Paul, Julie & Baby Thomas

2010-09-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is for you Tori!

Our Summer Vacation

2010-06-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled vacation in San Diego! We went to three zoo's in three days. My favorite is of course Sea World, I love the shows and there is so much to do there. Thomas loved all of the fishes, whales and dolphins.

Thomas' favorite part of Sea World is the kid park, he had so much fun!

The soft blocks were the highlight of his day. We also liked it because we could just sit there and watch. After all we had done a lot of walking at this point, and I am pregnant.

I lucked out and didn't have to ride the kiddy rides with Thomas, Paul had the honors of doing that. We had a great trip and we love San Diego and we are looking forward to returning next year. Things are going pretty good right now, we are trying to potty train Thomas, so far he has peed in the potty twice. He actually loves to sit on the potty because he gets to do puzzles and read books. I am getting hugely pregnant already, which is sad because I am only almost 20 weeks. Paul is working away at his job and his church calling, not too much new there. We miss all of our family and hope they are doing well.

2010-06-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

WE are at the San Diego Zoo! It is a huge zoo, but we had lots of fun looking at the animals! We loved the cute Panda Bears.

I thought this picture was so cute of Thomas I just had to put it in the blog.

Thomas and Dad looking at the elephants! There are tons of elephants at the San Diego zoo. It was perfect weather for the Zoo, it was in the mid 70's.

Thomas liked the beach as long as he had his shoes on. The crazy kid does not like sand between his toes.

Christmas and our beloved pineapple

2009-12-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas! Thomas woke up to a brand new train that Santa spent a long time putting together, only to have Thomas destroy it within an hour.

He was very spoiled he got so much stuff, we need to build shelves in his closet.

Here is an overall look at the spoils, he had a lot of fun playing in the wrapping paper, thank you to all our family who made sure he was sufficiently spoiled! Thanks to my mom who drove down here to spend Christmas with us, and for always offering to watch Thomas so we can go on a much needed date (Blindside was amazing by the way).

Here is our pineapple or what is left of it. For those of you who don't know about our Pineapple plant, we brought back a pineapple from Hawaii from our honeymoon. We decided we would plant it, and it grew and grew and got pretty big, our poor pineapple lived 6 good years. It recently died when we left it out in the cold, I haven't had the heart to throw it away yet. Paul is growing us a new one, but it won't be the same. we will miss you pineapple.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the Freeman Pumpkin Patch a few days ago, and it was a lot of fun!

They had a petting zoo which was Thomas' favorite, they also had a train, hayrides, carousel, and a corn maze.

Thomas got to decorate his pumpkin with washable markers.

Thomas was the cutest little ninja if I do say so myself, we had a lot of fun at the Trunk or Treat. Thomas loves all the candy!

Two years old

2009-11-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

For Thomas' Birthday we went to the Safari Park in Sedona, it was so much fun! Here is Thomas feeding the giraffe a cookie.

Here is the little guy opening presents.

Here he is in the tunnel his dad bought him, it attaches to a tent, which he loves!

And Grandma Hale bought him a push trike for his birthday, he was spoiled rotten for his two year old Birthday!

Happy Birthday Thomas!!!!

2009-10-08T21:58:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to wish my Birthday Boy a great big Happy Birthday! I can't believe he is two, where does the time go? I just want him to know how much we love him, and couldn't begin to imagine life without him. I cant help but remember a year and a half ago when he was having open heart surgery and seeing him strapped to a bed with tubes everywhere, how lucky we are to have him. I remember sitting in his room by his bedside when bells started ringing throughout the hospital , the baby next door had gone into cardiac arrest and within a few short minutes that precious baby passed away. I will never forget that horrible feeling, Paul and paced the hospital floors that night, there was no way we could sleep. That was probably one of the most defining nights of my life knowing how much you love someone and how you would do anything for them. Thomas has been our little miracle and you can tell by the picture what a happy and fun kid he is! We love you Thomas!!

Paul is the big 30

2009-09-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

We also just had to get this adorable sandbox for Thomas! He loves being outside, if he had a choice he would stay out there all day.

Can you tell Thomas loves Oreo cookies!

Can you believe he is 30 years old! We had lots of fun for his big day. We started the day out with golfing, and then lots and lots of Wii and Guitar Hero, then we went to Red Lobster and then we topped off the evening with mini golf. It was a long day, but it was fun, Thomas especially like the mini golf. The next day we also decided to celebrate we took a trip to Phoenix and went to the Melting Pot with some friends. It was so much fun, I love fondue it was a fun experience. Thanks to Paul's mom for watching Thomas so we could have a night out!

Paul is starting Thomas out young!

Girls Weekend and Thomas

2009-08-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

My mom, sister and my niece Brianna came to visit over the weekend while Paul is out of town. We had a lot of fun shopping, swimming and just hanging out. ( Brianna is mad because Thomas shut the door on her)

This is one of Thomas' favorite hang outs he loves cabinets, he was so cute with Brianna, he followed her all over the house saying Bree Bree. He also loves when Grandma comes to visit she has so much fun with him, she is very entertaining for him.

Thomas has finally decided he will use the spoon, I was so proud I had to take a picture, he also signed Please today, I almost fell off my chair. I have been trying to get him to sign that for so long, its good to know he is paying attention.

This is just a random pic of Thomas at the rodeo, he was a nightmare there would not sit still for a second, anyway he is doing great walking all over the house getting into trouble wherever he goes. He misses his dad and is looking forward to him coming home soon!

Washington D.C

2009-07-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

Wow! I haven't blogged in quit some time sorry about that to our handful of readers. We have been traveling like crazy, Thomas and I went to Utah for almost two weeks, we came home for four days and then we went to D.C. We had so much fun in our nations capitol, I had no idea I would enjoy D.C. as much as I did. Thomas also loved it! The Washington Monument above was his absolute favorite site, we went to see the monuements at night when they were all lit up. Thomas could not quit staring at it.

I highly recommend seeing the monuments at night it was nice and cool and they look amazing at night. It was so awesome to be around so much history

Our first time on a real life subway, it wasn't as dirty or scary as I thought it would be. Although it was kind of scary thinking just a couple of days after riding this subway that it crashed.

Thomas at the Air and Space museum of course we had to go to this museum look who I married.

More Washington D.C

2009-07-02T16:46:00.001-07:00

I just had to post this! We went to the National Archives and if you have been there or have seen the move National Treasure you know that bright lights are forbidden around the Constituion. Well Paul gets right up to the glass to take a picture and forgets to turn off the flash. He did this right in front of security needless to say he was not allowed to use his camera in the museum again.

Our hotel was right down the road from a real life outdoor movie set, the gawkers said it is some new Reese Witherspoon movie. Not sure of the name of it, but we thought it was pretty cool.

Well we finally got to see the White House, after an hour of driving around to find a parking spot and then another hour to walk to it. We walk up to the gates and then they decide to turn the light off. Sorry the picture looks kind of weird Paul had to do some crazy stuff to the camera to get it the shot.

Working Vacation

2009-07-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

The real reason we went to D.C. is for Paul's work, he is the Union Negotiator at his work and he had to go there to a training class. Thomas and I just tagged along. Paul was in training for 12-14 hours a day, Thomas and I did get pretty bored some times but we went on a lot of walks, played at the playground and went swimming.

Thomas loves to swing!

The resort we stayed at was on a beautiful bay, with amazing boats docked there, it was kind of crazy there were a ton of jellyfish all over in the bay.

Thomas at the swimming pool, the water was freezing!!

