The Reason We Pay For Homeowners Insurance

This morning at 3:00 Sam woke up. I'm so thankful that he did! I was in his room feeding him and I heard Dutchess whining in the laundry room. I wondered why she was whining but thought maybe she just had to go to the bathroom. After I put Sam back down I went down to check. I got down the stairs, turned the corner, took a few steps and knew why she was whining. I stepped in a puddle of water. Our outside facet had frozen and burst and was filling up the laundry room with water! It was beginning to spill out into the entryway as well. I quickly ran upstairs and woke Matt up and we spent the next 45 minutes cleaning up the water.

Matt called his cousin Travis (a plumber) and he came over to fix the pipe. We also had someone come out to assess the damage. I didn't think there was going to be that much damage because it hadn't gotten very far onto the hardwood and carpet. But, there is water damage to the hardwood. Right now there are two ways this could go. We are drying everything out with really loud fans right now and then if the damage isn't too bad we will have to have all of the hardwood refinished. That is the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is that we will have to have ALL of the hardwood replaced! Those of you who have been to our house know that there is quite a bit of hardwood. But, it would be an all of nothing deal since they won't be able to match the pattern. Here are som pictures of the living room, bathroom, and laundry room. Needless to say, we are spending the next night or two upstairs.

Thanksgivng in Arizona

I'm still behind in my blog posts. We went to Tucson for Thanksgiving. My parents have a condo there and they go every November. This year we decided to go and spend Thanksgiving with them. Abby, Sam and I flew out on the Friday before Thanksgiving. We had a few days there and then Matt came the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had a great time hanging out at their place, swimming in the pool, Christmas shopping, and going to the Desert Museum. Matt got to play golf twice with my dad (even though it rained both Thursday and Friday). We had a great Thanksgiving dinner. On Saturday we drove to Phoenix to spend our last day with Amy and her family. It was fun hanging out with them and Abby loved being about to see Ashtyn and Kylan again. Rick and Amy have a Wii so after the kids went to bed we played that for a while. We played tennis and bowling. It was very fun but my right arm was sore for about three days after leaving! Here are some pictures of the trip.

Abby sporting the sombrero Grandma and Grandpa got her in Mexico.

Boppa with the kids.

Sam and I in the condo.

We spent quite a bit of time in the pool and hot tub.

It was nice to see the sun again...

One night we were in the living room and Abby disappeared for a while. She was in my parents closet getting all of my mom's hats and putting them on her head. She was quite proud when she came walking out without any of them falling off.

I was sitting on a bench in the bird part of the museum. I was right under a bird and made a comment about it being able to poop right on my leg. About a minute later it did! I just had to take a picture and share. :)

Boppa and Abby at the Desert Museum.

Posing at the Desert Museum.

Abby and Grandma Loon playing cards.

The four of us on our last morning in Tucson.

Having fun in the park.

Three princesses.

The four cousins.

Kylan LOVED Sam. I love this picture of the two of them.

Joy and Kylan

Daddy with his kids.

This is a video of Abby and Ashtyn playing at the playground by Ashtyn's house. I love the imaginations of six year olds!

Abby's Thanksgiving Program

Abby's class invited all the parents to come to a Thanksgiving feast the Thursday before Thanksgiving. Her class worked hard at learning a few songs and then we all feasted on Turkey. Here are some pictures of the event.



Guess where Abby is....yup, back row center.




Jingle Bells Thanksgiving Style



Abby and her friend Emily

Shopping Trip

I'm not usually very much of a shopper (I don't have the patience for it) but this weekend I went with the other women in my small group on an overnight shopping trip. It was so fun. We left Friday evening and drove to our hotel right by South Center mall. Dinner that night was at the Cheesecake Factory...yum! On Saturday morning we were at the mall at 10:00 and didn't leave until 4:00. I have never spent that much time at a mall in one day but it was great. I took my camera but forgot to take pictures except for at our morning stop at Starbucks. Here they are.



Lisa and Lyssie



Tricia and Robbi



Sam got to come too and he was so good. He was very content in his stroller. He was running a little bit of a fever after getting shots at his six month check-up the day before. While in the Macy's dressing room we gave him a little Tylenol which he promptly threw up. Lyssie did her best to catch it but ended up with a little bit in her cupped hand and the rest on the dressing room floor. We did manage to get some down him and he felt better after that.

Fall Festival

On Wednesday night our church had their annual Fall Festival. Here are some pictures from the event.


The Queen of Hearts ready to go.


It's hard to get strapped in a car seat when you have wings.



Mom with the Queen and her Bumblebee.




Abby shooting a squirt gun.



Her target.... our youth pastor, Mike Slofstra.

Ear Infections, Sinus Infections, Random Viruses...Oh My!

We have always been a pretty healthy family. I know that Sam is relatively new to the family but Abby hardly ever gets sick so I'm not used to what has happened to us this past week.

It started last Tuesday when Sam got sick. He is doing much better now. On Friday afternoon I started to get a headache. Usually Advil takes care of my headaches but this one was hanging on. I figured I just needed to sleep it away. What I woke up to on Saturday is the worst headache of my life! I am not joking about that...it was so bad. I could barely function. I had to sit in one spot and not move my head at all. Since I'd never experienced anything like it I thought maybe it was a migraine. Matt had to do everything for me which he did without complaining once. He had a Husky football game to go to that evening and said more than once that he was going to stay home. But, I did not want him to have to miss the game (even though the Huskies suck and it probably would have been more fun staying home taking care of a sick wife). So my mother-in-law and mom came over to take care of me. I was in pretty rough shape. I went in to the after hours clinic Sunday afternoon and it turns out it was a sinus headache. I thought I had had those before but nothing comes close to touching the pain that I felt with that headache. It started to get a little better Saturday night when I went to bed. I have some medication from the Dr. and am feeling so much better. The headache is still there but it is more of an annoying ache than a knife going through my head.

Last night Abby woke up twice in the night crying and saying that her throat hurt. This morning when she got up she started throwing up. She is white as a sheet and has barely moved or spoken all day. Below is a picture of her... you know she is really sick when she stays in one position longer than 30 seconds. I took her in to the Dr. today (the third time I've been there in a week). We brought a bowl in the car just in case but she also wanted to bring it in to the Dr. I didn't want to but gave in. I'm so glad I did because while I was checking her in I heard something and looked over to see her leaning over the bowl throwing up in it. Poor girl. They tested her for strep but the Dr. thinks it is a virus that has been going around. Hopefully it is a short lived one.

So, three of us have been sick but with totally unrelated illnesses. I'm pretty sure Matt and Dutchess are going to stay in a hotel for the next couple of days.

Beautiful Fall Days

It has been so beautiful out the last few days. Today the kids were all playing at our swing set and we got a few pictures of them. We even put Sam in his swing for the first time. He loved it.