The Q Goes on Location!

It was a holiday at the bank so in celebration of MLK Day, my kind neighbor gave free tickets to the Wild Animal Park to both of us other neighbors and.... the Q went on location!

The 3 of us mommies and our 5 kiddos (all under the age of 5) headed out in the rain for an adventure. It was great to be outside and Stinker got to hear lions roaring! This is his favorite animal sound to make at the moment.

It was a bit wet and we did eat lunch by the bathroom of all the beautiful locations, but it was a fun memory to build with these fun friends. V thought the "pink ducks" (aka flamingos) were the funniest things she ever saw. Little O was enamored with any water feature ... guess he didn't care about the huge animals like the elephants or giraffes! F shared her map with me and I shared my cookies...wonder who got the best end of that deal :)

We are so blessed to have such fun neighbors!

Enough ... I almost want 2011 Back...

We have had a rough start to 2012, starting with the whole flight fiasco and adding on a flat tire on our way to church the weekend we got back into the state. As we listened to the hissing sound of the tire with a large nail sticking out of it we were thinking...why??? but then in view of God's mercy we saw His providence in many ways...

1. It happened a few blocks from our church parking lot (as opposed to the freeway) so we were able to safely pull into the parking lot

2. It happened in Speedy's company car so it cost us nothing but time to repair

3. We were almost going to drive separately that morning but at the last minute changed our minds so we were together when it happened

So in calling the approved places for Speedy to take his car we ended up realizing they were closed Sundays so Speedy took care of business with the help of his sidekick.

It has been a weird start to the year but in other news I made a kick a@# lasagna the other night...

The Thriving Metropolis of Garner

Part of our trip back home was driving a few hours south to Iowa. We stayed the night at the Lund's and get a glimpse into their farm-town life. Their house is beautiful it was so nice to slow down for a couple days and spread out. Sam and I got coffee from the local shop and visited the quilt shop she frequents. We took Leo for a walk, ordered Chinese food, and took a tour of their church.

Aidan and Stinker are only 3 weeks apart and this was the 1st time they have seen each other since they were newborns...

Now they were giving each other "knuckles", sharing toys, taking baths, rocking out to music, and chasing each other around. Aidan has SUCH a sweet personality - it was so fun to spend time with him :)

All in all we had a great trip! We were tired and ready to head back.

Minnesota Christmas

This year we flew to Minnesota for a 10-day vacation. In true mid-west style, we housed the 3 of us, my parents, sister, and 2 dogs in my sister's one bedroom apartment. We had mattresses, a pack-n-play, an unfolded futon, and air mattress all over the place! We got into town at midnight before Christmas Eve - this was our 1st time flying with Stinker ever. Our plane was full but the person assigned to our middle seat either didn't show up for the flight or took one look at us and ran...either way we got the whole row to ourselves for the flight out there! Stinker was kept occupied by ipod games, and baby einsteins on the laptop. He didn't cry at all! Once we landed he adjusted to the time change easily which we were not expecting.

We hung out with family for the first few days spending our time eating, playing games, and watching football. We attended my sister's church for Christmas Eve service, a Christmas Day movie, and opened presents together. Then we packed a lot of friends and driving into a week. We traveled as far north as Sartell, MN and as far south as Nevada, IA. We got to meet our friend's new babies, and puppies, and tour their fabulous new homes. It was so refreshing to reconnect with our life-long friends.

This morning as we met with some friends and family for a farewell breakfast it came to our attention that Sun Country had changed our flight time ---- eerrr I mean flight DAY. We had actually missed our flight which we were told was switched to yesterday. In what other industry can you shell out $1000 bucks for a product only to be given a different product and charged extra for it?? Its like ordering a $1000 red purse and being delivered a black wallet while being charged an extra $300 for it...according to the agent we got a "good deal" too. Ok ok I'm over it.

We were flown into LAX at virtually the same time as we were scheduled to fly into San Diego, so with an extra couple hours of drive time and a couple extra hundred dollars we made it home.

More details of our trip to come....

Here are a few pics from our time:

(opening presents at Auntie Snacks)

(Speedy's move that as a a@# chew from the MIL)

(Beeka and I friends since 5th grade now all grown up...)

(Our husbands were roommates at Bethel and we are all knocked up at the same time)