Utah

2009-06-16T22:24:00.001-07:00

wow! I have not blooged in a long time, sorry to the few of us who follow this blog. We have been pretty busy working on our yard and going on vacation. Thomas and I took a long trip to Utah recently and we had so much fun. We first went to his Aunt Kellyanne's Graduation from Taylorsville High. We were so excited to see our family, it had been a while!

Thomas found this Rocking horse at my brother's house that he loved and couldn't get enough of.

We went to Lagoon with my family, for the first time with Thomas, he couldn't ride to many rides, but he did like the Merry-go-round, well he liked it once it began moving.

This is Thomas' cousin Brianna, they had so much fun together (they kissed most of the day). Thomas just loved being with all of his cousins, We were really sad when we had to leave. So to all of our family out there Thomas' misses you and he want's you to come visit!

Too Many Rocks

2009-05-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

So we finally decided on grass.. real grass.. that means sod, sprinkling system, curbing, hmmm this is starting to sound like a long project, no to mention the trees, shrubs, garden... and please no... the maintenance.. mowing, watering, fertilizing... I'm tired just thinking about it. But, I digress, first things first: ROCKS!

We have twenty tons of the stuff... what to do with forty thousand pounds of decorative rock... People Paid money for this stuff?? It is way to expensive to pay someone to haul it away, I could take about forty loads to the dump in my truck.. still expensive and about a month long process wheelbarrowing it all out into the truck and taking load after load after load. No way.. throw it over the fence. It was a nightmare until Julie had the brilliant idea to put it on Craigslist. I resisted at first (see craigslist killer) and thought who would come and shovel out weed invested rocks for hours on end just to get some free rock. Finally, I relented, I put an add up saying if you want to come shovel it, and haul it away, you can have it... within an hour I had people responding and within two days I had 20-30 emails from people in Prescott wanting to come pick it up... unbelievable.. before I could blink my backyard was empty of all the unwanted rocks.

People even sent me pictures of what they did with it.

Gotta give Julie props for that one! Saved me hours of hard labor.

Our Backyard

2009-05-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

So this spring/summer project has been what to do with our backyard. We have mulled over a couple options, including grass, artificial turf, garden, sand box... you name it it probably came up... again.. and again and again... One thing was for certain something needed to be done!!

2009-04-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

Thomas at the P.V. Easter Egg hunt, he really enjoyed sitting in the grass, he didn't want to leave even though it was freezing.

Easter fun, our friends came over and we dyed some Easter eggs, notice Paul in the back ground playing with fake grass.

Thomas found his Easter basket hiding in the corner between the couches, he did not really grasp the concept, but had fun anyway!

Thomas liked Paul's Easter Basket better because Paul's had golf balls. All in all in was a fun Easter, we hope everyone had a great one as well!!

2009-04-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

Yay! Grandma came to visit and play with Thomas, we felt a little bad because Thomas got a cold and was pretty cranky. We still ended up having a good time, we went on a drive to Sedona, and mostly hung out. Thanks for coming to visit us!!

Guess who brought sprinkles! I was so excited to get these little beauties, yes I did eat most of them and I am now paying for it, my pants barely fit. (the chocolate ones were my favorite, to die for)

Thomas' Best Friend

2009-04-03T17:29:00.003-07:00

Thomas loves to look at himself in the mirror, in fact he could spend hours in front of the mirror, sliding glass doors or oven windows. He is always cracking us up, here is a small example of the hours, the funny faces, and the endless conversations he has with himself. The last 30-seconds are the best...

Heart Walk

2009-03-03T07:31:00.004-07:00

We had a fun filled weekend in Phoenix, we went to the Phoenix Zoo. we had so much fun! the weather was perfect and Thomas is now old enough to understand what animals are. The last time we went to the zoo in was about 200 degrees and Thomas was miserable. They have this cute little petting barn that you can go and pet goats.

Thomas loved flicking the ear of this poor goat.

After we left the zoo we had dinner at the Macaroni Grill, which was one of our favorites in Utah, after dinner I begged Paul to take me to Sprinkles, for those of you who don't know what Sprinkles is it is supposed to be an awesome cup cake shop. I say supposed to be because much to my dismay they were closed. So no Sprinkles for me oh well maybe next time. Anyway the next day we did the Phoenix heart walk. It was so much fun, it is so amazing how many people were there donating their time and money for this great cause.

They wanted the babies in strollers to just do the one mile, they also had a 5K. If any of you know Paul and I we were of course OK with the one mile. It was so funny at the half way point we were being cheered on and they were handing out water like we had just ran the marathon. And at the end of the race we went through a line of people giving high fives. I will definitely do this again every year, it made me realize what a true miracle Thomas' heart surgery really was, 10-20 years ago there could have been a completely different outcome. If you ever have a chance to do something like this for someone you love I would definitely encourage it, because it is amazing!

Teeth Finally...

2009-02-10T08:59:00.002-07:00

Well I just had to post about this because it is so exciting!! Thomas' got his two bottom teeth, this is so exciting because I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. He is sixteen months, I was begining to think he didn't have teeth. This picture is funny because my mom took this picture while we were in San Diego and when we came home we thought he looked different somehow, I think he still looks like a different kid when I see the picture.

5 Years!!

2009-02-10T08:46:00.002-07:00

It was our 5th Anniversary on the 7th and we went to San Diego, The best part of all we went with out Thomas. My mom came up and stayed with Thomas for a few days while we went. This was the first time we have ever left him overnight. I will admit I was very nervous, but it was much needed and we had so much fun. Thank you Mom Thomas had so much fun with you and he misses you!

Boy if I didn't know better it looks like Paul likes animals!

This is Sunset Cliffs it is so beautiful, but it was really cold, I am wearing Three jackets, It was actually kind of nice that the weather wasn't great, there was hardly anyone at sea world. There were no lines and we got to do everything we wanted to do.

This is La Jolla cove behind us those are seals that come up to the shore, it is pretty amazing to see that outside of an aquariam. Can I also tell you there are way to many birds in San Diego, I was eating this massive ice cream cone on the beach, and I decided I was done and went to throw it away, well the seagulls were eyeing me. When I threw it away they all started chasing me. I threw my jacket over my head and started running, well that only made it worse because my jacket was flapping around like a bird. Paul said it looked like I was their leader, so I chucked my jacked and took off running. I eventually got away, but those birds are crazy! I saw them steal a guys hamburger right off his plate and Sea World. Needless to say we made it home safeley and come to find out Thomas didn't even miss me! Oh well we had a great time!!

New Orleans

2009-01-12T20:13:00.003-07:00

There are a whole bunch of Plantation about an hour outside of New Orleans, that are so amazing I couldn't believe we were in Louisiana still.

This was our favorite one, we thought the trees were amazing, it looked like it was straight out of an old movie.

This is Bourbon Street, once again bad parent alert we took Thomas down this road, and yes some girl threw her beads to him. Thank goodness we did not see any nudity.

We took a cute little fairy boat to Algiers which if you ask me is a pretty lame place, but the boat ride was fun.

Sugar Bowl!!

2009-01-12T20:05:00.001-07:00

Guess who wen to the Sugar Bowl, That's right we did!!! It was a crazy time in New Orleans, The food was yummy, Bourbon Street was crazy, and the service there wasn't very good. and oh yeah the best part of all The Utes won!!!!!

Can you believe what terrible parents we are we kept Thomas up at all hours of the night, the noise was so loud at the game that we had to plug his ears with waded up paper napkins. Thomas really did have a good time, he clapped every time there was a good play, it was pretty cute.

