Point. Sister Lemperle was my Escort when we went to the temple. She and her daughter(s) came down to DC with us. My dear friend Jessica who had to change her plans and her airplane tickets, etc to be with us came. (She had to have a copy of our marriage certificate to show the airline to get her ticket changed with out a charge, since our date had to be changed... so imediately after the sealing we had to go get a copy of the certificate for her to take to the airport with her to fly out the next day.) Jessica and I stayed ina Hotel in DC the night before the wedding and she helped me get primped and all ready for the big day! I love her for all she did for me! All of this and she hadn't yet gone through the temple so waited for me outside...

We had another family from church at West Point who also came down and he and his wife attended the ceremony and he was one of the witnesses. Ken Alford had been a good friend and mentor to Bill in learning about the Gospel. My good friend Wendee's aunt lived in the DC area. We'd spent several holidays at their home over the years we'd lived in NY. She came to our selaing, and she brought her son and daughter in law as well. We were glad, as then we had a 2nd priesthood witness to sign our marriage license, and we didn't have to have them just track down a strnager in the hallway... Another sister who had been in our ward at WP but had since moved to the DC area also attended. She was very kind and let my Brother stay at her house overnight so he could be closer to the airport, and get to see some of the sights in DC while he was there for the two days. I'm so appriciative that he was able to come out and be there for me as a support from my family. He waited outside with Bill's parents and our friends, while we were sealed.

It was a bittersweet day for me. I was so happy to be doing the right thing, that Bill and I were able to make it to the temple to be sealed together as a family For Time and All Eternity, instead of just 'till death do us part' as the world does, and yet it was a rough day for me as well. My family and friends were outside waiting, and my parents were no longer living, and I had so hoped to feel of their spirit(s) while I was in the temple, but I ws so consumed with my own grief and missing having my mom be there for me at this important occasion, that I couldn't feel it. I cried many a tear that day... thank goodness for waterproof mascara.

Here we are 21+ years later, and our first child is preparing now to go to the Temple to be sealed to her sweetheart for Time and All Eternity. It doesn't mean it will always be easy, we all have our struggles, but, it is so wonderful to know it is worth it, and that we will be able to be together forever as a family if we continue to live worthily, and do our part. We are so proud of Rebekah, and we like her new sweetie too. :-)

Oh, A Camping we will go...

I've been trying to blog this for the past couple of weeks... but was waiting to put pic's with it... that isn't hapening right now, I haven't had time. So, I'll post pic's later.

Last week was Fall Break. We used to get a full week for fall break, but last year they decided we needed more school days, so now we only have a long weekend. They had thursday and friday. I talked to Bill and we decided we should do SOMETHING fun with our kids. I suggested camping, and Bill came up with a wonderful place.

OAK MOUNTAIN State Park

It is just south of Birmingham. So not too bad a drive, and Rebekah was even able to drive over from school and meet up with us.

We got to go trail riding, they had a little petting zoo, and then we stayed in a cabin by 'Lake Tranquilty'. It was lovely! The kids went out in a row boat (all 6 of them together) and tried their hand at fishing (the very first time, for most of them).

We grilled out for dinner, and then roasted marshmallows and made smores! Yummy.

We played games together as a family.

When we woke up in the morning, Bill made bacon and eggs, and when I got out of the shower, I found that while Bill was cooking, the kids had all gotten up and gone out on the dock and were fishing again.

Noone ever caught a fish - they were a little annoyed that the people in one of the other cabins went out for a short time and caught several, but my kids didn't manage to catch anything, but they had a lot of fun!

Give away's...

my friend Karen over at http://bagley6.blogspot.com is doing some sort of a give away.. she wants us to link to her blog and we'll see what she has to offer - soon. So, there you have it. I hope I managed to do it right. Can't wait to see what's in store.

The Hair Dr.

