Time out.

Today took some time out and got a hair cut, much needed one. Orion was humming in his class at preschool when I left. Steve was home with Quinn, They are doing an excercise so he came home in the evening. He was on call and never got called in nice! Today was the day to begin my body shaping again. Baby being 5 weeks, I'm ready to get moving again, it takes time though, can't just go and run 3 miles like I used too. Time will tell though.
Tonight Steve went home teaching and our friends son came over.Their little boy is 6 and Kylor totally looks up to him. He's a good kid. They were really good. We have a going away party to go to tommarrow, STeve and I are going to make it our Date Dinner Night, no kids, even Quinn will go to Teresea's home our nanny, she's great!...frozen milk for him on the go, good thing I've been pumping. Tonight Orion was so sweet. He picked up a diaper and threw it away and then put the wipes on the shelf for me, I didnt even ask him to do it. I gave him a big hug and told him what a good boy he is. He's being so much better these past few days, he's becoming easier to reason with, well as long as he's not tired, but I'm hard to reason with too I guess you could say. Quinn smiled again at me, he's so cute.

Quinn Updates

Quinn is now 5 weeks old. Here is some pictures I took tonight while he was awake. He's getting big so quickly. Also a little video of him swinging ...Enjoy! He's been smiling more,when I get a picture of it I will share.

Tree

so far this week.

Exhaustion has set in, amongst being sick here. Audrey has a bad cough and it's spreading to Steve, there are all types of bugs (sicknesses here now) It's that time of year. I've been none stop, feeding Quinn and running the boys around to their school and picking up kids and so on, I feel like the end of the day comes just to start another one early the next morning. Quinn is up at night a few times past two nights, and this afternoon he was crying alot, seems like he has borderline reflux, sometimes he'll spits up alot, but nothing like Kylor, Ky had the same thing. That and among being sick, I'm sure that's why I feel so tired. Steve is tired too. He's at working now from 6pm -6am they decided to have a excersice this week. Joyious! They cancelled the kids Dental appointments due to the excercise, not to mention it took me about 4 months to be able to schedule it for them, go figure. It's been kinda frustrating.
The base has been crouded with people due to the holidays, traffic was backed up two days since they relaxed who could shop on base Mondays and Tuesdays, they have given out more base passes to local people. It's definately Chirstamas time. Online shopping is great!!!! You can get what you are looking for. I love the Holidays! But let us not forget the real reason why we celebrate it all. Our Savior's Birth. We've been trying to talk about that alot with the kids and still have a little fun with the Santa thing. I'm sure you are all busy doing your own Christmas things. Even though it's small here, I've found myself starting to get overwhelmed, I think I really need more sleep. Night Night!

Quinns Smile

Today while we were getting ready for Church, Ky and Quinn where on our bed, Kylor was smiling at Quinn and Quinn Cooed and Smiled back. It was the cutest thing and Kylor just was so happy about it. Orion was off playing with the cats, He loves Felix so much.
Steve and I spoke in Sacrament today on Baptism and Repentance. This has been a really long weekend full of activites and lots of good food. We are Thankful for all our blessings we have been given. We put out our Chiristmas decorations Saturday and decorated the tree and the kids even got a special letter from Santa that was hidden in the tree, telling them how good they have been this year, and that Santa is watching always, just like Heavnenly Father.
(Audrey wrote them out) We are trying to start some of our own Christmas Traditions since we are far away from Utah and hopefully instilling some good memories for our children.
Today after church Orion was in the car waiting for the door to open, he was pulling on the seat belt singing..."Yo ho Yo Ho a pirates life for me"....I thought that was the cutest thing, He's so funny and always makes us laugh. Quinn is already a month old and I can't beleive it...Orion will be 3 next month and I wonder where all the time has gone..Life is short and we need to enjoy every moment we have...I will try to post things the kids do so you can see what fun we are having here...until them good night I'm so sleepy...

Turkey day pictures

The Bird!

Quinn & Bear Jacket

Orion with his friends, Miles, Sam, Henry

The Flower is from Kylor he picked for me outside...he was so happy!