It was so crazy that we won by so much, almost everyone thought that Alabama would win, but we sure showed them!

We decided to take a road trip to to the coast, it was so pretty there we wished it was warmer weather so we could have played in the water. As you can tell Thomas hates the sand and is not a nature lover like his Dad. I will have to cure him of this because I like the out doors.

Polar Express

2008-12-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Thomas playing on the train seats.

This was our train Elf.

Williams was freezing so we hurried and took a picture of the outside of the train.

Spread a little Christmas

2008-12-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

Yeah!! Christmas is here.

Some of my family came up for Thanksgiving and we took our kids to sit on Santa's lap. Thomas didn't think it was that much fun, can you tell.

We got tickets for the Polar Express in the cute little town of Williams. It was so much fun, Thomas loved it, he was bouncing all around and trying to keep up with the noise level on the train. We would definitely do this every year, it so cute all the kids (and some adults wear their PJ's on the train). You sing Christmas carols and the read the story of the Polar express, they serve hot chocolate and cookies. You also make a stop at Santa's village to pick up Santa, so he can give the first gift of Christmas.

Thomas just got the first gift from Santa, he loved the bell and was going crazy shaking it.

New Background

2008-11-07T21:02:00.002-07:00

In celebration of the Twighlight books and upcoming movie, Julie requested the new background to our page.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T22:33:00.005-07:00

Thomas enjoyed pumpkin carving night and his sucker.

We had a lot of fun carving pumpkins this year!

Thomas was a Penguin this year, This is at our Trunk or Treat, we stayed there for a little while and then we came back home to pass out candy, we had a lot of Trick or Treater's in our neighborhood.

Utah

2008-10-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

This is the first time Thomas got to meet his Great Grandpa, He lives in Price, Utah. My Grandpa hasn't been doing so well, so Thomas and I were so glad we got to go spend some time with him.

This was another first time for Thomas, I was able to take him to my Dad's grave and sit in the sun for a little while. Our trip to Utah was so busy that we forgot to bring flowers, we definitely will next time. Thomas loved being able to sit on the grass, (we don't have any in AZ)

Paul's mom so kindly gave up her awesome seats to the Utah game and gave them to us. We all had a really good time, and of course Utah won!

And for the real reason we went to Utah, Paul's brother got married, (doesn't Paul look cute in a bow tie). It was a really busy trip, but it was a lot of fun, and it makes us very home sick for Utah and our families, we miss everyone!

Happy Birthday Thomas

2008-10-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Thomas turned one on October 9Th, and we decided to go to the Phoenix zoo. We sort of had fun, it was 98 degrees and not a cloud in sight. After the zoo we went to the Rain Forest Cafe which Thomas liked so much better, he is a lot like his dad and prefers the air conditioning.

It was nice to get a family picture, Paul's sister Jill came up from Utah to spend time with Thomas for his Birthday, she spoils him rotten and he is sure going to miss her.

Thomas loves all of his new toys, and had a lot of fun with the wrapping paper.

Thomas is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to us, he is doing so many things right now. He is crawling, clapping his hands, waving Bye bye, saying mama, pulling himself up on his knees, and most importantly he is healthy!! When we first found out about all of Thomas' problems we thought why us, (OK sometimes I still wonder why my baby had to suffer) but I am so glad he is mine, I wouldn't trade him for anything! We love you Thomas, Happy Birthday!!!

Catch Up

2008-09-23T20:02:00.002-07:00

It has been a long time since I have posted, We celebrated Paul's Birthday a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun, we actually had a baby sitter (Paul's sister) and we went to a movie and to the Texas Road House for dinner.

Thomas is helping his dad open his presents, he is practicing for his Birthday, which is next week, can you believe it he is almost one! Paul was so spoiled, everyone gave him Best Buy gift cards and he bought a PlayStation 3. Thanks everybody!!!

This is just a funny picture, doesn't he look like a little devil.

This is Paul's sister, she came and hung out with us for a couple of days, we all had a lot of fun and Thomas sure missed her when she left.

I Was Wrong...

2008-09-02T21:20:00.002-07:00

Ok so we just got back from a walk a little while ago, me being brilliant I asked paul to go on a walk with me through the neighborhood, well it was getting pretty dark and Paul said that we probably wouldn't make it back before dark. Well I said of course we will, well guess what we weren't. And I suppose you can guess by the picture what happened. we were halfway up the street to our house, when I look down and I see Paul almost step on a TARANTULA!!!! I of course screamed which made paul jump, and the tarantula started chasing Paul. Well I refused to walk the rest of the way home, I had flip flops on, so Paul ended up carrying me on his back while pushing the stroller. The moral of the story do not go walking in Arizona after dark!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

2008-09-02T21:13:00.001-07:00

Boy I haven't blogged in a while, probably because we haven't been doing too many exciting things around here. However we did go to a Braves vs Diamond Backs game a little while ago. We decided to dress Thomas in a neutral outfit, he is wearing a braves onsie and a D-Backs hat.

This is a picture of our friends who are hardcore Braves fans!

I thought I would give a little update on Thomas, he is doing great he is starting to get more vocal everyday, he goes around saying mama all day long. he also is doing a lot of squealing and screaming, he gets more fun everyday!

I thought this was a funny picture, he is such a happy and smiley kid.

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-08T19:08:00.001-07:00

Ok so I am also one of the many obsessed Twilight series readers out there. Me and a couple of my friends decided to go to the midnight party at Barnes and Noble for the release of Breaking Dawn. I just got done finishing reading today and it was an amazing book, so if you haven't read them, the are a fun and easy read!!

So we cheated and at midnight we went to Wal Mart to get the book because it was so much cheaper there and there was no line. The funny thing is that they weren't even going to release the book, but my friend called and talked them into it.

Vacation

2008-08-08T19:01:00.003-07:00

We decided to drive thru Vegas to get to Utah, and of course we had to stop at the Hoover Dam, It was a long drive but Thomas did exceptionaly well for such a long time in the car.

Here is me and Thomas at the Salt lake Pioneer parade for the 24th of July, it was pretty fun until it got super hot!

I thought this was a funny picture, you probably can't tell but Thomas has olives on his fingers,

For my Birthday Paul's family and my family all got together at Liberty Park and had a picnic and we went ice blocking, this is me and my mom who is by the way in her late 50's and has had both of her knees replaced riding down the hill racing me on a block of ice. we had a lot of fun it remined me of being a kid again. (I don't think Thomas enjoyed the ride as much as me, maybe when he is older).

For Sara and Jeremy

2008-07-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Just a little gesture from us to you to say thanks for your friendship and good luck. Shall we say, MISSSION ACCOMPLISHED!

p.s. If you're not Jeremy or Sara you probably will not get this!

9 Months Old!!

2008-07-09T22:30:00.001-07:00

Look who's turning into a big boy before our eyes, he now sits and plays by himself...

... and stands with a little help from dad.

He has a brand new room that we painted this weekend.

The rest of the house is starting to come together too, we painted the hall today and did the living room last month, I told Julie she could do one room a month, but somehow she keeps trying to sneak in more than one. Next on the the list is either the kitchen (I hope not) or the bedroom. We're trying to get as much done now, so the house will have a semi-finished look when family comes to visit in a couple weeks.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-04T16:59:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!!

Life

2008-07-04T16:44:00.001-07:00

I thought this was funny, I came home the other night and found Thomas in his dirty clothes basket, apparently Paul thought this was a cleaner place to put him rather than on the carpet. But hey Thomas didn't seem to mind.