O.K. so I'm not the most frugal person on the planet, but when it comes to my personal hair care and body care items, I feel guilty spending money as well as time on myself. This past year I had decided it was time to take better care of myself, and I was getting regular hair cuts, and color at a Salon. I would go about every 3-4 months for a new cut. I should probably have gone a bit more often, but... you know, the whole time and money thing... I would often just trim my bangs to deal with them until I went to get my next hair cut.

The last time I went in was for my birthday (in December). I was talking to my hair gal about the whole bangs and trimming them myself, and she said, just come in, I do bangs for no charge... I made the appointment to come back in about 3 weeks. Well, three weeks approached and I didn't think I needed it quite yet, so I called and cancelled. I should have known better, because if I don't have another appointment on the books, I tend to not go...

Here it is nearly 7 months later, and my life is crazy! The other morning, after being awake part of the night rubbing Liam's itchy spots, along the inside of the cast openings.. I got up showered, but by the time I'd gotten dressed, he was unhappy and wanting me to 'snuggle' with him. (A difficult thing with a body cast, but I do my best to get close to him and hold his hand and 'snuggle' with him). Anyway, I got up a while later and my hair had dried and was just a frizzy mess! I have trimmed it (a bit more than just bangs a time or two since my last hair cut), but that day I had HAD it! I couldn't stand it anymore! I knew however that it would possibly take a while a week or more to get an appointment with my hair gal at the salon.

I considered just running to a local quick cut place in one of the strip malls near a grocery store nearby... but Liam was having a particularly whiny day! He was so miserable and unhappy, it didn't seem likely I'd be able to get away for much at all, any time soon! So, I did it! I picked up my hair scissors, and started whacking away! I was so tired of it, I didn't want just my bangs trimmed, I wanted it cut! I wanted it shorter, easier to deal with all summer while dealing with a sad boy...

Rebekah came in while I was cutting and asked what on earth I was doing?!?!?! I said I was sick of my hair and I was cutting it! I started whacking away, but realized, that it was NOT going in anyway that I was going to be happy with! Yikes! Now what?!?! SO I did what I should have one in the first place.

I called the Hair Dr!

I've seen her 'work' before when someone lost her piggy tails (if I remember correctly) (o.k. she cut them herself), and the Hair Dr. did a fantastic job of making that little girl look like an adorable little pixie until her hair began to grow back again... I knew she could fix anything! (and honestly my hair wasn't 'ruined' but it needed some help and some direction!) When I told her what I'd done - stared whacking at my own hair, she said, "Ooooohhhhh!!!" I could tell she would have been happier with a call before I did some semi-permanent damage! but it is what it is! I was desperate and tired!

I am soooo thankful that she had time for me in my hour of 'need' (crisis)! A sweet friend who cuts hair. And she made a HOUSE Call!!! Happy day! I tied my hair up in a scrunchy, and waited for her to come.

So, now I am sporting my new 'Do' for summer, it is shorter, not so hot, not so hard to deal with and it's going to be easier and less time consuming for summer, and for a tired, busy mom! And apparently, I have some curl I didn't really realize was my own (not just left over perm from a whole year ago). I even feel a little sassy...

I'll have to fix it up and take a picture.

Thanks so much to my Hair Dr! for coming to my rescue!

Hip Surgery - Spica Cast

Liam had an infection that setteled in his hip joint as an infant and he had surgery to clear out the infection, but as he grew the hip and the hip joint did not grow quite as we had hoped and expected. We have been watching his hip and going to the Pediatric Orthopedic Dr. every so often for check ups to see how things were progressing. This year when I took him in, the x-rays showed the femoral head was not sitting in the socket where it ought to have been, but up out to the side, and the acetabular joint wasn't formed like it should have been to hold the ball joint down in place like it should have been.

From looking at the x-ray we wondered how he could even walk, let alone run and jump and all the other things 4 yr old little boys do, with seemingly no pain! The only 'pain' he would exhibit was in the middle of the night sometimes, and he woud complain of leg pain, cramps, etc. from the muscle being over tight and working so hard, as he walked with a limp or up on his toes of the right foot to compensate for teh disparity... Freqently he would wake up in the night crying and wanting me to rub his leg. With "Wotion!" (Lotion)...

