Memorial Day

Visiting Grandpa Culver at White Chapel Cemetery with Grandma and Dad. Saw lots of people there and a lady who was clearing off her son's gravestone nearby my Grandpa. He was 28 and a Gulf War Vet. My Grandpa was a vet too, but he had a long life. It brought tears to my eyes to talk to her briefly.

6 Mile Hike!

We went to a local state park and tackled a 6 mile hike. Awesome!! So tired, not labor inducing, and Ava walked 5 of it. Violet probably walked 2 miles, maybe a little more. We all survived but the mosquitoes loved Violet and I. Note: California Baby bug repellent DOES NOT work.

Almost 36 weeks

I guess you could say I am in the home stretch here, but at 36 weeks I am caught between two emotions: "it's going too fast, it is exciting having a new life inside you, we waited SO long for this" and "I am so tired, my belly is huge, let's get this over with!"

I had a Dr. appt yesterday and everything went really well. The Dr. was tired from doing c-sections all night (I am choosing to ignore this) but talked to me about the hospital, moving around, when to go, how they rotate Dr.'s, birthing positions, etc. I am still completely happy with the hospital we chose to deliver at. My belly is measuring 1.5 cm ahead of due date which is in the normal range. I have gained more weight with this boy than the girls, so that makes me concerned, but not too much. It means I will have more sweating to do this summer I guess. "Keko" is moving a lot still but has slowed slightly. I am dialated to a 1, which is awesome, considering I never dialated before true labor started with the girls. He is also head down, which is great, because sometimes I feel constant movement "down there" and I was a little worried. The Dr. said she could feel his head :) All I did was positive thinking and tried not to stress about it too much.

In trying to cherish every moment of this pregnancy it makes me more sentimental and weepy. We can't wait to meet our little bundle and have been truly blessed by the family and friends we have around us.

First day of swimming in 2010

Monkeying Around

On Monday we went to the children's section of the Botanical Gardens. Yeah, we go there a lot, but hey, remember? It's free! So if you come visit us, you will inevitably go there.

The girls with Eli.


Ava and Silas. Remember the birth I almost got to see in Canada in September? Yeah, he's grown up. I'm pretty sure he weighs more than Violet.

Soccer and another Saturday

The county we live in sponsored a "Touch a Truck" activity Saturday. The girls got to see an army truck (pictured below) a bus, combine, police car, garbage truck and a fire truck. It was fun despite the rain.



Daddy and Violet in the bus. Ava wouldn't sit down because the seats were wet.
Ava also had her last day of soccer. It was rainy so they had to be inside, but it was still fun. She loves to run and kick, so I think we'll be signing her up for soccer again.



At the end Ava even found a friend and they held hands while kicking their soccer balls. Seems like a thing only girls would do :)

These Sorts of Days

We tried to feed the geese in Romeo, but they weren't used to being fed so they swam away. Toward the end the geese ventured closer, but still, they didn't bite on the white bread.


With Grandma Michelle.

Our dearest friends the Wiebes came a visiting all the way from Calgary because they missed us so much. Well, really, Jared was graduating with his J.D., but we had some good good times. Here are all the kids together. Jenny - I can't wait for more pics!!

Shower!

Our ward has tons of women my age, so of course I couldn't get away without having a shower. My friend Amy (to the left of me) is due July 12, while I am due June 25. It was SO incredibly sweet of Carrie (left) and Yolanda (right) to take on throwing us a baby boy shower! Amy has a little girl Lucy and of course, we have two girls. Do you know them? (jk)

Sometimes (at least this is how I feel) it is hard to make new friends. I don't think I am very good at it but it is times like these when I am thankful for the few friendships I have made, even if they are based on seeing each other just a few times! I love how giving people are in the church too, I certainly don't care if I know the person very well. If they need something I always want to help. Since I have been pregnant pretty much the whole time we have lived here and was sick for the first four months, it has been perhaps more difficult than normal to meet people. Plus, having two kids and a husband who is constantly busy with providing for our family don't make it easy either. Those are my excuses - I'm sure more are to come. But I am eternally grateful for the people I have met here and look forward to sharing more memories in the coming year.


Surprisingly enough the difference in our belly size is only about 3 cm, but Amy has 8 inches on me in height. Here is me at 34 weeks!

Mother's Day

This Mother's day I was really content with everything. It was relaxing, I got breakfast made, didn't have to teach Primary, and got a few gifts. The girls were really excited to give me their home made cards, ring and bracelets and necklace. Ava showed off all the words she can now write without me having to spell them. I'm not sure if she picked it up on her own or if her aunt Audrey taught her. Tyler got me some flowers and a blender. It's a $30 blender, not a Montel Williams or a Vita Mix, but I can still make green smoothies all the same. We have enjoyed blending up pretty much all the fruit and vegetables we have.

The best treat was for the girls to see all 3 of their great grandmas and both of their grandmas. My mom was in town from PA and Tyler's grandma was in town from UT. It was really nice.

Cinco de Mayo

K so I probably had one of my most embarrassing moments ever. Here is the evidence.


We had our neighbors over who are moving to CA after completing the MBA program. We're friends, but not super-tight. So our kids were playing and they go upstairs. We were talking and then Ava comes down. Yeah, you guessed right - she had on my bra from when I was in middle school. It is in pretty good condition (aka rarely worn) that's why I never threw it away. I just hung onto it forever. It was clasped and everything. It was SO funny. SO embarrassing.

Here is Carter, our neighbor's little boy and Milo. He LOVES Milo! Goodbye Grays we miss you!!

Obama comes to Ann Arbor

Regardless of politics, it is an honor when the President of the United States comes to your city. The excitement here began at 8:30 a.m. when rally-ers came to the park next to us. Armed with signs, a stage, microphones, etc., the crowd of mostly undocumented workers were against deportation and the bill in AZ. We took off to see Ava play soccer (although she was too sick to play) and then came back. Suprisingly traffic was not bad at all, much less than a football game.

Back to the story. After listening to the rally we went toward the stadium looking for some more action. Really we wanted to see some Tea Partiers. I did not want to run across any abortion protesters because those pictures are terrible. We didn't see any Tea Partiers, but we did see some AWESOME helicopters flying right over us. It was even windy and dirty they were so close. There were 4 in all, and one carried the President. Air Force One had flown into DTW, and then he was escorted by helicopter from there. Secret Service and police were everywhere and pretty much blocked any view of the President, but we did see the motorcycle-cade, and the general area where you knew he was going to be.


You can barely see the propellor over the fence here.

So close!

Very exciting.

Here's the rally!


The rally-ers then walked to the stadium in a huge group. It seems like one could get addicted to going to rallys and protests for various causes. Much like the daughter on Arrested Development. Doesn't matter the cause, it is exciting to get a huge group of people energized about something and state your opinion.

We did watch Commencement on TV, and Obama's speech wasn't nearly as politicized as our Governor's. He talked about learning about the opposing side's viewpoint and supporting democracy instead of becoming so polarized it prevents you from participating politically. If you are not prone to writing letters or calling your representatives, he encouraged community service and doing good. It was really neat. I hope we get the chance to see another President or be near another President again.

8 Kids

While the MBA 2 wives were getting pedicures we graciously agreed to babysit. All I have to say is wow, 8 kids are an intense experience. Jon and Kate are insane, and so is Octomom. Thankfully we had another couple to help us!!! Thank you!! Clockwise from back left: Jack, Hayden, Sydney, Ava, Carter, Isaac, Wes, and Violet.