Birthday fun!

Over the weekend we celebrated both Bailey and Clay's birthdays. Bailey's birthday was on Friday. Beau and I went into school to take balloons and goodies. We started out in the special ed room with Bailey's cute friends there. Bailey was so excited to see me with balloons and her choo choo bike! The kids had so much fun with the balloons, I decided that they each needed to keep one along with the goody bags that we brought. Next we headed down to Bailey's kindergarten room (Bailey chased her bike and yelled "choo choo" all the way down the hall). The kids were so excited to celebrate her birthday. Mrs. Beus made Bailey a laminated crown, so she wouldn't rip it, and a spotlight letter that she read to the class. The kids loved the goodie bags that we made with all of Bailey's favorite things.

That night we had a party for Bailey. She was so excited when everyone came to her house, especially Elle and Emma. I made homemade chicken noodle soup for everyone, this is one of Bailey's favorite. Bailey reacted more to her presents than she ever has. As she started opening each one, and got a glimpse inside, she would start shaking and squealing until we helped her get it out. She loved all of the presents she got. After opening her presents, I brought in the cake I made for her. She took one look and started yelling "ORA"!! We helped her blow out the candles, then I gave the cake to her. She immediately poked her finger in Dora's mouth. The whole day was a lot of fun! Even though Bailey doesn't understand what a birthday is, she knew that it was a fun, special day for her.

On Saturday we celebrated Clay's birthday by snowmobiling into Granite Hot Springs with Clay's mom and dad. The kids had so much fun on the snowmobile ride. Bailey loved when I would slow down, then punch it to about 55 mph - the faster the better! She also loved the "puppies" on the trail. Beau said he liked going fast up the hill the best. The kids were both excited when we changed and got into the pool. They both love swimming. Beau is really becoming a great swimmer. I took his life jacket off and went with him to the deep end. I let go of him and he just stuck his head under water and started swimming (as well as a 3 year old can without lessons). When he ran out of breath, he came backup to the surface and I would catch him. He also did well at floating on his back for a few seconds. After swimming for a few hours, we had a snack and got back on our snowmobiles. Beau fell asleep about two minutes into the ride. To top off the day, Clay's Grandma Skinner made a wonderful dinner for us and invited Grandpa and Grandma Erickson to join us. The whole weekend was very tiring, but so much fun!

Miracles

March 5th, 2003 started out like any other day. I got up, got ready, and drove to work. I spent the day teaching thirty 6th graders and catching up on ungraded papers. As soon as the bell rang, I scooted all the kids out and hurried to my doctors for my 37 week check up. I was a little nervous because I had been having problems with my blood pressure and was getting results from the tests that I had done the previous day. As I checked in with the nurse, she took my standard measurements. When she got to my blood pressure, she had a very worried look on her face, and told me not to move. After trying to rest for a few minutes, the nurse took my blood pressure again. It was around 160/110!! When I got into see the doctor, he examined me and sent me staight to the hospital. By that time I was in tears! Believe it or not, my biggest concern was not having a substitute for my class. After settling in at the hospital, getting Clay there, and fiding a substitute, I felt much better and was ready to have a baby.

Giving birth is a miracle in itself, so I guess on March 6, 2003, I was blessed with two miracles. Bailey was born at 8:00 a.m. without any complications. She was the most beautiful little girl, only weighing 5lbs 11 oz. The only problems that were noted was that she was jaundice and had to go home with lights. It was about six months later that we realized Bailey was not developing as fast as she should. It wasn't until she was almost 1 that her doctor decided that we should start testing her. To this day, we have no answers, and are still testing her.

Bailey never stops amazing me! She truly is a miracle and a blessing to our family! She didn't even sit up until she was one, now she is running and climbing stairs independently. She started school with only about 25 words and now has over 130! Even without a diagnosis, I know that the future is bright. Bailey will have all the opportunities that she wants, and then some. I am so thankful to a loving Heavenly Father who knows us better than we know ourselves. I never planned on having a child with special needs, but I can't imagine my life without one. I love you, my little Princess - Happy Birthday!

Final Cruisen

After we got off the boat, we stayed in Miami a few more days. I wouldn't really recommend Miami as a great place to vacation, but we managed to have a lot of fun. On our first day in Miami, we drove down to Biscayne Beach and spent a few hours soaking up the sun and resting. Somehow I didn't get any pictures here, maybe it was because of the distractions of the frolicking men on either side of us :) After we left the beach we drove down by South Beach. I can't begin to describe the many flavors of people we saw, and all the fancy cars. It was fun to just people watch, it really felt like we were in a whole new world, without doughnuts.

Our last day there we decided to go over to the Everglades. This was really fun!! I would love to take Beau back there. We went on an air boat ride and saw a few alligators. The ride was really loud, fast and pretty fun. After the ride we went to an animal show, and as you can see, got to handle some of the animals (this was my favorite part).

After the Everglades we headed down to Key Largo. I really would have liked to see more of the Keys, but we didn't have the time. We went to a State Park and bought tickets to go out on a boat and snorkel on a reef. This was the most beautiful reef I have ever seen, okay so it is the only one. We all had a great time. Jeanna, who was terrified of sharks, was the lucky one who got to see one up close and personal.