So after the x-rays and then an MRI that the dr sent us to the hospital to do it under sedation, he told me that it would probably take surgery to repair or try to repair the problems. I asked how soon we 'needed' to do this surgery, and he said not IMEDIATELY, but certainly within a year probably at the most. If we didn't do something then, the arthritis would be worse, etc. as well as the younger the child, the quicker the bones heal and regenerate new bone growth, etc.

This was the same surgeon that did the initial surgery on him when he was an infant, and it sort of just felt like, 'Oh, this is just Liam, and more of what we/he has to deal with in his life...'. From what I with my untrained eye could see in the x-rays, it seemed pretty obvious surgery was probably what he needed. I showed the x-rays to Liam's Physical Therpist, and our Chiropractor, and they both concurred as well.

After a few months and hearing a few stories from other people about children and surgeries, it occured to me, perhaps we ought to get a 2nd opinion before having Liam undergo a major surgery. After getting in with my family care provider, then getting them to send in a referal for a 2nd oppinion to our insurance, and then finally hearing from the other Dr. in B'ham and making the appointment, the only time available was the day before his surgery was scheduled here in Huntsville.

Time went by, and it turned out that we took Rebekah to Tuscaloosa for new/transfer student orientation at the University of Alabama. We ended up staying with a sweet 'old' friend who is now a young married student/graduate and with a brand new adorable baby boy. On saturday, Rebekah stayed behind with our friends, and we came on home. Jessie ran Rebekah around a bit and helped her look at apartments. It was great, since she knows the areas and knew which apartments were in bad areas, and to not even bother looking at them...

Anyway, Rebekah found an apartment, so Bill and I drove with Liam back to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday morning to look at the apartment. It looked fine, and was a decent price, and it was close enough to school, she might even be able to walk to classes, and she gets an extra visitor guest parking hang tag so on game days, dad will have a place to park! yippee!!! So, Bill ad rebekah went back to the office to sign the contract for the apartment, and I went back to J's with the two little one's.

After visiting for a little while, we headed out to Birmingham for Liam's 2nd Opinion Dr. apointment. I figured 'IF' the Dr. had a completely different sort of diagnosis, and recomendation, then I would call and cancel the surgery for the next day, but we took the x-rays and the MRI results, and the Dr. said the exact same diagnosis and surgical treatment. He did explain it a little bit more clearly for me, or in more detail I think, and Bill was there this time, but it was the same. We thanked the Dr. and drove back home to get ready for Surgery the next day.

So, below is the running comentary I made on facebook through out our time in the hospital.



-Liam Hip Surgery –
June 2010

16 June 2010
Today we drove back to Tuscaloosa, to pick up Rebekah who stayed there with a friend and found an apartment. We have a signed lease... and then we went to B'ham for a 2nd opinion from a Ped. Ortho for Liam. We go in for surgery tomorrow morning for his hip.

Thanks all. We are expecting 6 weeks in a body cast. SO if anyone has any ideas about that? I welcome all suggestions to keeping a 4 yr old occupied/entertained.

