Birthday Trip

 

Our kids didn't have school on May 24 which worked out great for us to make a birthday trip down to San Diego since they also had off Memorial Day.  With Zuri's birthday being on May 23 and Whitney's being on May 27 we were able to have a good joint birthday celebration. 

The kids and I got going as quick as we could on Friday and started the long journey.  I've driven to both San Diego and Utah a few times on my own with the kids, but it is still always a bit nerve wracking.  The drive is long and often pretty dull through the desert parts and then you can get in to some crazy CA driving.  Added to the driving is the dealing with the kids while your driving fun.  We only really use the DVD player in our car on road trips so that goes a LONG way for helping entertain the kids.  Zuri is finally getting to an age where she is even drawn in by the movie some which makes the drive so much easier.  This trip the kids watched Cinderella and Annie.  They loved them both.  I had picked up Annie for $4.50 on a whim and it was money well spent.  Thanks in large part to the movies the drive went well and we were able to make the drive with only 1 quick bathroom stop.  We had found Lance a $40 one way airline ticket so we was able to stay and work that day and then fly down that night to join us for the rest of the trip.

On Saturday we were able to use our Sea World passes and have a fun morning.  First stop was the Atlantis water roller coaster.  We went there right as the park opened and were able to ride it twice without waiting in line.  Kai and Rori both loved it and aren't scared in the least.  Kai and Lance also went on the Manta Ray roller coaster- Rori needs to get a bit taller first and then Grandpa, Lance and the kids went on the raft water ride.  After that we rode on the sky tower which takes you way up over the park for an awesome view.  While standing in the short line for that we ran in to Kai's friend Autumn from his class at school.  They were both excited about that and after the sky tower they also joined us for some of the rides in the kid area.  After some playing there we watched the Pet Show which we have never taken the time to see before.  It was cute for our kids who love animals (especially dogs), but it was a bit hot in the sun and random for Sea World.  Before we left we took a quick trip in to the Polar Bears who were active and playing.  We also got quite the show from a huge Walrus that was napping and then decided to log roll several times in to the water just as we walked up to an empty viewing area.  It was a great day and lots of fun to use the passes in a really different way.          

The rest of the trip was filled with time at the pool, the beach, shopping, bbq, getting our nails done, playing outside, playing music, and probably exhausting grandma and grandpa and Whitney.  It was such a nice break.  Thanks for letting us invade you and spoiling us so much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zuri's 2nd Birthday

 

Our little Zuri is officially a 2 year old.  I can't believe how quickly these past 2 years have passed.  In some ways it seems like it was just yesterday that we were trying to decide if we needed to leave a few hours early to head to the hospital.  In other ways I can hardly remember not having her as my little sidekick. 

At 2 years old Zuri is such a little person.  She is talking up a storm and makes us laugh all the time with her constant questions, chatter, and singing.  She is super social and will greet people wherever we go.  She knows all of the kids in Rori's class names and can even point put their parents cars in the parking lot. 

She loves her baby dolls, purses, and books.  Zuri wants to be big so badly and can often be found about 2 steps behind Rori and Kai trying to keep up with whatever they are doing.  She likes to cuddle and sit on my lap when her siblings want my attention, but she is also fiercely opinionated and independent.  She loves nursery and all of her friends at Church and usually is saying goodbye to us before we can even start walking her towards her classroom. 

Getting her to eat anything of substance is still a challenge.  I'm quite sure that any calories she is getting is due largely to milk and fruit snacks.  She can make it with 1 afternoon nap a day, but often will take an additional morning power nap if given the opportunity.  She usually happily skips towards bed when we tell her it is nap or bed time since the only place she gets her binkies for quite some time now is in her bed.  She always has to have her 2 favorite ones- one goes in her mouth and the other one she keeps safely in her hand.  Sometimes when we go to wake her up in the mornings we find that she has pulled books off the bookshelf next to her bed and pulled them through the bars of her crib to do a little early morning reading instead of calling for someone to come get her.

