visitors!

The day we arrived to Indiana we got a call from Patty. Her girls were visiting their grandma close by and wanted to come see us and help us unpack. It was a HUGE blessing and boy did we work them!! Emma and Caroline were so good to help entertain the kids and poor Melanie worked by my side for hours helping me take stuff out of boxes!!
And, I can't say enough thank yous to Andy's mom who came and worked non-stop for a week. This picture is the only one I took while she was here and this was a rare moment for her. She hardly got a chance to ever hold Jane because she was so busy either cooking or unpacking boxes. I am really not sure how we would have done it without her!!! Thank you!!!

Although it was only for a day we enjoyed a visit from Matt and camie.

Jane and Wyatt

Did you notice they were holding hands?!!??!

Welcome!!

By the time we made it to Indiana I had said way too many goodbyes. I was so sad to leave Michigan. So, it made me feel so happy to pull up to our new place and find this sign (thanks Jenner!!).

The move!!

Well, we did it! We sold our house and made our trek (thank goodness it was not too long of a trek) to Indiana. In looking back I realize I didn't get very good pictures. I suppose it's because I was so busy. I had no clue how much work it was going to be to move our family!! Last time we moved it was with a tiny truck and no kids. Here we are 7 years later with 4 kids and way too much stuff!! It has been an exhausting month and we would have never survived without all our friends who helped us out!! I hope we NEVER have to move ourselves again!!

We had TONS of help the day we moved. There is no way we could ever express the gratitude we feel for everyone who helped. Some were cleaning, packing, moving boxes, loading the truck and watching kids. We were grateful for ALL who contributed!!
Carma cracked me up. She is a little worker bee and if you assign her a task she will get it done and do a fabulous job!! The morning we drove out she showed up bright and early because she wanted to re-arrange a few things in Andy's car which she had packed the day before.

Audrey and Daniel were lifesavers. They were so good to play with the kids so I could pack. I don't even remember how many days they helped me out and of course if you knew this family you would not be surprised one bit to hear they wouldn't accept any money for all the babysitting they did!! They were a huge blessing to me!! Thanks girls!!
Well, this was a very busy summer for our family!! We had a baby sold our house and moved!! I am glad to have it all behind me!!
Ben and Stephanie showed up very early the morning we drove out with a hot breakfast ready for us to eat. They didn't forget anything. They even brought along a pop up table with seating included!! They are so cute.

A must read if you are a mom with a newborn!!

Life is SUPER CRAZY right now. I probably don't have time to blog this but I am so amazed by it so I have to post this really fast. Jane is a GREAT baby. However, we do have a few issues at night when it comes to putting her to bed initially. Once she falls asleep she is great to eat and go right back down (for the most part) but she generally will go down and cry for a couple of hours (off and on but it's not just little whimpers here and there. She is mad) Anyway, thanks to my friend Abbey we no longer have problems. She gave me this blanket called the "miracle blanket" You can order them online. Anyway, it is basically a blanket for swaddling but has different pieces of fabric to keep her arms close to her side. Anyway, ever since we started using this blanket Jane cries for no longer than 15 minutes but generally within 2-5 minutes she is sound asleep. It's amazing!! I know why they call it the miracle blanket!! Some may say I should have just been swaddling her in the first place. I was but she was so mad she always worked her way out so it was pointless. I decided she must not like the swaddling but apparently I was wrong. It is the BEST invention ever. If you have a fussy baby this is a MUST HAVE baby item. Why didn't I know about this 7 years ago?!?!?

Family Reunion

We had a WONDERFUL family reunion in Cascade Idaho. We stayed at a house right on the Lake. It had a private beach and dock and room for everyone to sleep. It was wonderful and relaxing. The only bad thing about it was the fact it added 6 hours onto our already long (24 hour!) trip going back home. However, it was worth it. We had tons of fun relaxing, swimming, exercising, boating and jet skiing. Not to mention, there was always plenty to eat!

Here is a picture of the entire family minus Katie and Megan. Katie stayed home because she was too close to her due date. (we missed you Katie)

I loved these table and chairs they had in the back yard. They were all over the patio and we ate at them every meal.

Lucy, Lydia, and Ethan
We were able to get Lucas out on the tube. He liked it but probably not as much as Ethan. For him the faster the better!
Lucas talked for weeks about going to grandma's to ride in a boat. It finally happened and he really enjoyed it.
Andy and Lucas
The kids loved the jet ski. Lucy was very cautious on it. Anything over 10 miles and hour was too fast! However Ethan couldn't seem to go fast enough. The scarier the better for him. It was so funny to watch him.
Here is Ethan taking andy for a ride!!

Lucas also loved the jet ski and liked going fast as long as he was pinned in the middle of two adults. It was cute.

Here is our cool joe boat driver - AKA Adam!
There is never lack of food at our reunions. Let's just say the 5 carts from Costco was more than enough food for 1 week!!! This picture doesn't do it justice. This is just one pantry of food and one of the refrigerators full of food. It wouldn't be a reunion without lots of treats. The kids (and adults) loved it!

To justify all the food we also had plenty of exercise going on. One morning a bunch of people tried alisa's yoga DVD and all the girls went power walking each morning.
Leave it to Uncle Travis - our newest (and only) dentist in the familyto bring tooth brushes, toothpaste and floss to take care of all the treats we were eating!! He just graduated from school and showered us with lots of dental prizes!! We're so proud of travis for what he has accomplished!

Seemed there were always people fishing off the dock. Ryan and Travis were the faithful fishermen though and even cooked up the fish on our last day there.

Here is Matt showing off his perfectly roasted marshmallow. I'll admit he definitely knows how to roast marshmallows!
This was a typical activity for me and camie. Seemed we are always nursing our babies!!

On our last morning everyone gathered for a family run. The kids started out by doing a 1/2 mile run. Then the adults did a 5K. It was lots of fun.
We especially liked Matt's oh so lovely running shorts not to mention his awesome white legs!!
Grandma was good to walk with a lot of the little kids and babies during the run.

Trip to Utah

We drove 24 hours to Utah! We were so surprised with our kids. They did a great job. The drive home was a bit long and we were all ready to be out of the car but the dreaded drive turned out to be a positive experience. We stopped at my parents house for a few days before heading to Idaho for our reunion.

Thank goodness for more help!!

It's been a while since I last posted. We've had a VERY VERY busy summer - starting with the birth of Jane, visits from 2 grandmas, a LONG road trip (yes, you read that right - a road trip!!) to Utah just 4 weeks after having a baby, not to mention selling a house and now trying to pack all of our junk from the past 9 years and moving it to our next destination - MBA school (yes, you read that right too - MBA school and yes we are aware we have 4 kids and are going back to school!!)
I was completely spoiled with 3 weeks of help from 2 different grandmas. After my mom left, Andy's mom came and stayed with us for a week. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. She was a huge help and the kids kept her very busy!

One morning we all went downtown. Andy took the kids for a fun bike ride while my mother-in-law and I enjoyed a nice walk behind them with Jane.

Grandma treated us all to some fudge from Kilwins!!