GPS

We had been toying with the idea of getting a GPS for some time now, and after Kurt got one, we decided to go ahead and do it. It got here last Saturday, so we used Memorial Day afternoon to take a drive and see how it works. Since I grew up decorating graves on Memorial Day, we drove to the only cemetery in Michigan that I have relatives in in Dexter Township. We tried to do some geocaching along the way, but couldn't get the hang of it. We saw these cows as we were driving there. We'd never seen cows marked like this before and thought they looked like hogs. Anyway, Dad took a picture and we thought we'd share it with you. There is also a picture of the headstone of Aaron Truesdell. I'm doing some geneology along his line trying to find out if the 3 boys who are listed as living in his household in the 1850 census are his sons or nephews, or some other relation.

big girl and a proud mother

Look how BIG Addie looks. Once this little one gets here (in about a week and a half!) I'm sure Addie will seem HUGE.




And THIS, to my own astonishment, is a blanket I made all by myself! My friend Heather told me what to do and let me use her machine, but I did all the work. Are you impressed? I think it turned out really cute.

a shout-out to Christmas

I was thinking recently that we never decided what we're going to do for Christmas this year. I realize this may be a bit premature, but I'd rather we have the discussion and decide now. Mom suggested drawing an entire family out of a hat and then making something homemade for them. That way we can be creative, and most likely not spend as much money on something for each individual in our entire family. As our family is growing, and as a poor student wife, I particularly this idea.

If we do end up doing it this way, here are a few discussion items:

1. Should we make one thing for the entire family (i.e. one gift for all 7 Hicks) or one thing for EACH person in the family (seven gifts for seven Hicks)?

2. Is Jimmy his own entity, or does he get lumped together with Mom and Dad for now?

3. Because they will be homemade, I don't think a spending limit is necessary, do you?

4. If we want to buy gifts for others in the family outside of those in the drawing, I think that's fine, but nobody has to feel obligated. Again, what do you think?

I would be happy to set it up once these few points are decided--and if you guys like this idea at all. As a less-than-crafty gal, I thought it would be handy to know earlier rather than later if this is something we'd like to do. Thanks for your input!

More Utah Pictures

I finally got some time to post more of the pictures we took out in Utah to flickr. I uploaded about 60. Go check them out!

It's National

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30732617
This is an article msnbc wrote about the tornado yesterday...I can't believe it's national news. What a weird feeling.

We Have Survived!

5:30 pm: We just got home from the store and it was pouring outside-like it had been all day. I started making dinner because we were all pretty hungry. I was opening some windows for a breeze because the humidity was overwhelming. Eric and Noah were just hanging out.

5:45 pm: Our city sirens went off. Eric and I looked at each other in somewhat terror, this was new territory for both of us. We had never been through a tornado with Noah. Eric checked the radio and it said that there was a tornado warning in effect until 6:30 pm. There had been a sighting of a supercell 10 miles northwest of Kirksville and it was heading east at 30 mph.

5:50 pm: I start frantically cleaning out Noah's closet. Our basement was flooded and every room has windows. We have two closets, but Noah's seemed the safest.

5:55 pm: The three of us huddled into the smallish closet. Noah does pretty well. We only have flashlights going and Eric's computer is on keeping track of the storm. It was a little like being in a fort. Noah had a blast just hanging on the shelving he could barely reach while I was praying in my mind that we would all be safe.

6:20 pm: We finally emerged from our hiding spot because we could see sun coming in Noah's windows. Eric checks the weather one more time and the storm has moved past Kirksville-but it moved right onto some cities of people who live in our ward. We are praying they are alright.

5 minutes ago: I read this article on our newspaper's website...

It was a close one. The tornado touched down 10 minutes north of our house. Just outside of the most populated part of town. If it had moved 2 or 3 miles south, our house could have been in its path. We thank our Father in Heaven for sparing us and our friends, but are asking Him to look out for those not as fortunate.

Deena update

I called Grandma today as a post-Mother's Day call, I also had to ask her some questions about those tapes that I still haven't finished. Anyway, Deena is apparently doing ok. She is at Karen's house while Karen is working, but Grandma said Deena hasn't called once today needing help, so she must be feeling better.

