Kidney Stones Revisted...

So while we were in Hawaii, (of course it happened on vacation) Mark was attacked quite viciously by a nasty 7mm stone stuck up near his kidney. After a day of agony and 4 hours in the ER, he was sent home with pain meds. Thanks to our Lord, he was spared any more attacks while there and has only suffered a few twinges here and there for the last three weeks. Alas the "should be set in gold and worn" stone did not budge and therefore had to be surgically removed.

He underwent laser blasting (not the technical term obviously) yesterday and of course it took WAY longer than expected. The surgeon called it "a hard little sucker" and had to spend considerable time shaving it down before he was able to extract it (bummer, no new ring for Becky).

He is recovering nicely, still in some good pain while standing or walking, but seems better every hour. His tentative plan is to return to work (crazy, CRAZY man) on Thursday; can't keep the man in bed to save my LIFE. So stubborn. But what's a girl to do? Gotta be proud of a man with such an amazing work ethic and dedication to providing for his family.

Thanks all for you prayers, thoughts and well wishes for us once again. We love you all!

First day of school 2010

Allie's first day of Middle School. Sixth grade already. Seriously? Has it really been six years since my baby started school? I just can't believe it. She's half done! HALF DONE, PEOPLE!!!! That's not right.

You can see her excitement oozing from her toothy grin here...and my not so excited, close to sobbing, forced smile next to her. Ugh.
She got a little nervous once we got there. She asked me to come in with her. I kept checking to see if she was ready for me to leave and she never did say yes..."just a few more minutes, Mama".
She got her locker opened on the first try though!!!
Her BFF Lauren getting all settled in. They have all but one classes together! How did THAT happen??? LOL

Her other BFF, Shilo.
Allie and Corrina.
A hallway full of sixth graders...*shudder*
After I picked up Allie from her first day of middle school (only half day) it was time to take Luke, Grace and Brian to Creslane to get settled; drop off supplies, meet teachers etc.
Allie helped Luke organize his desk. She loves that kind of stuff...gets it from her mama.
Lukey picked the seat right next to Amy...remember her from Kindergarten? He was super stoked to have her in his class again!!! (they have since been moved because they talked too much! LMAO)
Allie on her second day of school. How did she start looking like a middle schooler overnight I ask???
Luke and Grace all ready for their first day!

My baby girl on her very first day of school ever! She was so excited! She did testing the day after we got back from Hawaii and was able to skip over Kindergarten and go straight to the first grade! She is in our beloved Mrs. Meeker's class...we could not be happier!!

The kiddos having breakfast!
Luke was a little nervous getting in there. He was acting so weird and didn't seem to want me to leave! He calmed down a little when he saw some familiar faces though thank goodness. Not like my kids to be so nervous!

Gracie on the other hand was all smiles and ready to GO!
Doesn't that hallway look like it could swallow her whole? :(
She sat right down and got to work. Wasn't even phased! Brat!
Put her lunch away and got all unpacked all by herself like she's been doing it for years!
I dropped Allie off and she too seemed as if she'd been in middle school the whole time. No big deal, Mom...I got this!
Luke at the end of day one.

Grace at the end of day one....SHE WAS EXHAUSTED! She couldn't even smile! LOL
and she passed out good that night!!!

Boobie seemed a little sad...she says she was just checking her phone...mhm, sure.

The moms were better AFTER school...we had our babies back and spent an hour at the park.

It was a great couple of days. Now that the kids are all settled into a full day of school I am finding myself with a lot of spare time!!! My house is clean and I'm blogging again!! LOL!!! They ALL start piano today, two of the three are excited for that but I know they will all do well! Both Grace and Luke want to play soccer, that starts on 9-27. So ya, gonna be busy! I love being busy...makes my days go by faster!

Hawaii August 2010

Ok...I missed it by a DAY. Why, you ask? Because it took me ALL FLIPPIN DAY to upload pics!!! By the time I was done I was too tired to write! LOL!!!!

So as you all probably know, we took a family vacation to Kauai, Hawaii for two weeks in August. The kids, my parents and I left on the 17th and then Mark joined us on the 25th. It is so beautiful there and we made lifetime memories for sure...but I'll let the pics tell the story.....

This is our plane from Portland airport waiting patiently for us to board.
And my not so patient children waiting to board.
She was super excited to be on that HUGE plane!
Second flight of the day, smaller island hopper and Daddy was sleepy. LOL
But Gracie was still excited!

Luke had to make sure his guys were flying safe too.