Turkey's done

This was fun, Orion and Kylor love playing in the church yard, it's pretty big, they run all around the church when we have gatherings like this, and after church also. It's hard to get pictures of them when they are no where to be seen. We had a good day! Tonight Steve and Ky and Orion are camping at Cabo Da Praia on the beach...Audrey, Quinn at home having a quiet evening. Tommarrow we'll probably all go down, they have horses we can ride, right there on the beach...just like we did back in the summer.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Our Thanksgiving plans: Cook mashed potatoes and cream pies for our Branch party 12pm at our ward house in Praia. It should be a yummy meal! What a blessed life we live, to be surrounded with good friends. We sure have been thinking about family alot lately though. We miss all of you. We were talking about were we might be moving next year tonight, the overseas list that we can choose from should be open for us in Feb 08 sometime...we'll let you know the options...I can't believe how fast time has gone by, Quinn is already a month old. I hope you all have a safe and happy Turkey day!

Family Night

The kids had fun with this, we are trying to get the Kylor not so shy about singing time, They both really liked this family night. Things are going good, we are busy like always. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Picture time

We were having fun with the Camera today after church. I figured I really needed to post a picture of Steve since he doesn't have his picture taken very often. We had some friends over for dinner tonight, it was great!

Family of 5!!

We took a snap shot, 2 of 5 sleeping look closely

Quinn's ready to go...

Today we had a good time at a Birthday Party, I got Quinn dressed and he was awake, he sleeps alot, but I snapped this picture...I love it! We had another Birthday Party to go to, we all went. The boys had a great time playing basketball hoops and electronic games, and air hockey...Orion made his first basket and was so excited. We have Regional Conference this weekend in Angra, tonight and tommarrow, we will probably just stay home tonight and go to tommarrow's session, it's hard to attend all, we are pretty burned out from today aways, I wolk up with a sore throat and Steve is congested, lets hope we are not all getting sick...

Today

Good day here. Orion went to school and it was a nice break from him. EDIS came over and gave Quinn his hearing test, His hearing is good. They do that as routine here it's not the Dr. that gives the hearing test it's EDIS. I stopped by the BX to get some Euro's and I took a quick peek at the baby area, they had 2 baby swings...I was so suprises~! I broke down and bought one when I swore I wouldn't do, just do to having to move next year...I have never seen a swing in the base BX before, it's better than having to have to shipped out here...I brought it home and put it together, It's so perfect!! I'm sure I won't regret doing that, it's a souped up one, music and everything...especially with it being the weekend, Portugese shop alot on the weekend and things like swings fly off the shelfs...like everything else.

I went to a Stamp'n up party tonight with the branch ladies. It was a blast I met a few new friends that are locals that used to live in America for 12 yrs they neighbors of my friend Amy's in Porto Martins, It was alot of fun laughing with my girl friends, it was a much needed time to be away from my family, Quinn stayed back home too.

Steve watched the kids and David and Peter came over to play a little while. Steve had fun watching the kids and they went to sleep easily so he could have some alone time. Last night I did hair cuts, they were over due for Kylor and Orion...

a quiet moment...

amongest the chaos going on these days, I happened to get a quiet moment of Orion feeding his brother today. It was so cute. Steve went back to work today I did alot of running around, Orion is doing alot better in preschool I dont need to stay as much with him, I guess that's good since he's not even 3 yet. We had the Squardon Thanksgiving meal today, it was nice. Then I had to rush to get to Orion's appointment at the CDC for a evaluation with EDIS, he's doing great and he's right where he should be, she said he talks good for his age. I thought since after 3 I can't get him evaulated I'll do it now, they were having an Open House. Kylor had crazy shoe Spirit day at school today, he wore one sandal and one shoe, he had fun doing that. I'm certainly trying to run as fast as I can, it's been an adjustment, to remember things and try to keep a clean house...and get some sleep at night all at the same time, Quinn slept pretty good last night I'm still exhausted though...we are going to try and sneak a movie into tonights routine before Quinn wakes up for his mid night feeding, oh it's great raising a family....busy, busy ,busy !!!

