Winter in Iowa

Road tripping in the cold meant bundling up and driving careful! We spent the first night at Nick's parents, and then headed to my parents house 2 hours away after Nick and his brother Jim had an unsuccessful deer hunting expedition.

Here are the kiddos all ready for the trip to the other grandparents!
We hadn't seen snow like this since we moved to Hawaii. When we were back for Christmas 3 years ago, there was little to no snow....I loved the scenery! This was the gravel road just leaving Nick's parents.
You may not be able to see it, but there was a 1/4 inch of ice covering EVERYTHING...even the barbed wire fence.
Another picture of the gravel roads...
Looking back at Turner Mountain...you can see the tip of the roof of the house.
Here is Turner Mountain...

Nick pulled off some boards off this old corn crib at his parent's house. He wants to someday use them in our house....whatever house we end up in!

How we spent our Christmas

Since our flight back to Iowa, Addison has not been feeling 100%. She didn't sleep on the 8 hour plane ride (maybe an hour)...and then really didn't have an appetite for the next couple days.

We drove to my folks on Saturday, and Sunday Addison started getting sick. She wasn't eating much, and what she did eat or drink came back up. I thought she had gotten some strain of the flu, but she just wasn't getting any better. Monday I took her to the doctor. He prescribed antibiotics for a start of an ear infection, and said she had a virus. The next day she wasn't eating or drinking anything but she kept voimiting.
Nick and I took her to the Emergency Room the afternoon of Christmas Eve. She had labs drawn, x-rays, urine analysis, and more x-rays. They found she was pretty dehydrated and admitted her to get IV fluids. We spent the night so she could get re-hydrated.

She hated her IV, especially since they taped her hand down to a board so that she wouldn't bend her wrist. However, she became very good at managing with it with her thumb free.

This afternoon, Christmas Day, she finally started eating applesauce, but was still not drinking. With the IV fluids, she was keeping hydrated and therefore was not feeling 'thirsty'. She was acting much more like herself, not the ragdoll she had been the past 3 days. The doctor let us come home tonight but we need to encourage fluids.

It was not fun spending Christmas in a hospital, but I hope that she is on her way to a speedy recovery. She played a little when we got home tonight, but was very tired, so Grandma rocked her for a while before she went to bed.

Even though she missed Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa's, her brother and sister left Santa a note so that he wouldn't forget her.



I hope you all have had a much better Christmas than we had. We are exhausted and cold!!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

Camp Erdman - Day 2

Today sounded like it was full of fun and exciting activities!!!!

I got several emails with pictures from Nick's phone again today! Here are some from the pool. The kids had to do a swim test in order to swim in the deep end and jump off the diving board. I think they had to tread water for a certain amount of time with their arms only....
McKenzie passed...
McKenzie and her girlfriends...

Xian, Kenzie, Tiani, Daisy

I got a text message from Nick early afternoon asking if a cut above the eyebrow, less than 1/4 inch needed stitches... apparently one of the kids cut themselves. And, Nick, being the assigned EMT/First Aid Chaperone, was in charge of all of that. He texted me back soon after and said it had stopped bleeding, so he cleaned it up and threw a bandaid on it! No trips to the ER today!

I had no idea we had praying mantis' here in Hawaii...

They learned about birds...

And got to dissect owl poop...

And this is the pile of bones that was in their poop, their owl poop...

And for you Lost watchers, here is a van that they are going to blow up, or drive into that cabin in the distance. Nick said they might be able to watch it tonight, so we'll see if he gets any more pictures sent, or videos....

Tonight is their last night, and they were planning on doing a campfire! I do remember hearing their teacher saying that s'mores were definitely on the menu for tonight! So I'm sure they will have fun with that!

Stay tuned...

Camp Erdman-Day 1

Nick sent me these pics today off his phone. I talked to him briefly tonight between screaming boys supposed to be in bed... ha ha.

Here is looks like Nick and McKenzie are showing off their compasses.
McKenzie taking a closer look.
I was excited to see them doing some archery! McKenzie said she really enjoyed it and hit the target!
Nick mentioned this on the phone tonight. They grouped up in teams and had a set amount of money to buy items to do an EGG DROP experiment. They got their first egg free, but had money to buy items like toilet paper, cups, etc... If they broke their egg during experimenting, it would cost them $20 for a 2nd egg.

Nick said the chaperones were on a team and they won! He said it was a pretty fun game. I believe McKenzie's team was successful as well! Only a couple teams broke their eggs!

Tomorrow they will be swimming, and doing more outdoor activities!

Nick also mentioned that the Lost Crew is up there filming, and may be slamming a jeep (via pulley system) into a rebuilt cabin....and they might be able to watch it! So stay tuned for a sneak peek, all you LOST fans!!!!!

I haven't been up this late for a while (sad, it's only 10:00) so I'm off to bed....yawn....

Addi-Spaghetti

For supper tonight, I let Addison eat Spaghetti. She's had it before, but I've never let her eat it independently. It started out with both of us holding the spoon and putting a spoonful of chopped up spaghetti in her mouth....

Then she decided she could do it herself. It started out ok....she would put the spoon in her bowl, then take it out, and then slam her free hand into the bowl and grab a handful...
She soon decided it was just easier to hold the spoon in one hand and shove the spaghetti in her mouth with the other.
Ooooh, spaghetti!
Molly really enjoyed this adventure... here she is eagerly standing at the base of Addison's chair.And here she is lapping up any dropped spaghetti less than a second after it's hit the floor. No 5 second rule needed here.
This is so much fun!
Making a mess, but using the spoon!
After she picked out each and every last little noodle out of the bowl, she got to have some pieces of cranberry bread my friend Julie dropped off today. Yum! This was her reaction...

