Souvenir

We just spent two weeks here:

and brought back THIS lame souvenir:

More pics to come of our fantastic vacation once health is regained to our home.

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!!!! ♪♫

Flashback Friday - Only It's Tuesday...

Look at my sweet little girls.

This has been one of my favorite pictures of the two of them over the years. I think Olivia was 5 and Morgan was 3.

We were in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure and were dying of heat. But these two little angels were having the time of their lives.

Life seemed a bit simpler back then... with only the two girls. They got along. They loved each other and knew it. They were best friends.

Here they are today. My, how they've grown.

Portland - Part 5

Last but not least, our dear Grandma Sally.

Mom, thanks for letting us crash at your place for a week and intrude on your busy life.

Here's to free Burgerville meals, an extra free pizza, jars of change, The Closer and Saving Grace, SYTYCD finale, Big Brother, and Great Presidential Moments... and of course, your neighbors that are now scared to death of me!

I love the memories we make each time we're together. I couldn't ask for a better mama and a better Gramma Sally for my kids.

I ♥ U.

My mom with MY baby...

... and my mom with HER baby.

The Vacation Had to Come To An End

We're back. And I don't want to be. I love vacations and I have such a hard time coming back to reality. So much now to do, it's not even funny.

Unpacking.

Laundry.

Cleaning the house!

Soccer starting.

Track starting.

Orthodontist appointments.

Dinners to make.

YW activity to plan.

Phone calls to return.

Emails to return.

BABY ARRIVING SOON!

But most importantly, finishing Eclipse. This one I don't have a problem with. ;)

We had such a fabulous week away! We stay in Newark, CA at a hotel we absolutely love. They upgraded us at no charge to their Executive Suite this time because they were so full. We didn't complain!

The kids and I slept in every day, did some swimming, shopping, watched a ton of movies, I did a ton of reading... It was wonderful.

Martin worked hard every day going to various auctions. By Friday, his first day off from auctions, our dear Christian came down with the croup early that morning... so instead of a fun excursion into San Francisco, we stuck close by the hotel to give the little guy a nap. Poor thing. Croup is the worst sounding cough! It always scares me even though I know it shouldn't. Thanks to my Resident Doctor Friend, Kirsten, for your advice. You may as well be a doctor after all your trips to the ER with *P* for croup. I appreciate your advice on it all...

We received Monopoly for a Christmas gift and finally broke into it on this trip and ended up playing it every day we could. I tell ya, our Morgan is a fast learner. Our third game she kicked our tails winning everything on the board, bankrupting all three of us! We're all now addicted to this game!

We were so surprised to find out that while we were down there, our sister in law from Hawaii, Mele, was only 20 minutes away from us! She was in town visting her mother and sisters so we had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with her and have dinner and do some Old Navy shopping. It was so great to see her and Akemi. My girls and Christian love their baby cousin. Thanks again for the oufits, girlfriend!! The girls can't wait to wear them when the weather warms up.

On our way home, we finally decided to hit the Jelly Belly Factory and take a tour to see how Jelly Belly Jellybeans are made. It was fascinating and the kids loved it.

Of course we also hit our Krispy Kreme and In 'N Out Burger!

We left the Bay Area about 10am and got home at midnight... long day. But the kids did beautifully travelling that long. Poor Christian was still under the weather and just looked miserable (puffy watery eyes, snotty nose, etc...) So sad. But he did SO well. I was so proud of them all.

So here we are. Back home. Back to reality.