Past two days

Yesterday, Steve volunteered at Kylor's class and ate lunch with him he had a good time.
Last night I had the ESC meeting we played Bunco it was really fun, I met a few new ladies, I took Quinn with me and He was awake most the evening...he slept from 12am-5am longest stretch so far.
Tonight we had (FHEN)Family home enrichment night for our branch, we talked about things we are greatful for, for being here on our small island. Since it's Thanksgiving next week and all. We had some nice treats and talked the night away. I'm so grateful for living on this island, I've learned alot so far living here it's be nice. A good Missionary is leaving tommarrow Elder Rissi he's from Porto Portugal, he's transfering to mainland, and he's pretty sure he knows Dan (my brother) from when he was on his mission their back in 1997....small world huh!
These past couple weeks have been busy, probably feels more busy since I'm sleep deprived, but all and all things are good. Steve starts work tommarrow, I think I'm ready though to get back on my regular routine with him at work. When he's home for this long it's hard to have a regular routine. We've loved our time together though, and he certainly helped alot with the Boys!
Next week is Thanksgiving can you believe that?

Orion helps out!

We decided to take a break from having a lawn man do our lawn for us. We were paying him 20 Euro a month to do it (about $30). Steve wanted to take the job on he says he misses doing the lawn, also great time for the boys help him out. You can see Orion is a big helper.

~I also have been using the Slandang alot the baby carrier, Quinn likes being tucked away, it helps me keep a hand free, usually he'll fall asleep in it.

I won't go into long detail, but tonight was a CRAZY! evening...Kylor and Orion both got into some trouble they wrote on the walls and carpet with pen in the stair well.

Kylor counts in Portugese

Yesterday, Kylor at church had a lesson on how and why we pay tithing he came home with his own evelope that he filled out. He was so proud. We decided that it was a good day to teach him about it. Steve had a mini lesson at home with Kylor, Audrey was upstairs putting Orion down for a nap. Steve explained to him the 10% goes to Jesus. We gave him a $1.00 for his week. and he paid his 10 cents of tithing. Some where in their talk, Kylor counted to 13 by himself in Portuguese. SO NEAT! He goes to Host Nation classes at school twice a week where they teach the kids Portugese and cultural things about our island.
Today is Veteran's Day! How blessed we are to have a country of people who are willing to serve our great country.
Orion went to school today he was excited,all last week he didn't get to go at all.

Kylor Art

Here are the drawings we got to see at Parent Teacher Conf. Mrs. Haggard said the detail on his pictures is just amazing, Kylor being one of the younger kids in his class, he's doing so well. When we saw the family picture one "The me you see" just made our hearts melt, it's nice to see Kylor views his family as a happy one, that makes me smile!!! I thought it was cute how we all had hats on and even the baby did too, not sure where that idea was made, also Mommy and Daddy holding hands, so cute! Our scanner doesnt work right now, so just made pictures of them.

Quinn's cute Jeans

Here he is in his cute jeans..I love it!

Update on our cats: We've had Seka now almost a year, Felix for just a week or so. The day we brought home Felix, was the first time we ever saw Seka Hiss. We'll after a few days of that, he got alot better with Felix, they play together now really well, and here they are even sleeping together....We have noticed that ever since we got Felix, Seka is not upstairs biting our heels when we walk around our bed, he always hid under our bed and played with us when we walked by..Now he's got a best friend to pick on. We are really glad we got the 2nd kitty, Orion loves to carry him around that room. Guess he'll be tolerant of our kids just like Seka is.

