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.

Little Shop of Horrors

On Friday night Bill, Dad and I went to South Lyon High School's production of Little Shop of Horrors. None of us knew the plot, but we went anyway. Except for the story line, we enjoyed it very much. The kids did a great job, the set was very good and even the plant was very good. There were little children in the audience, and I'm not so sure that was a good idea. The week before, we went to Novi's production of Beauty and the Beast. We are prejudiced of course, but we thought that Jim's was better. Next week we're going to South Lyon East's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. I'm excited to see it. We saw it in Detroit a few years ago, and I liked it then. I'll let you know.
Jim has his finals this week. He's excited to be done with this semester. Dad is working hard on his homework, and is sad because the week that Kari will be here, he has a major project to do and won't be able to spend much time with her and Noah.
I think it will be best to do family dinner on Sunday. Both our stake and Hillary's stake has stake conference and we'll be done with church about noon. We can come here or go to Kurt's or Hillary's house. Since Kari will be here and she wants to see Hillary's house, maybe going there would be a good idea. What do you think, Hillary and Kurt?

The stove lives...

Charlie got the gas piped to the stove tonight! Hurray! The only problem is that he has to swap out the electic plug in order for the oven part to work now. So we can use the burners, but not the oven yet. It's a great step in the right direction now though, so I'm not going to complain too loudly. He was also able to fix the upstairs shower so we can use it now too. He hasn't finished the tiling yet, but we hung up plastic to cover the walls until that can be accomplished. Yet another step in the right direction. Our life has been little triumphs lately for which we have been ever so grateful for.

We've moved!

It's official, we've finally moved. I hope this will be our last move ever. I know it probably won't be, but I can be hopeful. I still have lots of unpacking and arranging to do. The house is such a disaster area. I hope by next week that most of our stuff will be unpacked and put away. There isn't much else going on in our lives right now. The move has kind of taken over. It'll be nice to have it finished.

da hairs

Small updates:

We didn't get up early and watch the sunrise on Easter. I wonder if that "tradition" died only two years after being formed. The sun rose much too early. We still had a big breakfast, and I found out I definitely CAN NOT make hashbrowns. I've tried several times and always end up throwing them away. We had a mini egg hunt in our apartment, Addie loved it, and Jason and I loved dying and coloring the eggs the night before. I included the picture of the yellow egg because, if you look closely, it is an eyeball. Yep, my husband rocks.

Jason turned 30 on Sunday. Yep, 30. I made him a delicious ice cream sandwich cake (from the Kraft magazines, of course!) and we had some friends over to eat it with. Now that he's 30 he claims his bones ache more. I included the picture with me on the side so you can all see how BIG I'm getting! I'm still attending Stroller Strides faithfully, even though it's getting pretty tough. Only 7 more weeks to go!

This last picture is just stinking cute. Addie and I are headed up to visit Kari in MO this Saturday, Jason's first day of exams. We'll stay until Wednesday or Thursday. I'm excited to see them and have Addie and Noah play together, but NOT excited about the 7 hour car ride. Fortunately for us, some friends have loaned us their personal DVD player, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Almost moving...

I just wanted to let you know that we are a go for moving this Friday. I'm almost finished cleaning the new house. It was so dirty and dusty from all the work we've been doing. We had the carpets professionally cleaned on Friday and they look so much better. They aren't perfect, but they will work for the time being. I've been working on the areas that needed to be mopped. I've finished all but a strip of tile that's in the living room. Then my next task is to clean the toilets and sinks and the bath tub in the master bath. When that is finished we should be ready to go. Charlie is finishing up putting the cabinets in the kitchen. All the ceiling cabinets and about half of the floor ones are in. He only had one more wall to attatch cabinets to. We're pretty excited to begin living there. I finished my business class lastnight. I'm so glad that's out of the way. Next week is that last week for my English class and then I'll be done for the summer. I'm looking forward to the break. I'll try to write some more soon. I've got to go finish cleaning now.

