Family Tubing Day

Two days before Christmas, the whole { H } clan - local at least - headed up to the snow to do some tubing on the Autobahn. HOLY FUN!
I was a bit worried about my tailbone (Dec.3 I took a good spill and it's still sore) but once we got up there and I saw there was no impact on your rear end, I decided to go for it. AND GLAD I DID! What a blast!
The day couldn't have been any better. The sun was bright. The snow was compacted just right to slide fast! And my kiddos stayed warm. What more could we ask for?

Flying South

What a Daddy/Daughter Date! Definitely one to never be forgotten...

GO DUCKS!

Up, Up, and Away!

This year for Halloween, Martin went all out (again) and dressed himself and Christian up as characters from Disney's movie "UP", Carl and Russell. What a great movie! I think I cried over half the movie making it one of my top Disney movies to date.

How cute are my boys?? I couldn't look at Martin without giggling, though.

Our very own Wilderness Explorer:

Character Meet-N-Greet at Disneyworld AND at your local Trunk-or-Treat!

Martin had plenty of balloons to hand out to the kiddos rather than candy.

The best part of the night was listening to Christian run around, clanging everywhere he went:

Delaney was a cute little penguin waddling the waddle:

Olivia used my Senior Prom dress and strutted her stuff as an "80s girl".
Note: my prom was 1991!

Officer Morgan as the Fashion Police:

...and because I have to, (I have orders from the Powers that Be) here I am as Gemma Doyle from A Great and Terrible Beauty.

(ok ok I confess. I've had the wig and dress for a couple years now. I just stuck the name on this year!)

Welcome Home, My Dear

My dear sweet Martin finally made it back! After 19 days away from us, he returns safe and sound.

I love surprises, so anyone who knows me WON'T be surprised by the fact that Margaret and I drove up to Portland to SURPRISE the boys as they deboarded their plane at the airport. It was awesome! I felt like a school girl again all nervous and freaking out. I didn't know where to stand... should we hide and jump out? Should we hide and walk up behind them and pinch their butts? Should we just stand there and look like dorks?? Decisions...decisions...

Regardless of where we stood, those boys sure were shocked to see us there. It was so fun! We had perma grins the rest of the day. (I only wish I'd had my camera and had it set to video so a bystander could video tape the whole encounter.)

Here they are at baggage claim and at the end of their amazing adventure:

And here we all are picking up the car at my mom's house:

(see that perma grin I'm sporting??)

The whole drive home, we kept getting calls from the girls.

"Are you close?"

"How much longer?"

"Where are you guys??"

They were a tad excited to see their Daddy.

Olivia was so excited, there were a few tears shed.

We had three separate reunions.

Mine.

The girls'.

The babies'.

Christian and Delaney had spent the day at my friend, Jennifer's, so after the girls had their reunion with Dad, I went and picked up the little ones. It was nice for Martin to not be super bombarded with all four at once, I guess. Or should I say, all FIVE!! (including ME)

Delaney didn't completely recognize her Daddy. She did... but she didn't. So she just cuddled into him and wouldn't look at him. She layed against his chest for quite some time before coming up for air. It was too dang cute.

Finally coming up for air:

Life is getting back to normal now with him home. I took a loooooooong nap Friday - sorta checked out knowing my teammate was back in action.

Gosh, I'm happy to have him home, but also so glad he had this once in a lifetime opportunity to explore & travel & spend such quality time with Greg. I haven't seen pics yet, as Greg has the memory cards and I am itching to get my hands on them.

Martin has shared several stories so far and the time they had there was incredible. There is no way for him to completely depict everything he experienced in a way that I'll understand. Those are his memories and are near impossible for me to appreciate fully. So I will read his journal and hope to catch a brief glimpse into his adventure.

He is home.

He is safe.

Life is good.