View from our second story condo. That's all three kids playing with their cousins (who live on the island with my cousin/their mom, Kristy) Slater and Makana.
SSSOOOOO HUNGRY!
Luke and Slater found common ground immediately in Star Wars. They played so well together and we would often find them off somewhere just talking like this. So cool!
Jet lag anyone?
"I wasn't asleep, Mama"...uhuh...sure!
Luke on the other hand had a new friend so he was still going strong!
Simply gorgeous.
Freakin chickens EVERYWHERE. They run wild on Kauai. It was cute and I thought it was so funny...until the roosters woke me up at 5am. Stupid chickens.

Beach right down a path from our condo.

Remember that old rule, never turn your back on the ocean? Ya, the reason they say that is cuz it sneaks up on you...like it did here! So funny!

I had to.
My beautiful Hawaiian princess.
Luke could give Nana a piggy back ride in the pool. He thought that was cool. LOL

My gorgeous girl.
Slater (left) and Makana.

My cousin Kristy was standing at the edge of the pool talking to the kids and was there for a good two minutes. I couldn't resist pushing her in! COULD NOT RESIST!
So we are sitting by the pool and in flies a cockatoo! I was like, are they native? Kristy's like, NO, he probably escaped from a Hotel! LOL

Tired Gracie and Nana.
He really was asleep! Is that not angelic??? Sweet boy!
Freckles.
A beautiful Hibiscus growing on a tree outside Kristy's house. So beautiful!
Pink Plumeria.
Stink eye.
Beautiful Italian mask that Kristy let Gracie try on.


First time at a beach to swim!

Papa didn't go into the ocean...but he strolled and watched. :)

Tired boys watchin Spongebob after dinner. Shortly after I took this they came in and asked to go to bed! LOL
Kristy made us Ahi wraps...omg SO GOOD!!! I'm a tuna girl now!
Grace decided her tooth was loose enough to pull out...
She was right. LOL


Luke and Nana had a blast on this day playing in waves together.



Then the three kids played "Survivor" on this sand island at the mouth of the river. It was quite entertaining!
Papa and Luke's footprints.



Allie is narrating her "Survivor" story here.

Entertaining themselves in the car.
This was snorkeling day. The building on the left is the restaurant Kristy has worked at for like 13 years. Tough work environment looking at that view all day huh?

The water is so warm and clear. Gorgeous.
Getting ready and some instruction. The kids tried but only Allie was able to go out, and she didn't last long. After they came back in I went out...I could have stayed out there all day. So beautiful and peaceful. Definitely something I want to do again.

Luke practiced near the shore.
Grace took it all off and just played with Papa in the waves.
"Spouting Horn"


"The Tree Tunnel"
DADDY'S HERE!!!! We were so ready to have him there!


Some random, beautiful plant on the condo grounds.
Much needed Daddy snuggle time.
and Daddy Pool Time.

and Daddy Beach Time.



Be still my heart.
Luke and Slater chatting it up again!


Sisters!!! This was a bbq we had at the beach. The ONLY way to bbq! LOL
My Aunt Donna and Uncle Don.
Sunset lighting is the BOMB!
No words. God's creation is astounding.
Waileh (or something like that) Falls.



Here's the warning sign....
...and here's my BABY! AAAHHHHH!

Enjoying the convertible Mustang!
Enjoying it MORE!
Night golf!

I've never seen her this tired! Poor baby!
Had to get in some tennis! The kids all played but Gracie caught on the quickest.

and then she was DONE.
It was hot!
Picture spot!
Those mountains are covered in waterfalls. Very beautiful.
Boats docked just where ever...lol so odd!
Sisters goin for a walk.
there's Slater and Luke again!
The kids all jumped off this pier. So high!!!
Sunrise from our patio the morning we left.
Matching shirts for the plane ride!
doh...messed up the order here a bit. this was the day before we left. One final beach day. Grace of course found a friend...she ALWAYS finds a friend!

OH and this playground was about the size of a city block! IT WAS HUGE!!!! I've never seen anything like it. I don't know the history but I"m sure it was some town project. There were hand made tiles that were obviously made by children. So cool!


See Allie's little bitty head?
Volcano tower.
Super cool old tree in the park.

River that leads to Fern Grotto.
In the airport on Maui waiting to board the plane home.
It was an amazing vacation. We all came back exhausted, but tan and happy! :) Mark did spend a night in the ER for a kidney stone (that still hasn't passed btw) and a day writhing around in pain, but that's pretty typical for him! LOL!!!! We still made the best of the little time we had there together as a family.

We definitely will go back. Mom wants to live there...me, not so much. I like my four seasons and fresh clean air without the mugginess. But yes...AWESOME place to visit!