Also, FYI, Mary broke her arm somehow. Grandma said all she wanted for Mother's Day was to be left alone (in true fashion), but between Deena's concussion and Mary's arm, it made for an interesting holiday. She WAS happy, however, that she didn't need to cook for everyone.

Beginning of New Wall Display

Mom attended a home party a month ago or so and bought some wall decals. She has now turned the wall coming out of the garage into a picture wall with the first picture the one of all the grandchildren you gave us for Christmas. The picture and accompanying words look great and Mom wanted me to post a picture of them. She said we will now add other pictures to the wall as occasion allows.



Mom also wanted me to tell you the latest about Deena (I just talked to Grandma for Mother's Day). It seems that Jeff has left town to visit Dartmouth University (presumably to investigate for potential graduate work) and Deena and Cooper came to Karen's house to stay the week. Before Jeff left, they went to Cherry Hill yesterday to have some fun and Deena was climbing the rock wall (or whatever the climbing wall is) and fell off and hit her head quite hard. She didn't think much about it although her head hurt and then it really started to hurt and she began to have blurry vision. They took her to the hospital and did a CAT scan and found she had a concussion. I'm not sure how they are treating her but Grandma said she now has a very high fever. Grandma and Grandpa will have to take care of her because Karen has to go to work next week. We need to remember her in our prayers.

Hope all you Mothers in the family had a very nice Mother's Day.

We love you all.

P.S. Thought some of you might enjoy seeing my new Michigan State National Champion T-Shirt. (I know they didn't actually win the championship but I got one of the T-shirts they made just in case they won. It may be a collector's item some day -- and then again, it may not be. It's a very nice looking shirt, I think; too bad they didn't win the championship.)

Trip to Points Westward

These are in backwards order because of Bloggers quirks but here's a quick run down of our trip.

Big family dinner. Angela's kids were there for the tail-end of dinner. It was great, sloppy joes and home made root beer.
Angela's kids (left to right Caitlyn, Dylan, Ashton, Cayden) with Harv

Trish and I hunting rocks on Antelope Island.
A wily bison. It's the family mascot, you know.
Harvey and I posing at a sign for Mathers Point at the Grand Canyon. My mom's side of the family are Mathers.
Grand Canyon!
Harvey's first fossil!
Native American Dancers!
This was the Eagles Crest at the sky walk. Kurt was pretty freaked out by being that close to the ledge but if Harv is going to grow up to be a geologist he has to learn sometime.
A new bridge they are building at the Hoover Dam. Potentially cooler than seeing the actual Hoover Dam.

Our vacation was really great and we all came back well rested and much renewed. Grandma and Grandpa are doing well. Trish seems to be settling into life with them. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and Harvey got a real kick out of Trish. We can't wait to go back though next time we'll probably bite off a little less and not add 20 hours of driving to a 5 day vacation.

trip to MO

Addie and I visited Kari over Jason's finals week and had a great time. Addie asked for Noah every day when she woke up, and still does! It was great to have the cousins play together. I wish we all lived closer so all our kids could get to know each other better. Here are few pictures-

Enjoying the wagon ride in Nauvoo, even though it was cold and wet

The King Kong of fingerpaints!

Very hungry and tired coming back from Nauvoo, we just had to laugh because at this point there is nothing you can do.

What a tasty meal at Pancake City!

So, I'm due in 5 weeks. Yeah, it's crazy. I can't beleive we'll have two kids. I'm not ready for sleepless nights all over again, but I am excited to meet this little one who has been making me uncomfortable for so long. This one has definitely been more active than Addie was, Jason thinks that means it's a boy. Was that your experience, Mom and Hillary? Anyhow...the countdown has begun.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

We have now completed our tour of high school musicals. We saw South Lyon East's production Friday night. It was good, as are all of the productions that Mrs. Kupper does. Unlike Little Shop of Horrors, I enjoyed the storyline very much. The kids did a great job even with all of the tap dancing that is in that show. Of course the set and costumes were great.
Kari got here just fine, and we're looking forward to a week with her and Noah. We have lots planned, so we shouldn't be bored. I got asked to play for a girl for the middle school solo and ensemble festival this coming Saturday, that means I'll have to practice with her a couple of times this week and Jim will have to take Kari to the airport on Saturday. It's an inconvenience that I would have preferred not to have this week while they are here, but we don't always get what we would prefer.