Hair Color, Done by Audrey

Hey, this was fun! I decided I was sick of the blonde highlights in my hair, I bought a home dye kit and did it by myself! Not bad huh? First time I braved this on my own.

today

Today Quinn had his Dr appointment he's 10 lbs 7 oz. He's growing fast. He is doing good, but he has a clogged tear duct, the other two boys got it right about this time when they were small too. Today it looked aweful, but tonight it looks so much better. We got his passport pictures taken in Praia we can pick them up tommarrow so we can send off for his passport, there is alot more paper work involved having a baby oversea's we are realizing, and the base here, procedure wise makes you run here and there to get it done. Of course nothing is open when you need it to be. Tommarrow is a new day for running around again.
We had Parent Teacher conf. with Ky's Teacher Mrs. Haggard. She say's that Kylor is really good with numbers and artistic he puts alot of detail into his pictures. He's improving alot of what he knows compared to the first week in class and now, just with his letter and numbers.I should scan some pictures and post them, the pictures his teacher gave us today are something I'd never seem him draw before, and she said that Kylor really loves his family and she can tell that. He draws the cutest things.
Audrey is working hard on the ESC stuff. (Enlisted Spouse Group) Preparing December's newsletter.
Steve goes back to work a week from today. He's still going to be in Q.A but come end of the month he'll be moving to the Radar shop, training on the Radar here will improve his chances for getting Tech when he tests next spring.

Birth Cert

We got Quinton's Birth Cerificate today. Their B.C. are very plain, just white sheet of paper with a lifted seal on it. It's neat though! They also have 3 generations on it, so that includes Steve and Audrey's parents, I guess it makes it easier for Geneology, makes since. All in portugese, When he's 18 he can apply for Portugese citizenship to become a national. Pretty neat huh!

Kylor had a hard day at school today. His teacher Mrs. Haggard is Retiring early due to a family issue. Her last day is Nov 30. They have a new part-time teacher Mrs. Noll which I hear, she will become Mrs. Haggards perminante replacement but nothing official yet. He's with Noll in the morning and then afternoon Mrs Haggard until Haggard leaves. They pretty much split 2 classes into 3, it's kinda complicated. This came as a suprise to us that Mrs. Haggard is leaving, She's such an Awesome teacher! We are all going to miss her. Luckily we got to spend some good time with her these past 2 months. Kylor just loves and adores her. So in the mornings since he's with Mrs. Noll he didn't want me to leave yesterday when I dropped him off and Steve this morning had to stay with him, he cried, reaching for the door to leave. We have tried to help as much as we can to this transition, but kids do get attached, I'm sure he'll transition fine after time, but I can't blame him for his feelings. Change is a nessessary part of life & growing up and BIG!!part of being a military family too. We'll be doing this again next year when we move again. I guess this is a little practice for us.

Orion got into my Lanolin creme last night when he was supposed to be sleeping. Yeah, it was every where, that stuff is hard to get off things, I gave him a swift spank and he went crying off to bed. Oh boy! Orion has been our challenge lately, these 3 yr old tantrums and him getting into everything..has probably been the hardest thing about having a baby. We sure do love Orion tonz though....Such a cutie, and a trouble maker at the same time!

Mom this is for you.

I thought I would try putting Quinn in the Slandang (my Indonesian baby wrap) what do you think? I had to try it a few times to make sure it was just right. Love the fabric, Thanks again! My parents are in Indonesia serving a mission for those of you who don't know. They will return home in May 08

Hello!

It's been another busy week. Last night Audrey went to the ( ESC )Enlisted Spouse Group Board Meeting Dinner. She has been helping with the Hospitality section on the committee, basicly welcome new members to the group, I've not really done much since it's only been a month since I said I would be part of it. I volunteered to take on the Monthly Newsletter also, thank goodness for Microsoft Publisher! We are loosing 4 board members by February, which makes it hard to get things done if nobody is here to take on responsibilities. I started going to the ESC monthyl meetings in January of this year. It's helped me get out of the house and also make lots of new friends. I'm pretty sure with having a new baby and getting really involved in the community here is going to make this last year here go by super fast. This island will always have a speacial place in our hearts. Quinn's birth place is here, ever since I had him, I'm doing so much better, more compfy in my own skin, The family would completely agree!
Quinn slept most the night last night. It was so nice. He's so cute. I borrowed a breast pump from the WICO office, it's brand new and works great! I'm going to freeze my milk for those times I can't be with Quinn. He has his first Dr. appointment tommarrow to get checked out. Also we pick up his Portugese Birth Cert down in Praia. Once we have that we can apply for his SSN#. So many exciting things this week. Kylor is learning about the letter D in school this week, and parent teacher conf. is this week. thurs, fri, and monday next week no school for Ky.