It was a long road for Thomas' recovery but he is finally sitting up and he is now waving bye bye!

This was our first trip to the pool and Thomas' very first time in the pool, he seems to like it alright. I can't believe that Paul let me post this picture, it looks like he hasn't seen the sun in years! Not that I am any tanner than he is but I would never post a picture of me in a bathing suit.

Well its official summer has started in Arizona, I went to open the curtains to the back door and this huge grasshoper was clinging to the screen. There are so many bugs here it is pretty disgusting, there are also many reptiles all over our yard I saw three frogs yesterday and too many lizards to count

Sorry

2008-06-17T19:15:00.001-07:00

obviously it has been a really long time since we have blogged and Thomas would like to take this time to appologize to everyone for taking up all of his parents time. It has been a long road of recovery, when Thomas came home he had a hard time even keeping his head up due to the month long bed rest, we have been trying to work with him a lot on sitting up and tummy time. This is a picture of Thomas' last discharge from the hospital which was on May 23rd. This was his favorite nurse Leslie, she took really good care of him. Thomas is now doing great infact we went to Phoenix yesterday for a chest xray and an echo and both showed no more signs of fluid so our Dr. said it was ok to take him off the low fat formula that he was on Yeah!!!!!

This is it! this is our new house which we love! Sorry the picture isn't very good, I will definitley post more later. We still have a lot of work to do. The inside of the house is painted white, and if I have to live in another house with white walls I think I will go insane! So we have decided to paint one room per month, we have already painted the front room (its just a tan color, but its better than white). We also are going to be putting in grass and a garden in the back yard in the Fall, which I cant wait for, I am just not into the whole rock landscaping look that is all over Arizona. Our back yard is pretty great there are no houses behind us, we have an amazing view of the mountains and in the mornings you can see a whole herd of deer just up the hill.

Happy Day After Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T23:51:00.000-07:00

Well, today we had another checkup for Thomas. And what happens at checkups? That's right they do echo's, find fluid around heart, and admit him to the ICU. The day after Mother's Day was no different. He is perfectly happy, you wouldn't know anything thing was wrong, but he has to go in for another surgery since this is the second time this complication has occurred. They opened up his chest, and evacuated the fluid, they said it was under a lot of pressure, and the main reason was to cut a hole and create a window, so the fluid will drain from the space around his heart into the space around his lungs, since the lungs can apparently handle it better, and it's not as dangerous for the fluid to collect there. They put in another chest tube to monitor how much is draining. The only good news is that he was already off the ventilator by the time they brought him up to us. So now he is in the ICU for probably a week or two until the fluid subsides and the hole heals, but who knows. He is stable and seems in good spirits, but it is sure frustrating and scary especially since he showed no signs of distress. Julie practically lives in Phoenix now, and I have started going back and forth and going to work. trying to save some vacation days because we are all going to need one when this is all over. Keep praying for our sweet Thomas.

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-11T17:43:00.002-07:00

Its finally here! my very first Mothers Day!!
It has definitely been a roller coater ride to get to this point, as many of you know it took us three very long and heart breaking years to get to this point. I definitely have been broken in to the whole motherhood role, I have been thrown up on three times in the last few days, I have been in and out of the ICU, I don't sleep very well through the night because I feel that I have to check on Thomas to make sure he is alright about 10 times a night. In spite of all that has gone wrong for us and for Thomas I am so excited and Blessed That he is in our lives. I have also had a great Mothers Day so far, Paul got me gift cards to my favorite places (Kohl's and Olive Garden) he also gave me an awesome bath pillow and bubble bath, because I love baths and I could stay there all day, especially after being thrown up on so many times. He was also my slave for a day. I also wanted to thank my mom for the gift she gave me I think it was about a pound of fudge (which is almost gone, sadly) she always knows just what to get me when I am having a tough time!

Anything that can go wrong....

2008-05-06T16:18:00.001-07:00

So, we took Thomas for his final post-surgical checkup with the cardiologist. Expecting to be the last time we were in Phoenix for a while, we hoped to get the, everything looks good we'll see you in six months, or at the worst, we'll see you in three months.

Well, after they performed an echo (ultrasound) on his heart, the cardiologist comes in and tells us he has a very large amount of fluid around his heart pushing on one side, most likely its inflamation from surgery, but we absolutely need to go in and get it, and keep him overnight. Of course...

So they put Thomas out, back on the breathing tube, back in the ICU, and they perform the procedure to go take it out. They remove about a 1/4 of a cup, oh except its not clear inflamation, its not blood, it doesn't appear to be an infection, well... we don't know what it is exactly. Analyze, wait, culture, wait some more. We think it's fat cells from his diet.....???? Who knows what's going on, but one night just turned into a likely week, as he has drained another 1/2 cup of milky substance out the cathetors they left lying up next to his heart. They are talking about putting him on a low fat diet to try and seal what they think is a breach is some lipid line... that oh yeah... wa probably nicked during surgery. If that doesn't work, did I mention he won't take a bottle, never would, then if the whole is big enough then we're talking more surgery.

I'm just ranting here while I ran home to get supplies, for the unexpected stay, we obviously didn't take anything with us, and just wanted to catch everyone up on our "perfect" lives.

-Paul

Cell phone pictures from this time around... at least he's smiling that makes one of us.

Where's our smiley boy?

2008-04-23T15:49:00.002-07:00

Thomas is busy working on getting his smile back, he's still a little upset with us, so in the meantime we wanted to remind everybody how cute it really is, so we posted some old pictures above from before his surgery. A couple are the day before. In the next couple days I'll be adding pictures to the hospital blogs, I tried today, but it wouldn't take. Just a warning some of them are pretty sad, to avoid heartbreak - don't scroll down.

Finally Home

2008-04-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I know he doesn't look very happy about it. But, they finally let us leave the ICU and go home today. We are so glad to be home, sure we're a little nervous not having him monitored by any number of devices 24/7, but he can get better rest and recover more quickly this way. He still has a lot of doctor visits planned, and plenty of medication for mom and dad to keep up on, but it is so nice to be home.

Much Better

2008-04-21T11:48:00.003-07:00

Thomas is doing very well. He is still in ICU and probably will be till we go home. But, they are actually talking about days for that now. Hopefully by Wednesday. He is off all the IVs, off the oxygen since about 6 a.m., just a few monitors. He is just trying to stabilize himself now without much support. He is starting to look like our little boy again, we love him so much and can't wait to get him home.

What A Night...

2008-04-19T23:13:00.002-07:00

Okay, well I wrote yesterday, everything was going well, Thomas was off the life support and doing well. Well, he got a little too comfortable.

During the night Julie woke me up in a panic. Thomas heart rate had dropped, it was no longer beating on its own, the box was doing it for him. He was unresponsive, to people yelling at him, smacking his feet, even shoving a tube down his throat to suction him had no effect. Up to this point he had been pretty easy to startle. His eyes sockets were sunk in his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his little soft spot was all sunken in. So, yeah we were scared.

They yanked all his pain medicine again this time, all the drips, and were preparing for a blood transfusion. We sat their for what seemed like hours waiting for the sedation, and other drugs to wear off, for the pain to shock his little beat up body back to life again. Slowly, his heart started to take its own beats again, first one and then a couple together, and after a while it was beating again on its own. We stayed up the rest of the night and into early morning watching our little boy and staring at the monitors just willing them to confirm our boy was alright.

