Fathers and Sons, birthdays and more..

We had another eventful week....I think my last email was all about throw up....well our house is still the sick house but it is not the throwing up house, thank goodness. Everyone has a cold but me! Gavin has been coughing, Emma has been snot nosed, and Matt stayed home today sick. Luke had quite the adventurous week...since he was sick Tuesday I kept him home from school Wednesday. Thursday he seemed fine and so I sent him to school on Friday. Well at about noon I get a call from the school. They said that Luke wasn't himself, he was quiet, tired and putting his head on the desk, and then finally when he got up from the computer desk he kind of fell over and was a little limp. They called the paramedics!!!!!! So I rushed to the school to find a fire truck and ambulance out in front of the school!!!! I never want to have that experience again, pulling up to the school and have emergency vehicles there and know that they are there for your son! I ran in and there was Luke laying there with a cuff on his arm, some kind of monitor on his finger, and then they had pricked his finger to test his blood sugar! They said he had been so brave and calm but the second I walked in he burst into tears! They said he was fine and so I just took him home and put him to bed and called my pediatrician. I think he was still exhausted from puking one whole night last week, and then a cold was coming on. By Saturday he was coughing like crazy! Well by Friday night Luke was feeling well and Matt took him to the father/son campout.

The Fathers/Sons was a blast. They hiked, cut marshmallow sticks and then roasted marshmallows, Luke got to play with his little buddies, and they sang songs. I had to call Matt about something and our friend John Lopez was standing next to Matt saying things loud enough so that I could hear and was scaring me! He would say "Luke stop playing with that alligator" etc. Not a good joke for a protective mother! They had to come back early Saturday because Matt had to work all Saturday. Oh another crazy thing that happened...as Matt was up in the attic getting our camping gear down he pulled a Tyler and stepped on the attic floor and his foot went right through! So we have a nice big hole in our ceiling in the garage! Luckily Matt didn't fall all the way through, he just scratched up his leg.

Monday we decided to celebrate Luke and Matt's birthdays! We made a sign for them, put up streamers, made a cake, and wrapped all their gifts. Luke stayed home from school because he was still coughing and it was KILLING him to wait for daddy to get home from work! He was sooooooooo excited to open his gifts and so the second Matt walked in the house he was opening them up! He was wanting a Game Boy but I wasn't ready to enter into that video game world, so we got him a Leapster. The Leapster looks like a little hand held video game but he can play educational games. He was very excited about it. Also he got more Pokemon cards which he was thrilled about too! Then we went bowling and then out to eat. I would like to announce that I beat Matt by 1 POINT! If he wouldn't have choked on his last frame he actually would have beat me big time! I love that I am the one that writes the family email so I can share important information such as our bowling scores! :) I have never seen a kid sooooooooo excited to be 5 years old in my life! He wore his birthday hat bowling and then to the restaurant. He really wanted them to sing to him at the restaurant and Matt and I teased him and said they don't sing at that restaurant. Luke tried to act like he wasn't disappointed and said "That's ok we can just sing to me when we get home". Then when the restaurant workers did come and sing to him, he was BEAMING! He kept saying ..."because I'm the birthday boy". Then he started to speak in the 3rd person..."the birthday boy wants a drink of water". He really enjoyed being the birthday boy! It was fun to see him so excited.

Key Largo!

We just returned Monday night from a little family vacation and so you are in for a lengthy travel log! :) We had a great time!

We left Friday morning for Key Largo. The trip was supposed to be a 5 hour drive, but due to bathroom breaks, and major traffic it took us about 7 hours! YIKES! We stayed at a little timeshare place called Ocean Pointe Resort. It was a 2 bedroom place with a little kitchen so it was the perfect place for us! Right when we got there we went straight to the pool. The kids had a great time reacquainting themselves with the water since it has been quite a while since we've been swimming. Then we went out to eat at a seafood buffet.