Jana's Favorite Joke

Jana's favorite joke is: What's bloody and has 2 legs? Half a cat!
I couldn't get that out of my head today as Eric set about pulling a dead cat from underneath our porch. It smelled horrible and it was starting to seep into the house, so I checked it out this morning and after Eric confirmed there was indeed something dead, he went to work to get it out. He tried to rake it out, but it was too far back and he couldn't fit in the small hole that it was coming in and out of.

So he kicked in the lattice and pulled it out and that made for easier access. As he inched closer to it, he kept saying, "Here kitty, kitty." Funny but gross at the same time.

Here's the cat. It's been living under our porch since the summer, but we aren't sure when it died. The old owners used to feed it, but we never did. I guess it was bound to die sometime...I just wish it hadn't been under our porch. Oh well. Poor kitty.
Eric was really proud of himself...and I am too. It was smelly and who knows what else could have been living under our porch. Just the joys of owning your own home.

Birthdays and Easter

We went out to dinner with Mom and Dad for on Thursday for our birthdays. We went to the Melting Pot in Novi. The food was excellent. The service was not. However, it was an enjoyable evening and it was nice to get out with adults for a dinner that did not involve a portable restaurant mat, hot dogs, or wiping someone down with wet naps at the end. We talked about our upcoming family trip to Utah this month and my trip to Ireland in August. I'll be traveling with my good friend Alison and it is certainly going to be the trip of a life time. I've always wanted to go and my grandma left us some money and we're never going to have less kids than this so it seems like the time to go.

Yesterday we had an Easter Egg hunt with Harvey, his friend, Simon, and the girls next door. Here are some of the highlights.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KURT!

Happy Birthday, big bro! I hope you get another bunny cake!

For Jason

I went to the eye doctor on Wednesday and my dry eye syndrome is improving, yea. I had also had problems for a couple of days before that with my left eye weeping. He told me that I had (I'm sure I won't spell this correctly), a clogged puncta. He explained it like this; there is a gland in your eye that opens and contracts to suck the excess tears out, and sometimes it gets like a charlie horse in it and contracts so it can't suck out the tears. This makes the tears build up and then when you bend over or sneeze they spill out (hence the weeping). He put some kind of instrument in it and stretched it out, gave me some eye drops to use a couple of times a day, and I haven't had trouble with it since. I thought Jason would be interested, I'm not sure anyone else will be.

We are still alive

I know I haven't been on the blog for a while. My life has been so busy. There are some days I don't even get on the computer at all. My semester is winding down though so I should have some more time here soon. We are also going to be moving in two weeks, so I should have more time after that as well. The next two weeks are going to be super busy. The house is coming along, but more slowly than we had hoped. We are focusing on the kitchen and getting it put back together right now so we can move in. We have agreed with the bank who owns the house we are in right now that we will be out by April 20th and that we will leave it broom swept clean. They are actually going to pay us to leave it clean too. We were pretty excited about that. Our new house only has to be liveable in order for us to move. With the kitchen finished, it will be liveable and so we will move in. There will be some more work to be finished, but nothing too great. All the work that we got the loan for has to be finished by August per terms of our contract to get the rehab loan money in the first place. That shouldn't be too hard to do, especially with Charlie off for the summer. There are several projects we want to do in addition to the jobs we have loan money for. Because we are doing most of the inside work ourselves, we've been able to stretch that loan money out to cover other jobs. It's been really nice to get more finished. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow so you can see the progress.

It is spring break this week. Everyone needed it and we are glad to not have the requirement of school. Although we are working hard on the house, so it's not really a vacation, just a break from school. Charlie still hates his job but it doesn't look like there will be many prospects next year to change. Too many school districts are laying off right now to be able to hire new teachers in the fall. Although, Beecher is threatening to lay off their whole teaching staff too, so we'll see if Charlie even has a job there next year without quitting. The kids are still doing well in school. I think they are bored. They are looking forward to moving. Makayla is looking forward to her baptism. I can't believe it's almost here. It looks like she wants to do it on her birthday, which is a Sunday. I haven't set it in stone yet, but we will probably do it then. Our van is on its last leg and so we've been looking for a new one. It looks like we will be moving up to a full size van. The mini vans now-a-days just don't give us enough interior room. We are going to use our tax money, with a little of my student loan money, to get a descent van. I'd like one that's not 10 years old yet or older. My classes are going well. I can't wait to be done for the summer though. I'm planning on going full-time in the fall. So far I've only been going part-time, but with Jaxson in preschool, I should have enough time to go full-time.

