The Results are in

Well our bags are packed and we are ready to go.  Hudson has been so excited the past few days, I would go so far as to say, he has been mad at us for not making the time pass by faster.  Needless to say we are all excited for our trip this week.

We have had a pretty big week.  We found out that we are having another little girl.  She is a squirmy one, so I'm sad to say I don't have any good ultra sound pictures to post.  None of them gave us a very good picture of her face. The best news of the day was that everything looked just right, and there doesn't seem to be any problems.  We are so blessed!  Now, we just have to pick a name.  Our top pick for the time being is Autumn Jane. We just can't wait to meet her.

We discovered a wonderful new park this week.  It has a huge sand box and a shallow stream that runs through it.  The sunshine and warm weather made it the perfect place to splash and spend the afternoon. We had so much fun we went back the next day for more.   A little bit of sunshine and water felt so nice after so many cloudy days.

I hadn't planned on the kids swimming, but they had other ideas.

 We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

A Very Merry Mothers Day.

The landscape here has changed dramatically this week. Somehow it seems every living thing has decided to wake up from the long winter sleep and come out to celebrate the return of the sun.  If I haven't mentioned it before, State College has more over cast days then Seattle...or so I've been told by the locals.  However, this week, we have all woken early to rays of sunshine streaming through our windows.  The tree lined streets are now covered by a canopy of rich green leaves. Everywhere I look I see spring flowers popping up in planter beds and adorning so many of the trees that the air smells sweet in every part of the city.  It has been heavenly to have the windows open filling our apartment with the smell of fresh cut grass and flowers.  Our apartment has sat empty most of the week because we have so enjoyed being our doors in the glorious weather, and they have the legs to prove it. From toes to hips, their little legs are covered with bruises and scrapes from bike crashes, climbing everything they can find, and sadly from being my children and being predisposed to being uncoordinated. 

 We spent a creepy crawly day at the Penn State Frost Entomology Museum.  Ellie went crazy for the collection of butterflies. She was so funny running through the place yelling "look at this" "look at this"! She was a little disruptive, but I loved seeing her so interested. As exciting as the kids were to look at the bugs they couldn't be persuaded to hold any of them.  I didn't pass up the opportunity though.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach!

This has been such a special mother’s day to me. My kids are wild and crazy, but I truly love and enjoy them more everyday.  I'm so thankful that I have been given the profound blessing of being a mother.  I have so much gratitude for my heavenly father’s trust of sending me these special little spirits.  Each and every day is a gift I can never repay.  I am so very thankful for my own mothers, and grandmothers, and for all the love and effort they put into raising me.  However, this mother’s day my heart has been especially full of love for my mother in law, who gave me my Jake.  He is truly an angel who was sent here especially for me.  So I must say that the things I have in my life that are most precious to me, are in thanks to her, because she was willing to be a mother.  It has been a happy mother’s day indeed.

This week we got to take another trip to Corning, New York with Jake. Jake spent the afternoon in meetings while the kids and I set out for a little adventure hike. We found a trail head that lead into a densely forested area and made our way through the trees until we came to beautiful little pond. By that time the weather had really warmed up, so we took off our shoes and spent the afternoon splashing in the water and catching salamanders. While at the pond we were visited by huge geese, deer, squirrels, and chipmunks. If Jake had been able to be with us it would have been a perfect afternoon. Even without him we had lots of fun and the kids loved getting really muddy.

On Saturday I got to go with some friends to stake women’s conference. It was fun to have a day with the girls and even more fun to leave the kids with Jake a good portion of the day. I think Jake enjoyed it as did I. He took the kids to a service project run by the landscape architecture department at a local school elementary school. The project was to paint a sundial and some planets on their playground. Luckily the project was at a playground so while daddy worked the kids had a lot of room and equipment to play on. They had a lot of fun and felt the free pizza for lunch was worth the trip. Ellie ate at least two slices herself. The best part of the day was getting to come home and find my three favorite people waiting with hugs for me.

Jake has officially finished his first year of Grad school. Hooray! I feel so proud of him. He worked really hard, and has been so busy this year, but has done such a good job of making time for the kids and I. He is just an amazing guy.

The kids and I are happy and well. This week Hudson completed and passed off a swimming level. He is the youngest kid in his swimming class and it has been so fun to watch him learn to swim. I got the results back on my blood glucose test and they all came back normal, so I do not have gestational diabetes. We all celebrated the good news by eating lots of ice cream! Ellie is still doing a good job of keeping our house full of smiles and laughter. All in all we couldn’t be better!



While Mommy's away the boys get to play!
(I guess if you are a little boy bicycle maintenance is considered play.)