Zuri really is so cute and sweet.  She still seems so little and yet full of so much personality.  She can be exhausting to chase after and try to contain when she isn't getting her way, but most of the time she melts you with her baby blue eyes and sweet grin.  We all sure love this little one.

 

 

Baeball Party

It was a fun party to wrap up a great season!

Angelman Walk 2013

 

We had a fun time at the 2013 Angelman Walk in Las Vegas.  There was tons of food, a marching band, cheerleaders, trophies for each Angels family, and lots of booths and things for the kids.  At one point they announced each of the families and I had a chance to go up and speak in to the microphone for a minute about Whitney. 

Before the walk I made these picture necklaces of Whit for all of us to wear.  I was happy to have thought of that idea since she wasn't with us in person.  Several of the families had done something special which was really cool.

It is pretty neat to know that these walks are going on all over the country on the same day.  Mom and Dad were busy as usual helping coordinate the walk in San Diego which they say also was fabulous.  I love that these walks will be a part of the growing up memories for my kids.

 

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a super busy last weekend.  Lance was in Arizona for work from Thursday-Saturday.  On Friday my friend Sarah from growing up was passing through town and stayed with the kids and I.  We had fun hanging out with her and getting caught up.  The kids thought she was super fun.  She was up and gone early Saturday morning. 

Saturday began with a baseball game where the Cubs pulled out the win.  It was a lot of work to get everyone there on time with everything we needed, but the girls were actually great and played mostly in one area with the other siblings which allowed me to actually sit and enjoy the game.

As soon as the game was done we raced to the car and drove to the annual AGBell (Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) Spring Picnic.  The kids were super excited as they remembered how fun it was last year.  We had a great time catching up with people we've gotten to know over the last few years, meeting new families, playing games, eating BBQ and Ice Cream, splashing in the water, and even winning some prizes.  We missed having Lance with us this year and I was happy to have survived it by myself without any sunburn or lost children, but it really was fun time.

I spent quite awhile talking to a a family with a 4 month old that was just diagnosed with hearing loss after failing the infant screenings at birth.  They were LDS so we knew a few people in common which helped with the connection.  They also had a 2 1/2 year old that Zuri was having fun playing with which meant it was easy to chat on the playground.  Many times in my life I've watched my own Mom talk to a Mom of a recently diagnosed or young Angelman child.  I've watched her carefully balance giving the family the information and encouragement that they so desperately thirst for without totally overwhelming them.  I am grateful for her example and I hope that I was able to use some of what I've seen and provide this family with some support.  As wonderful as it is to see how amazing many of these children are doing and find a support system full of guidance, it still had to be horribly overwhelming for this young family.  They asked great questions though and I told them what a great advantage their son would have being diagnosed so young. 

Lance got back Saturday night just in time to get ready for Church the next day.  We anticipated it being a bit of a rough day with it being the first Mother's Day since Lance's Mom passed away.  It was sad but Lance did a great job sharing at Church some thoughts that he had been asked to prepare.  We have always been aware that as wonderful as Mother's Day can be for some, it can be very sad and painful for others for a variety of reasons.  I had several people tell me after how grateful they were that Lance so eloquently addressed that.  Although it was a bit of a sad day we did a good job focusing on happy memories and our many blessing.  Lance got a few pre Church pictures of the kids and I.  My heart is so full with love and gratitude for these 3 beautiful kiddos, wonderful examples in my mother, grandmothers, and mother in law, and for the opportunity I have to be a mother.       

Field Day 2013

 

Our kids were really excited about Field Day at their schools this year.  At Field Day they play all sort of games and do various activities that sometimes include water.  I was able to go help out at Rori's school so I got a few pictures.  Unfortunately, Kai's school didn't use volunteers so we'll just have to imagine how cute he looked.  When he came home he talked about it for a good 30 minutes straight so I'm confident that he also had a fabulous time.

I love these pictures of Rori and her friends from school.  These kids have all become such good buddies and really love and look out for each other.  There are 2 typical hearing peers in the class and all the rest are hearing impaired (2 were missing this day). You should hear these kids sing and count and yell.  It is pretty amazingly awesome!