Too Long

Well apparently I am really bad at bloging, things have been crazy busy but for the most part I don't mind. I went back to school in January, trying to finishing my teaching degree. The semester went really fast and I ended up doing pretty good. I got three A-'s and a B. I just found out on Saturday that I got accepted to the U of A for the fall, so we will be moving back into Edmonton at the end of the summer. I have mixed feelings about it....it will be nice to be closer to things but I love being out here so much! Thomas is undecided as to whether on not he will move with us. I think that I am slowly winning him over. The kids are doing well, school is almost finished...I think we are all really excited about that. I am hoping next year I can be a better mom at helping with homework, reading and all that kind of stuff. I feel bad that I didn't do more with them this year. I still am amazed witht how fast the kids are growing, Thomas cleared the table last night so he could play with some action figures, when I told him he had to wait till today he said, please don't mess up the table. When he came home and there were still a few dishes his comment was, I just cleaned this! My response was Now you know how I feel. Maybe I should have been more sympathetic but I thought it was a good learning experience. Maggie is enjoying singing right now, we taught her Three Blind Mice, when she sang it later she sang... who cut of their heads with a carving knife... I think we have it figured out now. She also sings Blaa Blaa Black sheep, which make me laugh, we are working on getting her to sa Baa. Harrison is a big help most day, we are working on his whinning which he does far too often. He loves playing with THomas and Maggie and is so happy when they are home from school. Hyrum is growing to fast, he is standing up on everything and slowly starting to walk along the furniture. It is a sweety though and we all love him so much!

too much in such a short time

Well a ton has happened since the lasted time that I posted anything. On September 20th I lost the love of my life. He passed away after 3 days on breathing tubes with no change from complications of pnemonia. I think I new this day would come but I honestly thought that I would have a lot longer with him. TJ was doing so well, he was so strong still. I guess that Heavenly Father needed him more than I did. The kids are doing alright, Harrison seems to have the hardest time right now understanding. Just tonight he asked where Dad was. I hope that the will be okay and that I will be able to help them when they miss him. The funeral was on the 24th, it was beautiful. There was a lot of people who came, it was amazing.

On October 28th, I had my last baby. Hyrum Joseph Andrews was born at 2:53pm, he was 9 lbs and 1 oz and 21 inches long. He has been a wonderful baby, the only down side it that he doesn't seem to like chocolate which is one of my weekness!

We are starting to get ready for christmas, I have mixed feelings about it this year. The kids are soo excited but it is reallly hard on me with out TJ here, Christmas was his favorite time of year. I am grateful that I have my family close by me, I don't think that I could do it with out them!

New Glasses and Goodbye Dogs!

So Thomas got his first pair of glasses on Wednesday, he likes them because the optomotrist said that he could play more game cube because it is good stimulation for his eye. He has a lazy eye, pretty much. He is much more far sighted in his right eye than his left and his left is doing all the work. So he has to wear glasses all of the time now.

We said good bye to Mokey and Gidget, with the new baby coming something had to go and it was unfortunately them. They went to a really nice family and we are happy to have the extra space. THe kids are doing well with it so that makes it much easier!

School Starts

This is Thomas on his 2nd day of school, he was really excited about school, but not too impressed with his sweater, he wanted to wear the same one that he wore the day before and would not wear any of the new ones he got. He is funny that way, he get stuck on something and it is hard to change his mind. He is really liking Grade 1 so that is good.

Maggie was soooo excited about starting school, she was easy to get ready because she is pretty care free. She wasn't nervous at all and is definetly not shy. I think it helps that she had met her teacher lots before because she had the same one as Thomas so she already new the teacher and a few of the kids in her class.

This is her at school that day, when I took Thomas the first day of Kindergarten he made me stay for about a hour and a half, Maggie was like see ya mom have a good day! Harrison seems to be okay with both of them being at school, we were really worried but he seems to like having mom and dad to himself.

We did a walk for Muscular Dystrophy on September 5th, the kids did great! Thomas walked 2 kms, Maggie walked 2 and 1/2 and Harrison rode in his stroller for 1 km and then hung out with me till everyone else was done. My brother Jonathan did all 5km in a wheelchair, it ment alot to me that my family came out and participated. It is great to have there support. Our team was able to raise over $1000 so we were really happy. It was a perfect day.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This was Maggie today, she got put on a time out for hiding and must have been very tired because she passed right out. She didn`t sleep long but long enough for me to get a picture!

This is Saturday`s party, she was a little worried when she woke up that morning and was covered in spots! We took her into the hospital and they thought that she just had a rash that occasionally comes at the end of a virus, which we all had. So she was really happy when the doctor told her she could still have her party!

This is Thursdays party, she really liked the cake I made her last year so she requested it again. I am glad she is easy to please becaues it is really not that good, but she was really excited about it so it made me happy.

Maggie's Birthday

Well tomorrow is Maggie's 5th birthday, I can't believe that she is almost 5! She is growing so fast. Today we had a visit from Charles and Violet, it was nice to see them. We don't get to see them very often as they live so far away. They brought Maggie her birthday present and Harrison's birthday present and a gift for the baby and all of our christmas presents. They are way more organized than I am!

