Rounding second and headed for third

We have had a blast this last week at Yosemite. There are too many memorable things to write about so I'll just post some out of the few hundred pictures we took.

Family Reunion #1 - Jankowski's
Family Reunion #2 - Carlson'sClimbing on rocks at lower Yosemite FallsSwimming/Tubing in the freezing cold riverIsabel and Great-GrandmaNephew's first time seeing snowLee and Isabel being daringCousins one week apart

Now we are in Nebraska headed to Iowa for our THIRD family reunion, this time with Lee's family. More photos to come....:)

Oh, did I mention Isabel's "disappearing" tooth is back now for good and number 3 has popped through also. Oh how we love teething:)

We made it to Yosemite

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind, but they have also been so much fun. Isabel did great on the flight. I felt bad for the lady sitting next to us though. She was surrounded by babies and kids. When she called whoever to pick her up after we had landed she told them it was like a daycare on the plane. The lady sitting behind us though commented on what a good baby Isabel was.

When we arrived in California it took awhile for us to get our luggage, get to the hotel, and then we were starving when we got there. So we got a bite to eat. At this point, Isabel had been up for like 8 hours straight (she didn't sleep much on the plane) and she was sooo slap happy. Here's a picture of what she looks like at like midnight our time.We arrived in Yosemite Sunday afternoon and were able to meet up with both of my brothers and their families. My one brother, Jon, we haven't seen in over 2 years so it was a lot of fun to see them.

Here are some pictures of our first day in the park. The beauty of God's creation is amazing.We also celebrated my grandpa's 90th birthday yesterday! What an occasion for him to be with all his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. Here are some pictures of the birthday party. The second picture of my grandpa with all his great-grandkids.

So many things

So many things have happened this last week and are happening in the coming weeks. Yesterday, Lee and I celebrated our anniversary. Some friend graciously watched Isabel so that we could go out on a date. It was a nice treat. I love you Lee!

Yesterday at work I celebrated one of my dearest friends birthdays. We had a nice time. Happy birthday Jim/Grandpa Stiles:) Lee loves the Perrier also. We definitely feel like "somebody" now.:)

Tomorrow we leave for vacation!!! We will be flying out to California and will be having two family reunions there. We will be there for a week at Yosemite National Park. Then we head to Iowa where we will be on the family farm for a week, and have another family reunion. The farm is in a very small town. You know it's small when they have one stop sign in the town and the gas station is called the "mall" because they serve pizza and rent movies there.:) We are really looking forward to it though. However, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed today trying to cram everything we need for two weeks in two suitcases for the three of us. We'll make it work though.

Prayer requests for the following motherly travel worries:

• Entertaining a 10 month old on an airplane for 4.5 hours (my sister-in-law had to entertain 4 boys under the age of 10 for like 20 hours on a plane so I can't complain much)
• Isabel's tooth is about to pop back through and I think her top one is one the way too
• My right ear has been bothering me the last week. Not bad enough to see the Dr., but just feels annoying
• That Isabel will adjust well to all of the different sleeping arrangements everywhere
• That we remember to pack everything we need

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there are more. Not sure what kind of Internet access/availability I'll have while gone so maybe won't be blogging for awhile.

Can one round of golf...

...make you so incredibly sore? Yesterday, AiG had their annual golf outing. They were short one player so guess who filled the spot? Yep, me. I hadn't golfed in like two years. We played a scramble, where they play the best ball on your team. I actually did pretty good. They played my ball a couple of times and I even made a few putts. Our team did come in last, but it was a lot of fun. However, I think I used muscles I haven't used in years. I really can't complain though, I got paid for playing golf...hey, I guess I'm kind of like Tiger Woods now huh?:)

Happy [First] Father's Day Daddy!

From the moment Isabel set her eyes on her daddy in the hospital she has adored him. And let me tell you, she ADORES him. All I hear ALL DAY LONG is da-da-Da-da Da-da-da. The smile she gives him everyday when he comes home from work is priceless. We love you Lee/Daddy! You are the best dad in the world to Isabel and not only the best husband in the world, but my best friend! First and Only:)

Disappearing Tooth

Last Sunday Isabel's second tooth popped through the gum. Now it is no where to be seen. I was reading on the Internet (cause everything you read on the Internet is true:)) that if the tooth doesn't grow fast enough the gum can actually cover it up again. Who knew? Should pop out again soon...hopefully.

#2

And tooth #2 has popped through...how many more to go?? Too many.

Jesus - Son of God

After much deliberation all day yesterday, Lee and I decided to take Isabel to the ER for an allergic reaction she was having. We thought at first it was from a food, but now we know it was actually from the antibiotic they put her on for her ear infection. This is by far the worst reaction she has ever had. Her face, arms, front, and back have rash all over. Her eyes have been puffy. On Friday we knew something just wasn't right. She was so fussy. We blamed it on the ear infection, teething, etc. We even called the Dr., but they told us to wait it out until Monday, to let the medicine (she had just received two days before) do it's work.

She had had this medicine before for a previous ear infection, so we didn't even suspect it could be the cause. However, on the way to the hospital it sort of all came back to us. She reacted to this same medicine before. She had gotten a rash, although not nearly as severe. When we asked the Dr. about it before he said because it was so mild it probably wasn't the medicine, but some sort of virus.

She is on some new medicine now because her ear was still infected and hopefully her rash/swelling will go away soon.

This whole incident really put in perspective to me how hard it was for God to put his Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Not that I didn't understand it before or didn't know His sacrifice...but when you have a child and you love them so much, I can't even comprehend purposefully causing them any pain. But God HAD to sacrifice His Son, the cruelest kind of death, so that our sins could be paid. WOW!

"But God...demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

A week of pictures

What could be more fun than playing in the hallway? Not much for these two kiddos Isabel kissing George, her new found friend
Waffle head - I think he slept with his head against the mesh of the pack n play
My Mi Salon experience, my first that is - and was it an experience. We got sent to the basement of the salon because of the tornado warnings. It was kind of funny to see women with foil on their head, curlers in their hair, wondering if we'd get to go back upstairs in time before their hair fell off. My hair was half cut, it wasn't too bad. We only ended up being down there for 10 min. Here is my new do:)

Isabel is doing really well walking with her walker on her own. Here is some video.

Prayer Request

Please pray for Isabel. The poor little girl is getting hit in all directions with all kinds of things. After she pulled on her ear for several days we took her to the Dr. and she has another ear infection. The Dr. said that if she continues to get them through the summer, which hopefully she won't, but if she does we will have to take her to the ear, nose, and throat specialist before winter. She has had a fever for the past several days. She doesn't want to eat and only drinks about 2 oz. of her bottle. Eating has been a struggle with her lately as it is. She also has been teething. She slept in until 8:30 this morning, which is a blessing for me, but I know she just isn't feeling good. Please just pray her little body will heal and she will start to feel better. Thanks! We leave for California in a few weeks and are prayings she will be back to her happy/healthy Isabel self by then.

Where's the meat from?

Lee and I were checking out at the grocery store, both hungry having not had dinner yet Lee picked up some beef jerky for the ride home. Sounded like a good snack. On the ride home we chow down the jerky. As we finish the bag, Lee looks on the package and reads, "packaged in the USA." We both kind of look at each other with a grins on our faces and say, "so where did the meat come from?":)

This reminded me of a childhood memory. I was driving downtown with my dad. I don't remember how old I was, but I do know that I could read, well sort of. Downtown on some sort of sign it read, "Lions meet here." I spoke with shock to my dad, "Dad, they serve lions meat there."