Stonhenge

I know that the pictures look dark but it wasn't that dark yet. Due to the time it took to change the tire and the route that Lucy** took us on we got there with about thirty minutes before the park was going to close and it was cold and WINDY and about to rain so we opted to just walk up to and see from the gate Stonehenge. My mom assured us that with the kids we weren't going to miss much she said that the audio tour is interesting but time consuming and didn't think the kids would want to endure the cold/rain for it. But hey I got to see Stonehenge and can cross it off my list of seven wonders of the world.

**Lucy
Let me tell you about Lucy~it is impossible trying to drive in England and not get lost even when you know where you are going and how to use roundabouts but being a foreigner makes it worse. So the solution is technology and the wonderful little GPS machines(they called them satnavs). My mom has named hers Lucy as in "Lucy you have alotta esplainin to do"(I Love Lucy). Lucy likes to calculate the shortest or maybe I should say most direct path. These routes are rarely on the major interstates where you can go the national speed limit, but going through towns and villages that are in the straightest path possible from point A to point B. Granted we saw parts of England that the average tourist would not, BEAUTIFUL countryside but when you have three kids stuffed into a small car and one who tends to get car sick easily and a pregnant mamma stuffed into the small uncomfortable not at all luxurious seats taking 3 hours to get somewhere when you can get there in 1 1/2 on the major roads is trying even for the most valiant. Now you say can't you pick how she picks the route, well there is an option and you can but she has a mind of her own and does only what she wants. So in going anywhere you study a map, know the major roads, program her and sometimes force her to recalculate and take the route you want and in the end you will get there. But I would have to say I wouldn't have wanted to navigate with out her even with all the trouble. So thanks Lucy for getting us to where we wanted and taking us on the scenic paths we wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Jeremy got a flat tire.

We were driving up to Stonehenge and Jeremy cut a corner a bit sharp and curb checked it and well a couple of blocks later we could hear that we had a flat tire. Keep in mind he was driving on the other side of the rode and on the other side of the car. We pulled into a parking lot to change it and were having problems with the lug nuts and I looked over and low and behold there was a tire store in the parking lot. They were very nice they were unable to replace the tire because they had none in stock(it was pinched and damaged beyond repair, if you are going to get a flat go way out) but they did put the spare tire on and away we went. Mom and I were having a good chuckle over it Jeremy however could not see the humor in the situation.

first day & pictures of the flatt my parents live in

For the first day that we were there we stayed at the flat letting the kids adjust to the time change. The first picture is a crazy picture of sleeping boys, then there are some of Alex and Terrilyn posing for pictures. We drove to one of the Air Force bases to buy some Huggies so these are the pictures we took coming back, there is one of Cameron in the little 7 passenger car that mom rented so we could all fit in one vehicle and Terrilyn asleep in the car(she is by the way sitting up). The rest of the pictures are of the outside of the flat that my parents are "letting" for the time they are living there. I lucked out and at the time that I was taking the pictures it was sunny.(a rare occurrence)
If you put the cursor over the pictures you will be able to read the captions.

England Trip

This is going to happen in stages and when I find some time here and there to do it. But here are the first couple of pictures.
The plane ride was an overnight flight of 9 1/2 hours we left Tucson around 3pm and got up to Phoenix where one of my high school best friends lives, Jennica, to drive us to the Phoenix airport. Only we got there and she had twisted her ankle pretty bad and wasn't driving but luckily her parents were there and her dad drove us. We got there and checked in at around 7pm and were off in the air by 9:20pm. The kids did really well especially with a little help from a good friend Dramamine. We arrived in England sometime after 2pm their time.

More to Come I Promise!!!!

Ok so I know everyone is anxious to hear about and see pictures of our month in England but the morning we were to leave I got the stomach flu and luckily(thank goodness) by the time we were boarding the plane I was no longer running to the bathroom...but then with a 10 hour flight and no sleep, an hour and a half drive back home, time changes etc. I have been sick with a cold body aches and all this seems to be magnified due to the pregnancy and when it seems that there is a light at the end of the tunnel(that I might get something accomplished or let alone unpacked) Cameron came home from school today and preceded to puke all over the carpet, and then the toilet. So needless to say I will have to wait for a day or two to download pictures and have time to post and maybe just maybe I will finish getting unpacked and maybe the laundry piles will disappear and Christmas letters will go out and.......