That's about it, in a nutshell. I'll try to be better in the future about posting more and with pictures.

Weekfast

I know, I know. I haven't posted on here in an extremely long time. The prodigal son returneth I guess.

As many of you may or may not know, I've been going through some pressing challenges in my life. I've decided to try something that I've never tried before, but been thinking of for a year or two now. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to fast for a week. I have too many things bouncing around my mind to fast about, so I've decided just to fast for the comforter to help me. I would love to get family support on this. Obviously I'm not going to ask anyone to fast the entire week with me, but a day or even a few meals would mean a lot to me.

Thanks guys.

It's Easter time!

I have put some new fun pictures to the left, we need to get some new life into our blog! Where has everyone been? What has been happening in your lives?

Just so you don't forget what we look like, here are some beautiful pictures of us Hairs!

Jason is getting excited about turning in his requests for externships. He will be in the eye clinic starting this summer, and then next summer will be working at optometry offices as an extern. He's been reading up on all the best sites, and is getting really excited to learn new skills as a student doctor in the clinic. Mom and Dad, you get FREE EYE EXAMS when you come to visit! Wives and children, as well as mothers and fathers of students and their spouses, all get free eye exams! Just another perk of being here.

We have such adorable nostrils!

We bought a used car a few weeks ago, Goldie, and she's been running great. She's a Nissan Maxima. It's been wonderful to have two cars again, I don't feel so trapped. I've been faithfully going to Stroller Strides and can tell it's made such a difference in this pregnancy. Hopefully I'll be able to bounce back quickly this time, and run a half marathon in April 2010!

We're getting excited about this baby. It's only 10 weeks away! This baby wakes up faithfully every night at 9pm for its tossing and turning rituals, and then I wake up for my nightly tossing and turning at 3am. Not too fun. I still feel like I have so much to do to get ready, mostly a major spring cleaning of our apartment, but am finding it hard to find enough time in the day.

I can't believe it's already nearly Easter again. A few years ago Jason and I started the tradition of waking up early to watch the sunrise on Easter (see the symbolism, everyone?) and then coming home to a big, hearty breakfast. It's been fun to start a few of our own traditions over the years. I hope Addie doesn't mind waking up early next weekend!

Carcassonne

I bought Jason Carcassonne for his birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise, as his birthday isn't until April 19th, but he found the receipt (I didn't hide it very well) so we got it out early. He's been too busy to play with me yet, but, out of boredom, I re-read all the instructions so I'd be ready when the time came. I bought the original game and the first two expasions (Inns & Cathedrals and the Builders something or other) and he was pretty excited. It really wasn't very expensive because I found a good deal online.

Here is an interesting tidbit. In the original game, the instructions say that when scoring farms each city is worth 3 points. In the expansion with the pig, it says each city is worth 4 points and 5 if you have a pig in the farm. I was surprised they would be different and even double-checked myself. Which way do you play? Are your cities worth 3 or 4 points?

Since we haven't posted on here in a while, I thought a Carcassonne discussion was better than no discussion at all. Hillary, I haven't heard from you in a while, how is your house and the move coming along? Have you already moved in?

Dry Eye Syndrome

I went to an ophthalmologist this morning. My eyes have been bothering me for years and it seems to be getting worse. He says I have dry eye syndrome, (just like in the television commercial), and I have to take Restasis. He says it's a condition that affects people as they get older (40's and older) and it happens to women more than men. I guess I fit both of those categories!

New front room

Well, after many years of dreaming of matching furniture and accompanying decor in the front room, my dream has finally been realized (almost). Dad finished hanging the valance for the new drapes last night (after going back to Penneys twice to change rods). Here are pictures of the front room as it now stands. We still need to paint and get new carpet sometime down the road. Hope you like it.