Things are good now, I won't say that today was uneventful, it wasn't. But, they were good events. He got re-hydrated, they finally let him eat, even if it is through a tube in his nose (which he hates by the way - his arms are tied to the bed so he doesn't pull it out. He is off the heart box, he still has the electrical wires inside him wired to his heart just in case. They pulled out most of his IVs including the ones in his neck and groin, his chest tube, the catheter, and the dressing on his wound. He really is starting to look more like our little boy again. They moved him to a smaller bed, let him try to nurse (he threw up everywhere.) And decided he is going through narcotic withdrawals. So they just started him back on one medicine to calm his nerves and take the edge off, we are a little nervous because of last night, but I guess it's better than watching the poor guy wig out and be jonesing for his drugs. He'll try and eat again tomorrow and if he does well, hopefully we can get that tube out of his nose, that should help him feel better. So if your keeping score we are down to 1 IV, 1 feeding tube, a small amount of oxygen support in the nose canals, 4 heart wires just in case, and only 4 electrode monitors for his vitals.

Crazy, but that is a VAST improvement, we might actually get home before May :) Here's hoping for a quite night!

Surgery Update

2008-04-18T17:46:00.002-07:00

Thought everyone might want an update on Thomas' surgery. Well, it was on Tuesday morning, today is Friday night, and I am glad to report he is doing pretty good now. It has not been without our share of scary moments though.

He went through the operation fine, everything went very well he performed like a champ. In fact after they got him out he was on no support for his heart, it was beating well on its own, and they were expecting to take the ventilator out in a matter of hours. Well as many of you know thats when things got worse.

Thomas had to be put on a box that would beat his heart for him, and had to be kept seditated and have a machine breath for him also. It made for some verylong stressful days and nights for mom and dad.

Last night his heart was able to take back over and beat on it's own again, and this afternoon they removed his breathing tube. That was pretty stressful for him because they had to take him off his pain meds for a while to ensure he would breath on his own and not be too relaxed. Three hours later he and us are finally calmed down and getting to breathe. We hope he just keeps improving and he doesn't have to be here much longer, soon they claim they'll be able to pull his chest tube and then some of the IVs (which now number 9 down from their high of 12) can start to come out. We'll hope for that sooner rather than later.

Right now we just want what's best for Thomas. He's still a little horse from having those tubes down his throat for the past four days, but hopefully within a few hours that will be gone too and he'll finally get to have something to eat again for the first time in a long time.

We took some pictures, but I don't have a way of uploading them here, as soon as I do, I will. Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, text messages, flowers, and everything else you do for us.

Love,
Paul, Julie, and especially Thomas

WHAT!!!

2008-03-21T10:12:00.002-07:00

BEING EVICTED !!!!!!!!!
Well, I went to the mail box two days ago and what should I find an eviction notice! And guess how many days we have to move out of our house... 30 days! I frantically call Paul and ask him why he hasn't been paying our rent, even though I see it come out of our bank account every month. He tells me of course he has been paying the rent. So I call the property management company to see what is going on. They told me the owner of the property either is going to sell the house or it is going to foreclosure. Well if it isn't bad enough that we have to find a house in 30 days Thomas is having his surgery on April 15th and we have to be out of our house on April 30th. To top it all of we would really like to buy the next house we live in because we really do not want to have to rent another house and then move again in 6 months to a year. So needless to say we are super stressed and will be extremely busy for the next couple of weeks.

Eating Solids

2008-03-21T10:01:00.002-07:00

Thomas has started eating solids, we thought we had better start giving him some food when he would cry every time he would see us put something in our mouth.
Much to Paul's dismay we finaly cut Thomas' hair, I am sorry but he looks so much cuter now!

Blessing

2008-03-21T09:55:00.001-07:00

We had Thomas' blessing a couple of weeks ago, it was so much fun, we had a lot of family in town. Thomas loved all of the attention from family members, he absolutly loves to be held. Unfortunatley I think we are spoiling him rotten because now he wants to be held constantly.

This is Thomas and Breanna (my sisters baby) arent they cute!

This is a picture of Paul's family (I forgot to have with my whole family)

This was the first time Thomas met his cousins, he does have six more that were not able to make it. It was really cute to see him with all the kids!

Sedona Video

2008-02-26T12:24:00.004-07:00

I wanted to finally post some video of our day trip to Sedona on our anniversary. Thomas doesn't get out much so we wanted you all to see some of it. As you can see he doesn't know what to thnk of it.

Democracy in Action

2008-02-18T16:03:00.003-07:00

A stunning victory.. What more can I say... The people have spoken!

2008-02-17T17:15:00.003-07:00

Well it looks I lost big time in the haircut poll. It looks like I won't be cutting his hair anytime soon, well at least until his grandma and aunt see him in a couple of weeks. However I think I will cut the mulet (while Paul is at work) j/k. Thank you all for voting, exspecially the ones who voted with me! Paul would also like to thank the majority of the voters who voted with him.

What a cute 4-month old!

2008-02-09T19:14:00.000-07:00

I keep forgeting to put this on the blog, many people have been asking us when Thomas is going to have his heart sugery. We have shceduled it for April 15th. He will six months old by that time which is when our cardiologist wants him to have it. It could be even sooner than that if he starts showing symptoms. We are very nervous for the surgery but at the same time we are a little relieved because we know that he will have more energy and be healthier overall. The doctors and surgeons have assured us that even though it is open heart sugery it is a fairly simple procedure and has a great sucess rate.

FOUR Years Already!!

2008-02-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty fun week, we had our friends Jeremy and Sara over for dinner, we know that they are fans of the blog and we wanted to give them a shout out!

It looks like early valentines, but I actually got this from Paul for our anniversary. we have now been married for four years. We always get each other the traditional gift and for the fourth anniversary it is flowers or appliances. I got him a speaker thing for his Mp3 player, but unfortuanatly it is not compatable with his Mp3 player so I will have to take it back.

For our anniversary we decided to go to Sedona, we could not believe how beautiful it is there, it reminds me of southern Utah, with all of the red rocks. It was a perfect day to go, it was really warm and sunny.

They have a lot of fun little shops in sedona, I wanted my picture taken in front of the fudge shop, but I forgot to do it. I had some yummy cream cheese chocolate fudge. It was a really fun day and we followed the rest of the day up by going to Olive Garden. It was nice to get out of the house for the day.

Rock the Vote

2008-02-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

Thomas is growing out of his 0-3 month clothes and he hasn't got to wear some of them since we don't take him to church yet, so I thought I had better take a picture of his cute little argyle vest.
I have been telling Paul that Thomas is in serious need of a haircut I just measured his hair it sticks straight up and it measures 3 inches. His hair can not be tamed if I try and comb it to one side it looks like a really bad comb-over. Paul first told me we could cut it if we bought a video camera to video tape it. So I bought a video camera now he says that I have to make a scrapbook page for his first haircut before we can cut it. He is just going to keep coming up with more and more excuses not to cut his hair. So I need everyone's help and vote whether or not you think Thomas needs a haircut!

Thomas' mullet

Getting in shape

2008-01-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

OK so I made Paul take a picture of me yesterday, because I am determined to lose that last 10 lbs of baby weight. So I am hoping in a little while I can report some weight loss success. Its been so hard because I have always loved chocolate, but since I had Thomas that is all I want to eat. I have been trying to find alternatives that don't have a lot of calories. My favorite 100 calorie snacks (Just in case anyone is looking for some ideas) are laughing cow cheese wedges with five crackers that is 105 calories, I also like kudos 100 calorie bars and mini bags of M&Ms which are around 90 calories. The only problem is that I like to bake and I am the only one who eats the stuff I make because Paul doesn't really like treats, so that makes trouble for me in the thigh and booty area. It has also been very difficult to lose weight because we have been keeping Thomas inside because of RSV season, and it makes for lots of opportunities to eat. I am excited that RSV season will soon be coming to a close and we can finally bless Thomas on March 2nd, we can't wait for our families to come to Arizona, we have missed them so much!