Tombstone

The week of fall break Jeremy came home from Alaska and for those of us tired of looking at the walls of the house (Jeremy would have preferred to stay with his sleep number bed). We took a much needed overnight break to Tombstone...maybe get a taste of the wild wild west. Well Terrilyn didn't appreciate the gun shows of the wild west, but I think they enjoyed walking around and seeing people all dressed up in the period clothing. Jeremy and I found that they had some neat things to see and do but we were disappointed to find that they all had there own price tag attatched and that if we wanted to see and do it all we could have spent a fortune. There was some stuff I would have liked to do but not with the kids like the tour of the mines(we didn't want to hike the trail and worrired that the kids wouldn't go into the tunnel once there. We decided that they would have been better off with a one price admission for everything.

However the kids enjoyed getting dressed up for an old fashioned photo. It was nice to get away and the kids enjoyed the time spent with dad.

Voting Wisdom from a Kindergartner

Last night we were in the car driving home and Cameron precedes to discuss who we can and can't talk to about our vote.
Cameron: "Mom, I can tell who I vote for because your my mom your my family, I can't tell my friends who I voted for"
Me: "What are you talking about?"
Cameron: "Mom I learned this in school from my teacher she taught us this after we voted today"
Me: "Oh, well yes you can tell me who you voted for, so who are you going to be voting for?"
Cameron: "Mom, can I vote for George Washington? That's who I'm voting for."
Me: laughing "Honey no you can't vote for George Washington he has already been the president and he is dead."
Come to find out that they had let the kids do a mock voting on the computers at school and his teacher must have gotten tired of the bickering that was happening between the students about who they were voting for. Seriously I had no idea that kindergartners were so outspoken with there political views.

I promise that when I get a chance I will upload my pictures from Tombstone and Halloween...they are coming :)

It's Another......

BOY!!!!

Well we had our ultra sound this morning and found out it is another boy. At first he wasn't going to cooperate...he had his legs crossed and she had to shake him up a bit. But everything looks good and he is healthy.
We know for a fact that on at least one foot he has all 5 toes.
We took in all the kids with us and Alexander was so funny , he would point something out like the spine and Cameron would say "oh cool" and then Alex in a couple of octives higher would gibber something.
So now we need help I had a girls name picked out but not a boys. Any suggestions???

Terrilyn's New Dress

My parents went on a Mediterranean cruise...my mom fell in love with this dress in Monaco and couldn't resist buying it for Terrilyn. We opened the box and she put it on and wouldn't take it off until it was time for jammies.

Terrilyns eyes look freaky but she wouldn't hold still.

Jeremy is HOME!!

Well Jeremy made it home yesterday...and the kids are ecstatic about it. Although at first Alexander wasn't so sure about it but I believe that was do to the unusual hair color Jeremy was sporting everywhere. His flight came in about 25 min early and the posters the kids made and were so excited about holding for him didn't get quit the use they expected.

THANKYOU Grandma

Ok, so I didn't take any pictures while she was here because we didn't really do anything out of the ordinary. But my Grandma Susie came down(from Colorado) to visit me and see my kids. I set her up in Terrilyn's room and made Terrilyn sleep on the futon in the boys' room(hoping she would stay as long as she could). What a nice week and a half I had visiting with her and having some adult company while Jeremy is gone. She even treated me to a girls night out to the movies! YEAH a break form the kids!! I hope she enjoiyed her visit and my squealing kids didn't bother her too much because I did talk her into staying as long as she could. My kids and I ENJOYED her visit thoughourly so THANKS Grandma for paying us a visit.

Trip to Canada eh!

Ok...so Northway is about 25 away from the Canadian Border, so on our off day we decided to go to a town just across the border called Beaver Creek. The only thing open in this town is a hole in the wall diner called "Buckshot Betty's". The food was pretty good and everything was in French. Here are some pictures taken from that little excursion. By the way...the lady at the Canadian customs office had no sense of humor.