Homeward Bound

After 19 days... (and NIGHTS) of:

• Putting my kids to bed
• Shuttling kids to soccer games & practices
• Doctor's visits
• FEVERS for all four children
• Clean house... messy house... clean house... messy house...
• Emotional eating
• Early mornings/late nights - VERY late nights!

ALL without my dear husband... the time has come.

MARTIN IS ON HIS WAY HOME!!!

He and his brother, Greg, have been in India trekking through the Himalayas. What an experience they've had. We've received several emails throughout their journey with a few details, but nothing like we'll hear when they get home and show us their pictures and their travel journals and their firsthand account of all they experienced.

All I care about at this point, though, is getting him here safely. After over a week without any contact from Martin, I had a dream... one of those dreams I don't even want to utter to anyone because it was so depressing and scary and unnerving and I hope and pray it never comes to pass. So to have him home safely in our arms is all I ask for.

Here are our dear boys as they left town NINETEEN days ago:

Can you hear me singing?

♪♫ I'm so excited!!!! ♪♫

Good Find

For lack of nothing better, nothing exciting happening to post about in the { H } household, here's a good find Martin grabbed for me today at the REI Used Gear Sale. Regularly $199... He picked it up BRAND NEW for a mere $19.83!! He is my bargain shopper - better than any girlfriend I know. Thank you, my honey!!

Check it out here.

So what does one blog about in January when absolutely NOTHING is going on? I'll be back to blogging soon. I still have December/Christmas pictures to post and January choir concerts of the girls. I must admit, though. Facebook has sucked me in and has become my newest obsession. I miss my blog, though... I'll be back SOON.

Happy Holiday

My partners (dad and brother) got to go to the Holiday Bowl while I stayed in the office but I had the benefit of a dvr and slow motion replay. Rachel better not erase these ever!

Halloween 2008

The boys had an Incredible time!

We've Come A Long Way, Baby!

521,548 vehicles

4 jobs between the two of us

1 teensy weensy apartment

2 homes

3 wards

4 perfectly imperfect children

1 college graduation with honors

1,000 soccer, t-ball, softball games

2 speeding tickets

2 Caribbean cruises

a dozen or more trips to Disney

a bazillion prayers answered

new friends and old

a few tears

a LOT of laughter and happy-ness

14 years of Joy

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Butte to Butte Photos

START!

Me, Melissa, Liz and Emy

FINISH!

Ben and Emy, Liz, Melissa, Me and Martin

Clara and Delaney joined us on our walk. They were such good girls!

WE DID IT!!

As soon as I drag my blistered feet out to the car to grab the camera, I'll post a pic of me and my girlfriends at the starting line!

We had FUN!

(btw... I did the walk, not the run!)

However, Martin ran the race... all 10K!

Congrats honey. You did a great job!!

Our Father's Day

My handsome boys in their matching ties on Father's Day.

We love you, Daddy!

Randomness

I have a bunch of photos and video from the past week or so that I am compiling into one post.

Here we go:

Christian lovin' on his baby sister.

He tries to call her "Baby Delaney", but being only 2 years old, it comes out more like "Babalaney". I love hearing him say it. His way of asking to hold her is, "I carry her?" Good thing I understand what he really means, because NO, you may not EVER carry her!

Our dear friend, Celeste, paid us a visit to meet our little punkin.

It was so great to see you, girl.

You're so awesome!

Delaney slept for a good 3 hours this particular evening on Daddy's chest.

Why didn't I take advantage and go to sleep myself??

Coming home one day, Christian ended up playing in the front yard and wanted his picture taken by the rock.

I love his cheesy grin.

Olivia had her second (and last) Track Meet of the season this past Tuesday.

She's my girl. She participated mainly for the social aspect - not necessarily the athletic.

She did a great job and tried her hardest.

Way to go, Sweetie!

On the Oprah show the other day was a demonstration/lesson on the Cha Cha Slide.

Christian is seen here learning this hot dance.

Boogie down, My Boy!