We finished out vacation by eating dinner at a great little diner in Key Largo, rocking our 10 passenger van around, and driving the wrong way on a one way road. What fun times! I will never forget this trip and all the fun I had with my family.

Cruisen Part 2

Our second port was at St. Thomas which is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was fun to come here with my dad - he was there after Hurricane Hugo hit. His guard unit was sent over to set up a temp. hospital while they fixed their hospital. Dad has always wanted to go back so it was fun to be there as a family. We got off the boat and found a taxi that would take all 10 of us to Cochi Beach. What a gorgeous beach!! The weather was really nice. We spent a few hours soaking up the sun and snorkeling. The water was very clear and we were able to see some beautiful life. After we left the beach we got back on the boat for a little lunch, then back off to do a little shopping. All the shops were pretty much the same with the usual tourist souvenirs, but we did manage to find a fun pirate shirt and hat for Beau and a cute island dress with a dolly attached for Bailey. Overall, it was a wonderful day!Our last port was St. Maarten, also part of the Virgin Islands, but not U.S. This is where we were suppose to do our 2 open water SCUBA dives. We took a boat out to our dive site. The visibility was not very good, but our instructor wanted to at least try. We got all our gear on and learned how to "walk" off the boat. Once we were all in the water the first instructor went down, then Clay and I, then Jeanna and Jeremy, then our other instructor. The visibility was so bad that I didn't see a submarine wreckage until I cut my leg on it. Unfortunately the instructor had to call the dive off. Now we just need to find somewhere that we can finish our certification. We were all disappointed, then to make matters worse, the boat broke down taking us back to the dock. So we had to bob up and down in the ocean for an hour until another boat came out and got us. I was quite sea sick by this time, so I was glad to get on land again. After getting all our gear taken care of, we had lunch on the boat and went out to see the island. Another beautiful island with more shopping than St. Thomas. Clay and I just wandered around the shops and toured the island. Even though we didn't get to SCUBA dive, we had another nice day.We had two days at sea, getting back to Miami. I relaxed a lot with a good book. The guys were really into the surfing on the boat. They were pretty ticked that they could only stay up for about 30 seconds. By the last day they were finally getting the hang of it though. I played a game of miniature golf with the Hansens and Dad and Kathie - I got the highest score like usual :) The guys also got to play a game of dodge ball against some crew members, they were killed! I think the best part was hitting the poolside ice cream machine a few times a day. Clay and I were lucky to get an invite from the captain to tour the bridge. I can't believe all the technology that goes into driving the ship. I really enjoyed the captain, he was a very friendly man. We had a really great week on the ship, but were ready to get off to solid land again (we were all just glad that we were heading to a different hotel this time).

Cruisen Part 1

Wow! What an awesome vacation we had! I am going to try to keep this post as short as possible, so I am going to split my trip into a few different posts.

We started out in Miami where we spent a sleepless night in the worst hotel ever! The sheets were filthy, the toilet ran all night, and the shower didn't even work. To add to the experience, we had a room with 4 beds, so all my sisters and spouses slept in the same room. Of course there was never a manager to complain to. We now look back and laugh, but it wasn't pleasant.

We left the hotel ASAP and were able to get on the ship early. This was the most beautiful ship I have ever seen!!! The Freedom of the Sea had everything you could imagine, and then some. It was so nice to have a clean room and someone to wait on your every need. Our waitress, Alicia, was from Trinidad and was awesome! We ate sooo much food. Alicia was really good at bringing out extra plates of food so we could sample everything. We ate everything from escargots, to prime rib, to banana cream pie. Clay and I even got to eat with the captain at his table one night.

The first 2 days we took a class to certify in SCUBA. It was a lot of work, but very fun! Our instructor was so good and patient with us. It took quite a few hours in the pool to pass off all our skills, but we did it! Unfortunately, when we got to St. Maarten to do our two open water dives, the visibility was too poor to dive. Clay and I were able to go down about 25 feet before they called off the dive. Even though I couldn't see anything, it was really cool to be down there.Here is our instructor, Jorge. He was from Venezuela. He hopes to open his own dive shop one day, and I hope to be able to go and dive with him again. Our last day training in the pool, he saved a baby that fell into the pool. It was amazing how fast he reacted. Amy and Jeron gave him a Book of Mormon our last night on the boat. We all hope to keep in touch with him.Our first port was in Puerto Rico. We got in late in the afternoon and the weather was not very good, so this was not my favorite stop. We were able to walk around and see some cool sites. We went up to this cool old "castle" and got a great view. After we just wandered around and shopped. There was a lady who sold the most beautiful jewelry, and very well priced too. I think all of us got at least one piece from her.

The Beanstalk

Beau watched a show on T.V. that had Jack and the Beanstalk. He has been talking all day about magic beans and wanting to plant some. He told me that his magic beans would grow the biggest beanstalk ever. I asked him what he was going to do with his beanstalk. He told me that he was going to climb up to the sky and see his grandma. I questioned him "Grandma?". He said yeah, you know my grandma that died. Isn't that so cute!! I have told him that his Grandma Jense got sick and died. I tried to explain to him about Heaven and Jesus, the best I could come up with was that Jesus lived in Heaven up in the sky and Grandma was up there with Jesus. I guess he really does listen to me. I told Beau that when his magic beans grew that big, I would like to go with him to see grandma.