Summer is Almost Done

Well I am finally back at blogging and have decided there is not point in catching up so I am starting fresh. The summer was good, we were able to get in a good garden this year which was really exciting for me. We didn't do a lot of traveling this summer which was okay with me. Thomas had his 6th birthday on July 4th, I just can't believe that I have a 6 year old. We went to a birthday for the Mousirs on the 25th of July and the kids had a blast and didn't want to leave. From there we headed down to Hill Spring to spend a few days with Carla, Mike and Mason. We had a great time, we went swimming, Thomas was able to go fishing for the first time and we did a crazy hike up to Crandall Lake in Waterton. On August 1st we went to the zoo with my whole family and we were also able to meet up with TJ's brother Bryan. We had a great time and were really excited when we were able to feed the camels.

The rest of the summer has been at home with the occasion trip to town. Nice and quiet which has been good this summer. I am now 30 weeks so that has made the summer interesting as well. I am tired a lot and don't have a lot of motivation. But baby seems to be doing good and moving lots so we are happy and excited.

San Diego Zoo

On Tuesday we headed to the San Diego Zoo, with the pass we had to get in we were able to ride for free on a tour bus around the zoo. I think that was the best way for us to see the zoo as it was so hilly! I think I would have died pushing TJ up all of those hills. I think it was easier for everyone, it is nice when you can sit at each one for a while but we were grateful for what we were able to see.

We were also able to go on a sky ride, which took us up above the zoo, in a gondola sort of thing, which was a pretty neat way to see the rest of the zoo. We walked down to the Polar Bear exhibit which was the perfect time, as they were up swimming around. The walk back up was awful as it was uphill:( Luckily for me my Dad and brother did all the hard work!
We stopped at the petting zoo, which really wasn't too much more then the kids see all the time, but they were still excited about it.

Last stop was the reptile house, I could not believe the size of some of the snakes! This las pic I think was Thomas' favorite think of the day.... the komoto drangon!

Sea World

Monday morning we headed to sea world, it was amazing! I think my favorite two things was the dolphin show and the ray tank, and I didn't take pictures of either! In the dolphin show we sat in the soak zone and oh difd I get soaked! Harrison who was on my lap did not appericate it at all. The ray tank was awesome because you were able to stick your hand in the water and touch them. Everyone got a chance, I am just sad I forgot to use my camera. We also stopped at a circus show they had there, it was amazing!

Giant Turtle
I couldn't believe how many flamingos there were, it was crazy.
This was the sea lion show, I think the big white one is a walrus but I am not positive, the show was so much fun, they did a really good job.

They had a play area that we hit last, it had a bunch of climbing places for the bigger kids and then a little playing area for the small ones, the kids had a blast in there too!

California here we come!

Well we were home for a week and then we were off again. On Thursday night TJ and I stayed at the Edmonton General Hospital as TJ had a sleep study test that he had to do. It didn't go that well but hopefully we won't have to do it again! Friday we left not quite as early as we hoped but still not to bad and headed for Idaho Falls. What a long drive! The kids were really good, just had to stop for bathroom breaks and gas. We made it but it wasn't until 11:30pm so it was a really long day. We stayed with some of Jordie's family and they were so nice. Saturday we headed for Salt Lake City, we were able to go the the Salt Lake Temple which was amazing, can't wait until I can go again! We left from there to St. George, again not getting in until late, it was earlier but still too late, it was about 10:00pm. We stayed with a good friend of Laura's, it was great, they had a beautiful house and they were very hospitable. On Sunday we went for sacrament meeting with them and then stopped to see the temple, it was beautiful!

We continued on through Arizona, Nevada and then into California, we made it to the KOA camp ground in San Deigo! Hurray!

Last Day

Well our last day we headed to Ottawa for the airport. On the way we stop at Parliment Hill, it was really cool, it would have been better if we could have spent the whole day at Parliment Hill as there are lots of tours to go on. We ended up going to the peace tower which is right below the clock. It was pretty cool.
Vi had to stay home, so Charles was the lucky one to take us around. We met up with Michelle for lunch at Boston Pizza, it was awesome that they were able to come up to see us. The flight home was pretty good, Maggie slept for most of it and Thomas waited until we were decsending to fall asleep! The airport lost one piece of our luggage, which we were really worried about. Luckily Corey(we borrowed their luggage) had put a name and address on it so they were able to get it back to us.

Back to Sharbot Lake

So on the Saturday we headed back to Sharbot Lake. On Sunday we headed into Kingston for church, we were there for about 15minutes of church and then had to head home as there was a water leak in the house. On Tuesday we went to the fishery, which was really neat. They had quite a few different kinds of fish. The neatest part was they had a protected lake which was full of small mouth bass, we were able to feed them some bread, the kids thought it was the best thing! On Wednesday we went mini golfing, just Thomas, Maggie and me, Thomas was really good. Maggie was amusing! Finished off with ice cream.

Grandin Bookstore

Last stop in Palmyra was Grandin Bookstore, where the Book of Mormon was published, it was really fun.

Smith Farm/Sacred Grove

A replica of the log house that the Smith's lived in.
What a barn in the time would have been like!
The frame house that was built just down the road.
In the sacred grove, it was so fun. It was a little hilly but everyone had a good time.
Thomas and Maggie were so good sitting for all of the pics that I wanted!

Cumorah Hill

This is the view from the top of Hill Cumorah, I was impressed by the size, luckily we were able to drive to the top!
Poor Maggie didn't want a family picture!
We decided it would be fun to walk down, it started off as a nice zig zag slope and then we hit this, it doesn't look to bad in the picture but it took me and two other guys to get TJ down!