17 June 2010
6:02 am
Waiting to get started... they haven't messed with him yet, so he's happily playing nintendo ds.
7:34 am
He's on his way back to surgery.
10:51 a.m.
We were waiting for an update... the surgical nurse finally called: Everything is going well. She'll call me again in another hour or hour and a half with another update.
11:56 am
Liam is about done with surgery. They called. He did great. He did end up getting a pint of blood... (not his first transfusion). They are closing him up now, and then they will do the spica cast and the Dr. should be out to talk to us in about an hour. Deep breath... now for the 'fun' part. When he wakes up in a cast, in pain and can't move... Hopefully he'll like all the fun new toys, and games, etc. to try to keep him busy.
3:12 pm
He's in his room. Snoring away - doped up on Morphine for the pain. the Dr. did a femoral reduction (cut a piece out of the femur bone) - it has a metal plate and 4 screws holding it in place, and Acetabular Osteotomy (cut the hip joint, added a bone graft), He is complaining that he itches, and he wanted us to take off the thing that was under the covers that was on him... The CAST! He doesn't really get it yet. he is still drugged up and not sure about what all of this means. He knows he has to lay in the bed somehow, but he's definitely not happy with the i.v. or the pulse-ox little thing on the end of his finger.
3:24 pm
Sorry for all the double photo's... I clearly don't know how to do the whole mobile upload of photos from my phone...
We found this Super hero Squad Bedding on sale a month or two ago. I got it and hid it away... so he'd have something cool at the hosp. He already asked where the blue bed was at (when we had folded the covers down for a bit). I showed him some of the pics of the guys on it, I said, “Isn’t it neat-o?” He is now determined that ‘MAGNETO’ another SHS Character is on it somewhere and he wanted me to show it to him!
3:58 p.m.
Random weird comments from drugged boy: "What if I want to climb on the wall?" I don't think he was fully aware of what on earth he was really saying. Or perhaps he knew exactly what HE was saying, and I just didn't understand.
4:43 pm
Screws and metal plate on his femur
We will have to do a day surgery/outpatient to remove them in 6 months to a year... If you wait closer to 2-3 yrs the bone starts growing around the metal plate and it's much harder to get out/off, if at all. Anyway, he will need another endoscopy in another 6-9 months, so we'll have th offices start coordinating all of that so they can do both at the same time under anesthesia one time for both.
6:58 pm
He wakes up because of a sleep jerk. He starts crying and saying, “help me, I'm stuck!” Then he asks, "why are my underwears off?" Poor little guy is so confused
"I can't move my leg! I can't move my leg because of the thingy (the cast), and I want to move my leg, but I'm stuck!" He's so pitiful!

On the other hand, he's watching Diego and starting to interact with the show and say the things Diego asks the kids to say/shout. He's still in between sleep and wake though.
8:32 pm
So the nurse comes in and talks to him... trying to get him to interact with her while she does vitals... he is SOOOO NOT impressed! He will ignore you and fight you, and he's so DONE already and we are JUST getting started!
Then he tells her she's a meanie, and starts saying Bye Bye! (meanwhile she continues to try and engage him in conversation... "I'm going to get you some medicine" "NO I don't want any medicine!!!!" "it's o.k. you don't have to 'take' it, I will just put it in your I.V...." meanwhile, he's saying NO! and getting more and more unhappy! and she is still trying to chat with him and make it ‘all better’.
Just do what you absolutely have to do, and then be done, please don’t spend 5 minutes trying to explain it to him. He’s not going to be any happier about any of it, and most likely he’s just going to get madder and more upset!
It’s going to be a long couple of days at the Hospital, and a Looooonnnnngggg 6 weeks in the cast!
9:08 pm
She also tells us we need to turn him every couple of hours. (I had read about that, but no one had said anything about it so far today, and I had forgotten to ask...), Bill asks if we can just turn him ourselves, so she doesn't have to come back and bother him again. She was sure she would need to do it. He didn't care who did it, he did NOT want to be messed with to turn on his side.

Shortly thereafter, Liam says his butt itches. (he is having lots of itches, and keeps wanting dad to reach under the cast to scratch his itches…) “Scratch my butt” he says, so dad sneakily suggests we turn him onto his side so we can reach to scratch… It Worked! Usually I don’t think I’d be thrilled with this word or the insistence it was used with, and I probably wouldn’t be posting it, but, it was kind of funny!