Not too much else is going on around here except Paul bought a large flat screen TV and for about two months all I have heard about is HD this and HD that its enough to drive me crazy! Yesterday the satellite people came to install HD satellite for the TV. I told him that this was the last HD thing we are buying because all the stuff he thinks he needs are pretty expensive. Somehow I think this is just the beginning and I am really in for it.

3 Months Old

2008-01-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe he is twice the size he was when we brought him home from the hospital. As you can see he is sure is enjoying his playtime.

Happy New Years!!

2008-01-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

We had a quiet night for New Years, the three of us made homeade ice cream and played games, we had a lot of fun expecially Thomas, it looks like he had a little too much fun!

Thomas has discovered his hands he is constantly sucking on them, he even tries to suck on them when he has a binki in his mouth, this leads to some frustration on his part.

This is another picture Grandma took, we love when we can get him to smile for the camera.

More Christmas

2007-12-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to have Grandma here for Christmas we had so much fun and Thomas loved all the attention he got.

I had to send Paul on a treasure hunt for his present because it was to big to wrap, some of the cluse stumped him but eventually he found it.

Grandma got a new camera for Christmas from my brothers and sisters and she spent most of Christmas taking pictures of Thomas and posing him in all sorts of ways, we thought this one was pretty cute!

Christmas

2007-12-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

We all had a really fun Christmas, Thomas got a exersaucer from santa and a whole bunch of toys and clothes from the both of our families. I got a cricut and an ice cream maker wich is exaclty what I wanted. Paul got a table saw and floor mats for his truck.

Thomas is getting tired of us telling him he has to wait to open his presents.

Thomas is helping daddy open presents.

Smiling on Camera!!

2007-12-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

Thomas just continues to brighten our lives, more and more each day, and melt our hearts with his beautiful smile that he is none to shy to show off!!

Smiling

2007-12-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Thomas started smiling on 11/26/07 we have been trying to take pictures of him smiling, this is the closest we could get.

Daddy found Thomas his new favorite binki that he loves.

Thomas in his recliner relaxing by the Christmas Tree ( he is really not supposed to be sitting in this yet)

This is our favorite picture that we have taken of Thomas, we liked it so much we used it as our Christmas Card.

Getting Ready for Christmas!

2007-11-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

Cute...

Super Cute..

Putting up the tree!!

Who turned out the Christmas lights?

Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Paul and I had our friends Elaina and Jeanette over for Thanksgiving, it was an interesting experience since this was my first attempt at cooking a turkey. (I only had to call my mom 10-12 times with turkey emergencies)

Paul carving our turkey (obviously)

When Grandma Shepherd came to town she bought Thomas this Thanksgiving outfit that he enjoyed wearing.

Much Ado About Nothing...

2007-11-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Thomas was recently admitted to the childrens cardiac ICU in Phoenix, AZ for early onset heart failure. Yeah sounds pretty serious and we were devestated, but before telling you the happy ending let me back up to the beginning of the day.
When Thomas was first sent home from the NICU after he was born his cardiologist gave us a paper of signs to watch for that would should his heart condition was progressing as expected. As the weeks went by we began checking off some of the what we thought were signs he may be beginning to struggle. The last couple of days we checked off several. We called his cardiologist, who said these were normal and to just have him checked out by his pediatrician to day if possible. Well, we called his office and his nurse tried to send us to the emergency room refusing to see us. FYI the emergency room in Prescott is not where you want to be with an infant with a heart problem (unless of course you enjoy helicopter trips to Phoenix) So what now? Well his pediatrician is a family friend and unfortunately it was his day off, but we called him at home, he talked to us over the phone and he called his office to make sure someone there would see us just to listen to his heart and lungs and make sure everything was okay and that the symptoms were not signs of something else. We got there and the doctor who saw him did all sorts of tests, poked around in his ears, and got him real worked up, he was crying so loud (which he never does) I was suprised she could say anything when she put that stethascope to his chest and back. Well she said she did, she said she heard fluid on his lungs, and called the cardiologist. The decision was if there was fluid on his lungs it either meant he had entered heart failure early or had a lung infection, neither of which would have been the good news.
So we were off to Phoenix stopping at home for some extra clothes for all of us, expecting to be staying several nights. Another blessing for Thomas and we put him in the car for the long drive. The cardiac team readied a room for him in the ICU so they would be ready for us when we arrived. The first comment we got when we walked through the doors to the brand new facility was, "he looks good" as they wondered out loud why we were there. As you can see they hooked him all up, did an ultrasound, a chest x-ray, monitored his vitals. The verdict: they don't hear or see any fluid on his lungs, his heart is not in distress, you can go home. While they offered us a bed for the night due to the long drive, we weren't going to let them find another excuse to keep our baby in the hospital, he's had enough, and we went home. We are go glad he's okay, and feel blessed that it all turned out. He's our miracle baby we just wish he would stop trying to scare us.

One Month and Counting!!

2007-11-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

At last check 6 lbs. 6 oz. and 19 1/2 in...

And still growing...

Yeah Right!

2007-11-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

AWWWW....

2007-11-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Happy First Halloween

2007-10-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

He was Daddy's Little Monster for Halloween.

Mom didn't think it was much of a strech since she hasn't been getting very much sleep lately.

Looks like he sleeps pretty well to me!!

First Bath

2007-10-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today Thomas had his first real bath, with no more cord and his circ. healing he could finally be immersed. And what do you know.. he loved it!! Happy and content, we feared a struggle, but he didn't squirm or fuss, the only thing he didn't like was getting out!

The sad part is as you can see he is starting to break out in the baby acne, his beautiful baby smooth and soft skin is dissapearing before our eyes.

He loves his Mom

2007-10-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

We know because he won't sleep any other way!!

Just Plain Cute!!

2007-10-22T18:51:00.001-07:00

Asleep or Awake...

At least we think so....

And look no more belly button!!!

Getting to know you...

2007-10-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Play Time

Grandma Time

Daddy Time

Welcome Home!!

Thomas Paul Shepherd

2007-10-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

PERFECT!!

Obviously!

I like my new cradle!

My changing table is fun too!

Coming HOME!!

2007-10-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

The best day ever... So glad we got to bring Thomas home today. I couldn't believe it was happening, they really discharged him home. Needless to say there were definitely tears shed when daddy found out. We had a long drive to Prescott ahead of us, but we were actually going home. We are so very grateful for this day.

Thomas is happy to be home too.

But nobody is happier than daddy, to hold his boy, on his own couch, no wires, no alarms, just quality time with his little tough guy. We are going to keep him here for a while, and hope and pray for another miracle on his heart, that it heals on its own and he doesn't need the surgery they have planned for his heart in 3 months.

Our Miracle...

2007-10-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Thomas had his echo to confirm the aorta was narrowing which meant surgery. Just before his daddy gave him a little blessing in a crowded NICU. Moments later you could see the smile on the face of the ultrasound technicians face, and acouple hours later we got the official word. The fetal valves are closed and the coarct (problem with the aorta) is gone. Thomas can come HOME!!!
No more three minute scrubs in the NICU for mom!
No more for dad... his hands were getting pretty raw.
And Thomas started making preparations to be discharged, including a hearing test -PASS, an hour and a half in a car seat because he is a cardiac patient - PASS, his nice nurses put together his gift basket, mom and dad will be up late watching premature discharge videos, because come tomorrow both mom and baby will be going home!!