Saturday morning we got up and had continental breakfast at the resort. We already stand out (people here are used to 1 child and so anything more is quite the sight for them), and then as I think we are doing so great keeping things under control, Gavin was sitting on my lap and he grabs my cereal bowl and DUMPS it all over me! :) Never a dull moment, as you will see as the travel log continues. After breakfast we went to the little beach area they had there at the resort. Luke and Emma had a blast and Gavin was great! It was a little windy which was really bothering Gavin, so we set up our little sun shield, which also blocked the wind, and Gavin went right to sleep. Luke and Emma found a new little 3 year old friend name Will and they were the explorers. They found 2 crabs and 2 snails. They put them in their little bucket and they went on exploring. Luke loved to just float around on his surfboard. That afternoon after lunch we went to the John Pennekamp park. We decided to go out on a glass bottom boat so the kids could see the coral reefs and see some fish etc. We thought it would be a great little adventure....little did we know it turned into quite the adventure. It all started out great and the kids thought it was cool. As soon as we got out into the open sea it started to get very choppy so the boat was really rocking and swaying. Well Emma decided she didn't like this "ride" and wanted off. Now maybe I forgot to mention that the glass bottom boat excursion is a 2 1/2 hour trip. So we were well away from shore when Emma was adamantly demanding that we let her off the boat. She was kicking and screaming and crying. Well the poor captain is trying to give commentary and we are right by him. So he kindly asks me to take her outside of the cabin of the boat so everyone else can hear....well we step outside and she REALLY freaks out! She is kicking and screaming and flailing around and I knew it wasn't safe to be out on the bow of the boat where I could easily loose her overboard. So I talk her into stopping the screaming so we can go inside. We go in and she is still a wreck! Suddenly I am feeling sick. I really think I would have been ok if I didn't have Emma screaming and freaking out. By then I was sweating and feeling very sick. Matt had the baby and he looks at me and asks if I'm ok because I look rather green. Meanwhile the workers on the boat are trying everything to console Emma. They made a little shark puppet out of a barf bag, they are pulling out their digital cameras showing her all kinds of pictures, etc. I got her somewhat settled down and just in time because I couldn't take it anymore and I put Emma down and grabbed the "puppet" and ran out to the back of the boat. (Sorry Jeff for this next part....) I threw up like crazy! I go back in and this cute little grandma (whose name happened to be Rose) that we had been talking to the whole trip had scooped up Emma and was hugging her and rubbing her back. Emma is as relaxed as could be. Thank goodness for Rose! And then while Luke is dangling his feet over the glass bottom that is about 6 feet down he drops his flip flop right on top of the glass :) It was definitely an adventure that I don't need to have for a long time! :0) Luke is the only one that got to see anything through the glass bottom.

Sunday was a really cool day too. We decided to drive about an hour south to another key to go to church. So we went to Marathon Island. After having a little bit of trouble we finally found the small chapel and walked in late to sacrament meeting. We walked in and there were about 15 people in this small room. In fact the speaker stopped and said to come on in. Luke and Emma were the only kids in the room. So in my mind I thought they would be tagging along to Sunday School and Relief Society, which I was fine with. But right after sacrament meeting a lady came up and introduced herself to us as the Primary President. So Luke and Emma were the only kids in Primary! :) They liked being the center of attention. After church the sister laughed and said they told her that their mommy threw up in a puppet...she thought she heard wrong :). It was so fun to go to such a small branch. They joked that they are not even big enough to be a branch, that they are a twig! :) There is only one teenager in the branch and he is a sharp kid.

Then we were on our way to my friend Courtney's who lives in Fort Lauderdale. We stayed Sunday night at her house and then on Monday afternoon we went to THE COOLEST place! It is attached to their mall and it is called Wannado City. Here's their website www.wannadocity.com . It is this little city for kids. When you go in and get your tickets they give you this little check, that looks very real, to the kids for $150 (in wanga bucks). The kids can go and open up an account at the bank and either deposit the money or get cash. Then they get a little credit card, that also looks very real, and then there are little atm machines all over the city where they can access their account. Then the kids need to go around in the city and get a job and earn more money, or they can spend it at the different places in the city such as at the fair where there are rides, or for food etc. So Luke got his first job as a policeman. (I've attached a picture of him) He had a little police jacket and hat and some of the other kids that were policeman had walky talkies. They could arrest people for jay walking, running, chewing gum, etc. Matt was one of the ones that Luke arrested. He put him in a cute little cell that had rubbery bars and so they could actually escape too! Emma's first job was at a beauty salon doing nails. They had the little desks they sit at and little smocks to wear too. Then Emma worked at the grocery store. Then both of them went to the bakery and make real cinnamon rolls (which were very good). Then Emma worked at the little hospital in the nursery caring for the newborn babies. She weighed babies, measured them, and then put lotion on them and put them to bed. Luke went to the airport and got a job as a pilot. I'm not sure what he did because there were no parents aloud in that area, only kidizens. Then Emma went to work in a mine and dug for a little crystal. My favorites that we didn't have time to get to were the fire department where they rode around the town in this cute little fire truck (sirens going so people would move out of their way) and then they went to a burning building and they actually squirted water from little hoses. Then I can't wait to go back and let Emma work in the modeling agency where they have a little cat walk for the models to walk down. Talk about a cool place! I can't wait to go back.

We got back late Monday night and then poor Matt had to get up Tuesday morning and fly to Chicago at 6:00 A.M. The kids and I took Gavin to the Dr. because he has had a cold and I didn't want to mess around with RSV, luckily he is just fine. Then we just did laundry all day. Then I had an unpleasant surprise....about 9:30 last night Luke started throwing up and he threw up all night until about 3:30 a.m. It was so sad because Luke is so skinny and his little frame was just shaking. He asked me "What's happening Mom?" And then he would ask me when he was going to stop. Sometimes between throwing up he would say "Ay yay yay". Then the saddest was when he asked why Jesus wasn't helping him. I told him it was because he didn't pray and ask. So he said the cutest little prayer asking Heavenly Father to help him stop throwing up. HOW SAD! He is feeling much better today (thank goodness!) And so today has been nothing but laundry too! Matt should get home tonight and I can't wait!