18 June 2010

A Looooonnnggg Night! Fever, discomfort, not understanding what is going on. He would drift off to sleep, then have a sleep jerk, and wake himself up. Very sad! He wanted physical contact...
somtimes with dad, sometimes with mom... so we had to play musical beds and figure out how to sleep with him so he could hold a hand, rub my cheek, etc... or he'd want me to rub his leg with lotion, etc... or dad to scratch his itches, (mostly way up underneath the cast on the fully enclosed leg).

the Good news is, the I.V. was disconnected (he still has a hep-lock, just in case he needs something else), and he should get the catheter out soon. The Dr. said we should be able to go home tomorrow. Yay
3:00 pm
the catheter is out! He was NOT happy!!! he yelled out, "she's a bad girl!" about the nurse. Now to see how going potty in a body cast will go! JoY!
5:00 pm Success! Yay!
Chloe Raum
I bet Liam will be a pro at peeing in a bottle by the time this is all over. He might just find it so convenient that he gives up toilets all together!
We had a BM earlier - that was interesting. Bill said, 'he just needs to hold it until dad gets home from work in the evenings, to help hold him over the toilet!' he's quite heavy and not at a very good angle for sitting up!


5:30 pm
We're Mobile! Liam has a wheelchair that reclines, so we're out of bed and cruising the hallways, and playing in the game room! he remembers the game room - the only positive memories he has of this place...
I made him a pair of shorts earlier in the week. I sewed the front and back together at the legs/crotch and left the sides open and put velcro on them so we could pull them up between his legs over the cast and then he is 'dressed'. I only made one pair so far, so I would know if it was the right size, etc. I might need to make the legs a little bit wider. Otherwise they work quite well. Yay!
This pair is Diego and he's playing baseball.

9:00 pm
The latest exchange: Liam "When can I walk?"
Dad " We'll get out of the Hospital and go home and you'll have the cast for 6 weeks."
Liam "6 WEEKS?!?! I don't want to have the cast for 6 weeks!"
I don't know that he even has any concept of 6 weeks!

Yesterday at 9:57pm

I think the calendar idea is a great one. Thanks Chloe! He loves to put stickers on his charts! (when he potty trained we made him a chart. When he sleeps all night in his own bed... he gets to put a sticker on his chart. I'll get the girls on that once we make the appointment for removal. Fantastic!


19 June 2010

6:30 am
Liam - "It's Morning time!" "I want to get up! Can I go to the game room?"
(It's not open yet for the day... he did get daddy to take him for a walk around the hallways)

8:00 am
Ya know, it's just our life - with Liam. Hard, but it's what we do... and as 'hard' as this 6 weeks will be on us, I just have to keep in mind that It's all so much harder on Liam than us.
11:00 am
Waiting for the Dr. from our Dr's office to show up sometime today to hopefully release us! All Liam can say today is: "I want to go home!" "Can we go home yet?"

Did you know you can hide crushed up medicine in ice cream? Thanks dad for that great suggestion yesterday!
It worked the first time anyway - Mint Chocolate Chip! masked any grittiness, and masked the flavor. The second time around... he asked for Vanilla - didn't hide it as well. I don't know if he got a full dose or not. By the 3rd time trying to take the meds by mouth - since the i.v. is out, I wasn't going to try to get him to eat ice cream in the middle of the night – 2:00 am! So we talked and talked about it. He finally agreed to take it mixed in choc milk.
It was not a happy thing, but it had been around 7 hours since he’d had any meds! He is supposed to or can take meds every 4 hours…

11:00 am
Now he's just pitifully whining about going home! and he even said he wanted his medicine at home - chewable tylnol/motrin... he hasn't had any med's since 2:30 am.
1:00 pm
I had Rebekah stop at the store and buy some chewable tylenol - grape flavored, and bring it to us when she came to visit us today. We gave him one of those and he chewed it up fairly easily. So I guess if he's not hurting enough to 'need' it, I shouldn't be too concerned about making him take medicine for pain.


2:30 pm
Just waiting...
Finally around 11:30 I tracked down our nurse, who had only been in once today thus far, to ask her what our plan was for the day. "Are we just waiting around for a Dr. to come and release us, so we can go home?” Is there anything else we are supposed to do today? The nurse had NO idea, and said she'd find out. Around noon I went to find the nurse to ask if she’d found out anything?
She told me that 'they'd be by around 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. to release us'. Great! we WILL get out of here today! I wonder however if I hadn't gone to ask the nurse after waiting all morning, if anything would have been done at all? We might have sat here into the night, still waiting...