"Oooooohhh!"
(she totally loved it!)

**Thank you Julie for the delicious cranberry bread, cookies, and super delicious salted nut roll bars! And, your Christmas card was wonderful! Wherever did you find such a wonderful photographer?! (hee hee)

Camp Erdman

Nick and McKenzie left for a 3 day camping field trip this morning with McKenzie's 5th grade class. Camp Erdman is clear past the "North Shore". They are staying in two cabins and doing lots of outdoor activities, campfires, etc. Nick was designated "the EMT" for the 3 days, so he got to drive his truck up there in case there is an accident and needs to take a child to the hospital. I think it was good because he isn't a big fan of riding the bus with screaming 5th graders.

It was about an hour drive and McKenzie and her friend Tiani and her dad got to drive in the truck with Nick. McKenzie also gets car sick pretty easily, so it was win-win for all!

I just got a couple pictures from Nick on his cell phone of the kids. I thought I'd post them while I was on the computer.

*And for all you "Lost" fans out there, if you look closely, you may recognize the yellow cabins in the background...this is where they are filming the show. We were told at the meeting that if the Lost crew shows up to film, which they do unexpectedly, that the class would have to move to different cabins so they can film the show.

Orientation on Maps

I'll keep you posted as I get more pictures from Nick! Not sure what the weather will be like for them up there. It's been rainy and gloomy the past week, so I hope they stay dry!

Addison's One Year Checkup

Addison went for her ONE YEAR Checkup this morning! She smiled and said "Hi!" to everyone that came into the clinic....and was quite the star of the waiting room.

However, once we got to the room, she must have had some flashbacks to previous visits, because things got ugly real quick! She babbled at the doctor while she listened to her heart and lungs, but as soon as she placed her stethoscope on her back, Addison started screaming! And that was it....she had had it....something in her clicked and she was not happy.

We rushed through the rest of the exam as quickly as we could, and she calmed down when the doctor rolled back to her computer across the room..... but Addison was making her ugly face at her. Naughty girl!!!The nurse came right in after the doctor with a tray of syringes. Chicken Pox & PPD. Once again, there was a lot of screaming....

Then we left. I think Addison was glad to get out of there. It was past nap time and she needed to go to sleep!!!

Good news, though! She is 21.2 pounds, and 30-some inches long. So she is growing and keeping steady on the weight and height scales. We don't have to go back until 15 months!

Mary Had A Baby, Yes Lord

I've been getting talked up by my sister in law on her blog about how good I am about blogging...I'm afraid I've been slacking this week...

It's been a week full of coughing, sneezing, nose blowing, and sleeping.
We've been hit with a cold bug. Nick has a cough, Trevor has a cough AND a stuffy runny nose. And I have been laid up on the couch coughing and without energy since Wednesday. I've got my own pharmacy due to the amount of medicines I've had to go get this week.

Luckily (knock on wood) Addison and McKenzie have steered clear of any sickness.

We are getting ready for our travels back to Iowa next week, and I hope that we are all on the mend by then. Unfortunately we will miss Trevor's Christmas Program by one day. But, he has blessed us with some previews throughout the week. So, even though we will miss his program, it saved us $100's per ticket (just by one day....rediculous)

MARY HAD A BABY

You'll notice he can watch himself as he sings, and starts to really take advantage of that by the end of the song!

Birthday Package from G'ma and G'pa "Bob"

After a failed attempt for an afternoon nap, hence the red eyes and sad face below... I got Addi out of the crib to check out her birthday package she received today from Grandma & Grandpa "Bob".

Now, just to verify, the phrase Grandma & Grandpa "Bob" was started about 10 years ago when McKenzie was little and started to call my mom Grandma "Bob". My dad's name is Bob so I guess it was just easier for her to say "Bob" for both, rather than Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Bob. And...so it stuck, for all my kids! ha ha

Addi pulled out all the cute clothes...

And was especially excited about the white tissue paper...

But when the book came out, we had to look through it!

Big brother Trevor even helped her put on her new ladybug Robeez! Yay! They even matched her new green dress she was wearing that she received from our super sweet neighbors!

We stood her up to try them out. They have some growing room, but it was funny to watch her walk around. Have you ever seen dogs walk around in those stupid dog shoes? That is what she looked like. There was a lot of high stepping...

But doesn't she look cute in shoes! It's her first official walking shoes!

Nick Flying & Flares

Last Thursday, Nick flew just off Pyramid Rock Beach on base to do some testing with their flares. A special team flew into the base to do this, and I actually sat next to a wife of one of the guys who flew in for it. She saw me snapping pics of the helicopters and approached me asking if my husband was flying one of the helicopters.

I also tried to snap a few pics of the kiddos on the beach. The sun was really beating down so it was hard to take a picture without squinting, or burning your eyes!!


The special team that came in to do this testing, sat at the end of the runway and directed a high powered LED light at the helicopters, which the helicopters would recognize. In turn, they would get to shoot out their flares. There were lots of surfers in the water, so I wonder what they were thinking as the helicopters shot off their flares just past them.

Nick was Dash Two, (second helicopter) in #20.

So, once the 2 helicopters did a close fly by, the fun started....

Here are some flares...

Thank goodness for the zoom lense.

Talk about depth perception difficulty from the beach! Julie and I held our breath as we watched this maneuver. It looked like Nick, coming from behind, was about to crash into Zach in the front helicopter!

But he passed him without incident! *sigh*

It was fun to watch them fly so close to the beach!

After that was done, it was back home to finish decorating cakes for the Squadron Christmas Party... it was worth it to get out of the house and watch Nick fly though! It's not too often we get to see him fly this much or this close. Usually, we get to watch him take off and fly over us....then fly off.