Hello World

2007-10-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Thomas was suprised this morning by visitors. His Grandma Shepherd, Aunt Jill, And Aunt Kelly, drove the 12 hours from Salt Lake to Phoenix through the night because they couldn't wait to see him.
He is still in the NICU and we are still waiting for the repeat echo that will tell us whether he gets to come home or will have to stay and have surgery, we are scared, but are still hoping for the best.

We are getting better at hiding his cords when we bundle him up. Thomas gets to start wearing pajamas today, and is healthy enough to have his own clothes and sheets (the one on the bottom of the crib is from Grandma Shepherd). He is still eating well, and his alarms go off occasionally but it is usually because he is active and they can't get a good reading. He has good muscle tone, his cone head from the 24 hours of labor is diminishing, and mom and dad still miss him and wish he could come stay with them.

The NICU

2007-10-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

Our baby boy is in the NICU, looking around he is probably one of the biggest and healthiest babies in here. Mom is recovering very well from her C-Section and is already up walking around, getting dressed, and enjoying the pain medicine. She still gets tired quickly and can't be out of bed too long, but Thomas will be able to spend more time with her as soon as they are both better.

Dad spends a lot of time in the NICU feeding, changing, holding, and playing with his new buddy. He is there till the wee hours of the morning, when he's not checking on mom. It is hard to have two people you care about on different floors and only being able to see one at a time. Thomas already recognizes daddy's voice and falls asleep in his arms. It is tough to see him with all the cords and monitors on him, but Thomas is doing well, he is feeding on demand from a bottle and will not require a feeding tube, he is holding his own temperature and is off the warmer, hasn't had to be in a incubator, and his blood pressure is still doing well as they continue to watch him closely. So far no signs of trouble or heart failure, the echo will be repeated tomorrow and we are all hoping and praying for the best.

One Way or Another...

2007-10-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

After waiting all night and have way through the day today, Julie was having strong contractions, all the monitors said so. Unfortunately, while Thomas was handling labor well Julie could not get passed a 5 on a scale that goes to 10. The contractions were not causing the progress they were supposed to. A decision was made, we had little choice in it, that while baby was still doing well a C-section would be performed. Twenty minutes later Julie was being wheeled in the O.R. and a couple minutes after that we had a beautiful baby boy just 37 weeks old. Strong, and healthier than anyone expected he scored 9 and 9 and weighed in at 5 lbs 9.8 oz, just 17 inches long, Thomas quieted right down and settled into daddy's arms. He had a little squeak when he first cried, and concerned about fluid in his lungs he was sent to the NICU just in a transitional state, meaning he wasn't being admitted just checked more closely. What a beautiful blessed day this was both mom and dad were so proud.
After arriving at the NICU with dad, the cardiologists performed the echo to double check his heart, all was as expected, and he was to be discharged to the healthy baby nursery. Mom was doing great in recovery they stapled her up nice and she was progressing well as well. I brought the camera back to Julie so she could see the pictures of Thomas I had taken. After checking on mom I headed back to be with Thomas. That's where I found the cardiologist and the bad news. Just after I left they had taken one more picture of his heart and he appeared to have a narrowing in his Aorta that could be dangerous and require immediate surgery as soon as the fetal valves began to close (usually within 24 hours of birth). Thomas would be staying in the NICU. I took the news back to Julie, it was a very emotional time for us. We were so glad to have our little angel here, and so sad he couldn't be with us.

Just a Checkup!

2007-10-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to Phoenix for Julie's weekly checkup. We packed our bags just in case as we have done everytime we headed south, never really beliving they wouldn't let us leave. After an ultrasound we waited for the doctor, who came in to tell us some unexpected news. Concerned about the baby's growth and some other factors they told us to head over to labor and delivery, we would be having this baby today!! Julie got all hooked up, got her juice and a sucker, had her IV put in by a student nurse (OUCH!!), and waited. We waited all through the night, first was a drug to prepare Julie for the delivery, it takes 12 hours to work, then the drug to begin strong contractions.... still waiting... Midnight came and still no baby.

Hangar Party

2007-10-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

There was an airshow this weekend in Prescott. We didn't get to go because I had to work, however we did get to take in the festivities the night before. Courtesy of Lockheed Martin I was awarded two tickets to the Hangar Party the night before. The tickets were priced at $60 a piece, and catered by the fanciest restaurants in town. It was basically a dinner for VIPs, airshow pilots, and sponsors to say good luck. We had a good time on what may be one of our final nice nights out together before we have to start worrying about babysitters and such. Hope you enjoy the pictures we enjoyed being there

Finally Ready

2007-10-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

His room is done, the backs are packed, a new car is in the driveway, everything is ready to welcome Thomas, Especially us!!

It's been a long wait, but we know it will be worth it, we are ready for our lives to change for the better.

2 more weeks!!

2007-10-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

He's almost here. If he hasn't come sooner Julie will be induced on October 22. We can't wait!

Yes this is an old picture 4-months old in fact.

Baby Showers with new friends!!

2007-10-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of some of the friends we've met in Prescott, and of the showers they threw for Julie.

Preparing His Room

2007-10-07T17:11:00.000-07:00

We have been busy preparing for our new arrival for the last several months, needless to say the blog has sufferred. I am getting around to putting up our recent pictures, especially of our preparation. We are enjoying life in Prescott, and excited for Thomas, we'll try and keep this updated especially after the baby comes we know family and friends will be interested.

Building the crib....

Looking good...

Is this straight?

Time to catch up!!!

2006-10-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Ok so by now you can tell that I am just about the worst blogger ever. Truth is the weather had been so nice and gas prices so low (below $2.00), that who would want to sit around and type on a computer all day. Well, you are in luck, the weather has turned colder, fall came and went in a week, and the harsh cold winter is about to set in. So, I'm back to keep you updated on all our adventures, but first to play a little cath-up. The next few entries will go month by month and include all the fun activities you see here. So stay tuned for an update on our exciting life....

Somebody turn on the A/C

2006-05-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well, its been hotter than... well, you know. The last couple weeks we've seen temperature in the 90's, even up to 96 the other day, and with the humidity around here you'd almost think that we are no longer in North Dakota. And then you realize that no one ever imagined that they would need air conditioning in ND so they didn't install it. Well, we went to Wal-Mart and bought a fan that we carry around the house to blow hot air on ourselves, since the air conditioners were like 75 bucks... I can't wait for winter. You know when it's freezing you can always put more clothes on... but in the sweltering heat you can only take so many off, and even less outdoors. Maybe we'll see a lot of movies this summer, or like teenagers spend time hanging out in the mall bumming some of their A/C!

19 Credits... 6 Classes... 1 Grade... Priceless!!

2006-05-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Julie's sooooo proud! That's 3 semesters in a row, we'll just see if I can keep it up this summer with more advanced classes.

AVIT 103: Intro Air Traffic Control - A
AVIT 208: Aviation Safety - A
AVIT 260: ATC:Tower Operations I - A
AVIT 261: ATC: Radar Operations I - A
ECON 303: Money & Banking - A
MATH 146: Applied Calculus I - A

Courses Attempted - 6
Units Passed Toward GPA - 19
Current Term GPA - 4.000

Stress... Stress... & MORE STRESS

2006-05-10T12:01:00.003-07:00

Stress...