4:00 pm
Going Home!!!! yay!

And here's Easter 2010

Slideshow created with Smilebox

Birthdays and other days...

We have had 2 birthdays since I last Blogged...
Liam turned 4 and we went to Chuck E. Cheese! He had lots of fun, other than the LOUD singing and cheering for him, and when he refused to have anything to do with Chuck E. and of course that was when all his friends were there. The birthday helper put the Birthday Crown on his head, (several times), and he kept pulling it off, with a GET this THING OFF of ME!!!!!! attitude!

Later he played and hugged Chuck E. and had a grand time. He did enjoy playing games with his tokens. He also loved opening presents. (Who doesn't?)

One of his favorite friends this year is a little girl named Elizabeth in his pre-school class. I think he's in love... she has been very influential on him this past year. When he comes home from school we will ask him what he did at school today, and he always says, that he played with Elizabeth. She loves pony's - My little pony, and that is what she always plays so that is also what he frequently plays. For Christmas we gave his classroom some dinosaurs, so now he usually reports that he played pony's and dinosaurs. ;-)

Liam's favorite color has been GREEN for a very long time! Recently however, when you ask him he will often tell you his favorite color is pink. Can you guess WHO'S favorite color is PINK?(Elizabeth)

We had talked about Liam's cake and he had asked for months to have a GREEN birthday cake. I managed to incorporate that into the Super Hero Squad theme that we went with, since that is his favorite thing these days... I put colorful swirls inside the cake mix - mostly green until I ran out of green food color. I had worked on the cake the night before his party when he was asleep, so in the morning I asked if he wanted to see it? He looked at his cake all covered in Super Hero squad guys and everything on the green grass icing, and said, "I wanted a PINK cake"!When the Birthday Helper lit the candles, Liam refused to blow them out, and didn't WANT anyone else to blow them out either. Finally a couple of sly blows later by dad, myself and possible a kid or two... the candles were out! Then we began pulling some of hte guys off the cake in order to cut it and serve it. Liam got mad and tried to put them back ON the cake. Later... he decided that licking the icing off the guys feet was a pretty cool thing, and then he got to have his new Super hero guys... so he got right to work! In May we had Sariah's 14th Birthday and she moved up to the Mia Maid class in our Young Women's program at Church. She had asked me to make her a dress for her birthday present. I worked on it all week whenever I was home and not out doing other things. I had to add 6 inches to the patern length for the dress to fit her long legs... I worked on it saturday, late into the night so she'd have it for her birthday on Sunday. We got up on Sunday - mother's day she put on the dress and it fit... then as my luck would have it... the zipper broke. We had quite a time even getting her out of the dress! Then we had a few emotional moments.

The family went off to Church, and we came home afterward, picked up Sariah and the picnic lunch dad had put together and had a lovely lunch at the new greenway, and then the kids wanted to go see the new playground at the new elementary school... we obliged and everyone had a fun time playing on all the new playground equipment! After we went back home the kids and dad put together my mothers day dinner. They all pitched in and helped. Even Liam... We had a yummy dinner, and an over all really nice day together as a family (minus Rebekah who called me to wish me a Happy Mother's Day).

Other than that, Bill flew up to NY to pack Rebekah up and bring her home from College for the summer. We worked on the house a little bit the weekend before, and moved Liam and his Toddler bed back into our bedroom, and put the trundle bed in his room so Rebekah would have someplace to live for the summer months while she is home. the kids all have one more week of school - they would be out already but we actually had several snow days this winter so the kids have to go extra now to make up for it now. This summer we have some things going on, the big girls will be working, Sariah is taking a trip to Europe. There will also be EFY and Girls Camp, and Hannah will be going to a softball camp for a week and then a police camp for a week, through school. Marissa will continue on with karate. Liam will be getting surgery on his hip in the middle fo June, and that will make all of our lives interesting.

I'll try to do better at keeping up with all our lives and activities.