Well there you go a whole travel log! I know it was lengthy, but it was such a fun weekend! Oh I have to say that Gavin was THE BEST BABY! He was so good as we made him sit in his car seat all that time in the car....he loved the beach when we put his little feet in the water he would giggle! He would sleep in his car seat at all the restaurants and let us eat without an interruption, and he slept in Matt's arms on the boat. Matt says he was quite the little gentleman on our trip :)
Luke is growing up so much. He said some of the cutest things the last couple of days.... he picked out a DVD to watch that I had heard was kind of slow moving and boring. So I told him that it was boring and to pick another one...Luke, the mature kid he is now, says "Well mom have you seen it?" I had to answer that I had not and so he says "then how do you know it's boring? I'll watch it and let you know". He is just so smart now a day. Then in the car on our way out of town he said "Mom and dad I just want to know everything...I want to know what the trees are made of, what metal is made of...I just want to know everything". I told him that is a good incentive to stay in school, he is already asking me when he can graduate so he doesn't have to go to school anymore! He has a long road ahead of him! :)

Emma is keeping me on my toes. She was bossing Luke around and I asked "Emma who is the mom here?" To which she replied "Me!" And then she went on to argue with me that I was not the mom and that she was. I think she was dead serious too! I couldn't believe we were having this argument! While we were in Fort Lauderdale we went to a restaurant for lunch and Matt and Cory took the kids out while Courtney and I waited for the check. I guess Emma was not listening to Matt and was getting in trouble. I could tell when I came out that she had been crying. While we were walking out to the car I asked her what she was doing and why she was being a stinker. She replied "Mom, I really don't want to talk about this right now". I know I make her out to be such a handful, but she really is sooooooooo helpful too! She is the first one to jump up and help me when I ask for help unloading the dishwasher or anything else. And Gavin LOVES her and his face lights up when she comes and talks to him. (I'm sure that won't last too many more months and he will learn to cry for fear of his life when she comes around) :)

Alright I have gone on long enough. I love you all.

Easter 2007

Hope everyone had a great Easter. We missed you all. This was the first year that we didn't spend it with Tyler and Anna's family and so it was weird to be alone! Well I don't have too much to report, mostly some funny things the kids have said...

• At Family Home Evening we asked Emma what song she wanted to sing and she said "I Want to Be a Prophet" And she was dead serious! :)
• During conference we asked Luke who President Monson was when he went up to speak and Luke said "Thomas S. Monster". Close :)
• Luke totally wants a Game Boy and that's all he talks about (although I think we are going to get him a Leapster) Anyway he was asking Emma if she wants a Game Boy too and she said "No, I want a Game Girl" :)
• We went to a barbeque with the people that Matt played football with, they all got trophies at it, and when we first got there a cute little black girl comes up to us and starts playing with Emma. I asked her her name and she said her name was Jayla! My mouth about dropped! That is Emma's favorite name that she always pretends is hers or names her babies. I thought she made it up but it is really a name! The funniest thing was that when we told her Emma's name she lit up and said she names all her babies Emma! Kind of funny.

It was so cool because this week Matt was supposed to travel Thursday and Friday. So he worked from home Thursday and then in the afternoon he left for the airport. Well a couple of hours later I hear the garage door opening, which freaked me out because I thought Matt was out of town. Low and behold Matt walks in! He was ON the airplane and got a message on his phone that the meeting he was flying to was canceled!!!! So he hurried and got off the plane! Well I knew he couldn't have any meetings on Friday because he was supposed to be out of town so I talked him into taking Friday off. :) We had a fun day together. We went and saw that new movie Meet the Robinsons. I thought it was very cute!


Saturday was our ward Easter egg hunt and also the barbeque I mentioned before. Church was wonderful on Sunday and then we had a very relaxing day afterward. We came home and the Easter bunny had hid the kids baskets and eggs! It was kind of sad, but very funny because Emma was running for an egg and biffed it big time and landed flat on her belly! Matt got it on video and we are thinking of sending it into Funniest home videos! She is fine now.

Gavin is doing GREAT! He is such a fun baby and loves to smile a ton! He loves to be talked to. He is getting so strong and can kind of stand now when you are holding him up, instead of letting his legs just lay limp. He is even being a little nicer to Matt :) He started sleeping in his crib now in Luke's room. I can't believe how fast they grow. He is already well into his 3-6 month clothes. I am enjoying him sooooo much!

Well we love and miss you all so much. We are in the process of buying our tickets to come out this summer. It is kind of goofy because we have a few frequent flyer miles, but they were on all different airlines. So we have decided that instead of having me try to fly with all 3 kids by myself we are going to have me and Gavin travel and we come on July 18th - Aug 6th and then Matt is going to fly with Luke and Emma on July 20th - Aug. 5th. We can't wait!