Well we learned recently that Julie's job is coming to an end. Blue Cross Blue Shield is shutting down the Grand Forks office in her department. We are hoping that they will be able to place her in another office here in Grand Forks and it will be a seamless transition. Needless to say, it's been kinda wait and see and so far we haven't seen anything. So we're worried and stressed and on top of that...

Stress...

It's finals week, the time where all the time work and energy you've put in all semester can be pretty much thrown out the window by a poor performance on an exam with no recourse. So I've been studying and praying, that I will do well enough to get the grades I want. I feel ok about most of the ones I've taken, the last one is tonight at about 5:30 - it's Calculus which has been kicking my butt all semester, in other words I need to do really well. After that I'll have a couple days off to relax before... I get to start the cycle of stress all over again as a new semester starts on Monday and I'm fully loaded with classes. They cancelled one of my summer courses which threatened for a time to push my graduation back till next May, all for a 2 credit class, but luckily I spent a single semester here back in 1999, and that class hadn't been invented yet, so I don't have to take it. And then...

AND MORE STRESS....

Late last week I got a call asking if I could drive to Fargo early Saturday morning to meet with the Stake President. So we got in the car, made the long drive, and got the news... more on that later...

But we did have some fun in Fargo, Julie wanted to check out some garage sales, and man do they take those things seriously out here, cars were parked for blocks as we walked street after street of one large neighborhood where everyone was out hawking there stuff... I've never seen such madness.. The even had professional hot dog vendors and such out for the event... We did get a nice desk for 5 bucks for my future studies and some other stuff to, we took in some Famous Daves with a giftcard while we were in town, and went to Kohl's for the latest deals. It was fun...

It's just too bad that it was the result of somebody feeling they needed to extend me a calling of Elder's quorum president... Yeah, I'm going to be busy. My plan is to just choose a couple good counselors I can lean on a great deal, only problem is we haven't been here very long and I don't really know hardly anybody, I have been staring at the ward list night after night hoping for a name or two to pop out at me, but so far no luck. Well I'll keep you informed, boy I sure wasn't ready or even expecting that one, after all it's not like we are going to be around for very long.

Well keep praying for us... We sure need it!!

Easter etc....

2006-04-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

Well the water is receding, and the grass is turning green, overall things are great. We've had temperatures in the high 70's while it was snowing in Utah, and are enjoying the outdoors with nice long walks, For example for Easter, Julie got me a football and frisbee, so we've been known to walk to the park or just hang out and play.

Speaking of Easter it was good we died eggs, got gifts from home, and have plenty of candy to last for a while, I made French bread (I make bread a lot) and baked artichoke-spinach dip, and we ate that along with some spaghetti, and Julie made no-bake cookies it was good!

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 2006

2006-04-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since our last post, so forgive us.

As I discussed in last time, the mountains of snow had to melt sometime. Well, with the recent warm temperatures, it has!! And boy has it melted, the only thing keeping us dry, is the brand new levees they started building after the town was turned into a lake in 1997. We have seen minor and moderate flood stages come and go, and now we sit at several feet above MAJOR FLOOD stage with the Red River.

We went down for a walking tour and took some pictures for you all to enjoy. As you can see the roads are closed downtown, the bridges over the river have closed, since the water is now flowing over them.

There were a lot of people out taking picture of the event, walking on the dikes, and a few were trying to fish off the bridge, where the water is normally about a forty foot drop, but today it was up and over in some places. Now, we may have had to go over or under some yellow "do not cross" police line tape to get these pictures, but honestly, like some little yellow tape is going to keep us away, this is the biggest thing we have seen happen in our four months here!

This is the Minnesota side of the Bridge, Nobody is getting into East Grand Forks anytime soon, at least not this way.

Notice the gazeebo, there is supposed to be a large park here, playground, benches, tables, etc. Oh, yeah and that is the bridge that the water is usually a 40-foot drop.

Closed?? C'mon I have four wheel drive!

Sometimes you just can't find a convenient trash can.

I need some waders to get to Cabela's, but I need to get to Cabela's so I can get waders?

I hope nobody parked on this street.

The city is shut down, nothing to do, why not see if there is any fish in that flood. After all the river is a lot closer now!

If you want more or bigger pictures just e-mail us and we'll send them. And thanks to my family for the digital camera, so we can post these pictures the same day. Anybody want to buy us a raft, we can get a great parking space at Applebee's!

2 Years & Counting....

2006-02-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

We recently celebrated our two year anniversary; it’s crazy to think that we’ve already been married that long. Of course, Julie says it seems like forever – I don’t know what that means. But it’s been a great two years, and we look forward to many more.

School is still going good, and still tough, calculus is killing me, of course I haven’t been in a math class in 6 years, so right now 8th grade algebra would probably whoop my butt.

The snow keeps coming down and the wind keeps blowing, and it never gets above like 10 degrees here (last week wind chills were between -40 and -60), so the snow doesn’t melt, so it just keeps piling up. We don’t have real mountains, but the way they pile up snow in these huge piles, you would never know this part of the country is flat, it looks like we have rolling hills.

Can’t wait for spring to come, just glad we live on the second floor, because when it warms up and the “mountains" melt, up will come the flood.

I have received requests to put more pictures up, so even though we don’t have any recent ones, we need to buy a new roll of film, I thought I’d post some from our Christmas away from home. We set up a small tree on a TV tray and put presents under it, got dressed up in pajamas my family sent to us and made the best of it.

Really Freezing!!!

2006-02-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

After the warmest January ever recorded in Grand Forks, winter has finally decided to kick in. The last few days we have seen crazy blizzards and temperatures in the negatives with wind chills of -20...brrrrr.

The good news is we finally got our pictures developed and decided to start posting some on our blog. This is the picture of our apartment building. We live on the second floor, it's not as bad as Julie would have you believe.

We went to a hockey game the other day. These people take this sport way to seriously. First of all all the chairs in the arena are leather and trimmed in cherry, the concourse floors aren't concrete, they're granite! We got seats in the student section, which aren't free for students, but they're not as expensive as the rest. This is no E-Center Grizzlies game either, where they're lucky to get a thousand people to a game. No the place is packed with sold out crowds of 12,000, oh and though they have a huge parking lot next to the arena, nobody gets to park there. Then the fools, at least the ones by us feel that they need to stand for the entire game... it's hockey for heaven's sake and collegiate hockey at that... We found some seats though where people were sitting down so we could get off our feet. Well, anyway it went into overtime.. a whole 18 seconds of overtime before they lost, but oh well, it was still fun they had some cool laser shows during the break, and it wasn't too cold that night, good thing since we had to walk for like a mile away.

work and church

2006-01-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

Well my new work is ok, there is so much to learn, and the people at my new job aren't as fun as you guys at Magellan. I haven't met anyone I would call my friend you know how I am anti-social. I have been to my new ward, and it is kind of cool because there are four girls from Utah that are in our ward. Their husbands are going to school for Air Traffic Control. So maybe we will eventually be friends.

Pictures

2006-01-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are currently working on finishing up our roll of film so we can get the pictures developed and post some of them here so we can show everyone our adventures. Hopefully it won't take to long, but since we lack a digital camera, you'll all just have to wait.

Freezing

2006-01-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

So we're her settled in and set up this blog to always let everyone know how we are doing. It's freeking freezing here, but we are trying to make the best of it. Julie still has one and a half weeks left where she has to drive to Fargo, but soon she be settled in to her job here. School is going good, I have a load of classes, not to mention the wifely responsibilities I have taken on since Julie is working. Anyway, things are great and we are just really getting started.