Words Harvey can say

Heather and I decided to compile a list of words Harvey can say at the moment. It's quite impressive! There are more words that he understands when we say them, but he doesn't use them yet other than mimicking. However, these are words that he actually knows and will say on his own.

Harvey	momma	daddy
hi	bye	hello
eat	more	done
juice	milk	cheese
apple	applesauce	banana
nose	eyes	teeth
hair	toes	hand
hat	coat	shoes
socks	diaper	hug
bath	car	chair
kitty	dog	horse
duck	fish	chicken
monkey	cow	bear
home	sleep	Totoro
Pooh	Elmo	blanket
again	up	down
on	off	hammer
ball	boat	book
toy	stairs	TV
baby	medicine	go
wow

Yes, he will actually say "wow" in a whispered voice. It's very cute.

Edit: Here's a few I forgot:

cracker	Charlie	watch
box	yellow	purple
pink	stuck	two
three	"night night"	yes	no
uh oh

Labyrinth, and other Atlanta favorites

For the last few days Jason, Addie and I have been in Atlanta on vacation. SCO schedules their spring break around an annual optometry conference and pays students $100 to go, so we thought we'd take a few days to see what Atlanta had to offer.

The first day we went to Coke World, the big Coca-Cola museum. We saw tons of memorabilia, a 3D movie, the Coke Bear (featured here, he was awesome), and were able to taste 64 different kinds of Coke products from around the globe. My favorite was Aquious, a berryish water distributed in Tawaiian.

After Coke World we went to the Georgia Aquarium. It is the largest aquarium in the world and SPECTACULAR. We all enjoyed touching sting rays, seeing jellyfish and whale shark, and having our feet kill by the end of the day. I honestly would recommend the aquarium to anyone, it was fantastic.

Addie loved the fish and tried giving them hugs all afternoon.

On Saturday, while Jason went to the conference, I went with two of my friends to the Atlanta Zoo. It was a sorry zoo, let me tell you. The exhibits were small and cramped, half the animals were nowhere to be seen, but the lion cubs and panda bears were out playing and sort-of made up for it. Luckily we only had to pay $5 to get in, so it was worth it. Addie enjoyed the animals, and I enjoyed good company.

Infront of the lions. She started pushing this cute little boy when he got too close to her, so we had to hightail it out of there!

Saturday afternoon we went to the Center for Puppetry Arts because they were hosting a Jim Henson exhibit. It was a little museum, not much to see, but I was able to read all about the making of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, the Muppets and Sesame Street puppets, and learn about Jim Henson's life. I wasn't supposed to take any pictures, but I couldn't very well leave without one snapshot of a Labyrinth puppet! Here is my undercover, no flash, very dim, picture. Did you know that these guys that guard the entrance to the helping hands have names? They do! Ralph, Alph, Tim and Jim. Very fitting, as I had to call Jim to have him help me get the address to the museum. Thanks, Jim! Anyhow, it was fairly cool.

We enjoyed Atlanta and certainly loved having a vacation. Anytime that I get to spend with Jason is wonderful! He didn't study all week and I loved it! I can't wait until school is over! Only two more years...

Happy Belated Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I just wanted to wish you two a happy anniversary. I know it's two days late, but I honestly thought about you on Wednesday, I just wasn't in a place to post when I did. I even talked to Mom and forgot to tell her over the phone, so I appologize. I am glad you two are married though. I'm thankful that you still show love to each other and are public about affection. You have been a great example for me in what I want my relationship to be like. I want you to know how much I love and appreciate you and your marriage.

Kitchen Curtains

Jim's been complaining about the sun in his face when he's on the computer and wanted curtains, so I went to IKEA and bought the same ones that Kurt and Heather have in their family room. But the white curtains and the white walls looked like a hospital, so I added the green stripes. I think they turned out pretty good. We are getting new living room furniture on Friday, and I bought new drapes for the front room yesterday. I'll post those pictures when the furniture gets here. We've had both of our cars tuned up (they have over 100,000 miles on each) that cost about $2,000, so hopefully, we're through with big expenses for a while.