MESSY!!!

So I know I don't post for a couple of months and then I am posting all the time but this is funny. The other night my sister and her boyfriend came over and he grilled dinner, afterwards we were sitting in the living room talking and the boys had gone into the kitchen and had some left over b-day cake. They left and then the younger two went into the kitchen, a little while later we hear Alexander yelling "Mommma momma" I figured he had gotten stuck on top of the table, he has figured out how to climb onto the chair and then the table but hasn't figured out how to get down. We go in there and this is what we found...




Now mind you this is after they were bathed and jammied for the night.
And this is what is left of the cake.

Needless to say back to the tub we went.

Terrilyn's B-day

Terrilyn turned 3 on Saturday. My sister(boyfriend) and nephew came over in the morning and we opened presents with Jeremy watching on the computer. Then we went to the Desert Museum, I have never been but that is a really cool place to go but not when it is hot it wasn't too bad in the morning but by the time we left it was miserable. Unfortunately they are no pictures because my camera had no battery power left after taking video of her opening her presents. Then we came back and I iced her B-day cake she requested Dora of course, so here is my attempt at Dora. Then we went swimming to cool off from the day. She had a really good day and was exhausted by bedtime.

Binky Baby

Alexander loves his pacifier, way more than the other two did. Cameron gave his up all on his own sometime after nine months. Terrilyn lost hers a couple of months before Alexander was born and didn't seem to mind. Alex not so much as an infant he hated the hard ones they give them in the hospital he would only go for the round Gerber ones that moved in and out. Cameron put a hole in one and then Alexander lost the other one I wasn't going to worry to much about it because it was about the same time the others gave them up. (and as weird as this sounds I wanted it gone before we went to see my parents in England) Well then he started going for the thumb which is the whole reason he became a binky baby to begin with. Then he found the couple of the hard plastic ones from the hospital. I have been trying to only give it to him in the crib. Then Jeremy left and I can barely make it through a Sacrament meeting by myself with out shoving it in his mouth to keep him quiet. Then everyone keeps telling me that if he would still use it it would make the plane ride to England easier...so needless to say I am at a loss as what to do and at the mercy of a binky.

Labor Day weekend

This weekend we had 5 days off, so Jim and I decided to go to Fairbanks for the weekend. Jim is a guy I work with who is from New York and is out here working as well. It was about a 5 hour drive from Northway to Fairbanks. Before you get to Fairbanks, you pass a town called North Pole, Alaska. And as you can imagine, they use that to their advantage. All of the street poles are painted like candy canes. There is even Santa Claus's house. I took several pictures there the rest of the pictures are from various places in Fairbanks we went.

Life In the great North

Yes, it is true, I am up in Alaska working for a company called EMC Engineering. They contract with the state of Alaska on several jobs around the state. The one I am working on is up in Northway, Ak. there is literally nothing up here. There is an airport that was originally built during WWII as a staging point for Russia. It is used now as a customs checkpoint for planes coming in from Canada. A few years ago there was an earthquake up here that damaged the airport. They have torn up the old runway and are currently in the process of builing a new one which will be a 2 year project. My job is to take densities of each layer as they build. It is built in 4 layers. I also have to take random samples of the material they are using to make sure it will support the airplanes that will land here. I work six 12 hours shifts, which isn't too bad. I have included a picture of the view I get to look at from the office of my lab.

Birthday Cake

So I am not as together as I would like to be right now...but yes it took me 2 days to get Cameron's cake cooked and iced (took over an hour and 20 min to bake and at one point when I checked it the pan had tipped and started spilling out over the side, too hot to frost that night before I went to bed so I planned on icing it after I got off work the next day just a 7 hour shift but there was a super bad accident on the freeway coming home so a 20 min drive took over an hour then I got it iced and was ready to put the details on and low and behold I let my neighbor borrow my tips last weekend and they weren't even home, another night too tired to finish it, the next morning I was able to finish the cake)but it did happen and he loved it. On his 3 b-day I did Lightening McQueen from Cars, this year he requested him as Dinoco(in his dreams). Not my best work but it turned out good enough.