Orion is crazy

This morning when I was waking, Steve was getting ready for church...Kylor was sick so I stayed home with him and Quinn. Orion was out about the house and Steve came down stairs and Orion was chewing on something.....Steve asked Orion " What are you chewing?" Orion's reply "the Wall" Steve said, "What you are eating the wall?" Orion noded in agreement, sure enough he had a big chunk of paint in his mouth. Yeah Orion bit the wall. (I never thought we'd have to tell one of our sons that he shouldn't eat the wall) Orion is a great kid, but sometimes I wonder what the heck are you thinking??? Steve and I alot of times at night talk about our day and we just laugh at some of the things our boys come up with. This was a funny story I just had to share...just reading it makes me laugh so hard. We really have to watch Orion closely, I'm not sure if the paint in this house has lead in it or not, but it wouldn't suprize me.
Orion has also been on a kick where he says "stupid kid" He only does it when he's playing ruff or trying to be silly, I'm not sure why but I find it so funny, Steve usually handles this offense since I'm trying to hold back laughter. It's just the way he says it that gets to me. Orion definately reminds me of myself, that is possibly of why I find it so funny. I'm sure this is just a phase for him. Silly boy!

Past two days update

Quinn got his PKU blood test done Friday, also his Circumcision, his weight was 10 lbs 3 oz, and 22 inches, he had a ruff afternoon crying alot poor little guy, I had a hard time getting him to eat, I think he inhaled alot of air since he was crying so much. The whole evening into Saturday morning alot of gas for him, he's starting to act like his regular self again. I have been so tired and exhausted..I forgot how much breastfeeding and having a newborn takes out of you.
Steve checked his final grade for this speech class it was a **B** GREAT JOB! He's taking a break this term but is looking into classes for January's term.
Kylor had no school on friday he stayed home and played with Lego Star Wars on gamecube his favorite and then with his friends. Steve and I can't believe how big Kylor has gotten, It's amazing! The neighborhood had a new playground built, it's much nicer than the other one. Orion has no school all next week. Tonight, we put the kids to bed and watched a movie called "The Fountain" an interesting show, It's nice to spend time together when the day is over and the house is nice and quiet again.

Shutterfly Account

Click on link, I have added more pictures to our account. Enjoy!
http://islandmerkleys.shutterfly.com/action/

Introducing Felix the Cat

Today we hung out at home, Orion didn't have preschool. Last night Steve was nice and took the baby for a few hours so Audrey could get some sleep. The nights of Quinn wanting to cluster feed is really exhausting, We got our flu mist (2 dys ago) that may be why Steve and I both have been feeling a bit sluggish. Yesterday we took the kids to get the flu mist (goes up your nose) so they didnt have to get a shot. Audrey picked up another animal heheh! . A free pure white 9 week old kitten, Kylor and Orion went with her to pick it up at a person's home. It's a boy cat as far as we know, we chose the name felix for him. Other idea's were Coco, Casper, ghostly, Kylor decided he liked Felix the best. Quinn spent several hours of wakefullness this evening, hopefully I can get some quality sleep. Gotta love having a new baby!

Something to be aware of.

Please check out these links:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,305487,00.html

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

"""You may already know about this, but I just learned about a kids movie coming out in December starring Nicole Kidman. It’s called "The Golden Compass" by Phillip Pullman, and while it will be a watered down version, it is based on a series of children's books about killing God (It is the anti-Narnia). Please follow this link, and then pass it on. From what I understand, the hope is to get a lot of kids to see the movie (which won't seem too bad) and then get the parents to buy the books (which are more explicit) for their kids for Christmas. The quote from the author sums it all up."""

I got this email from a family member it may be useful to know about this and you can decide for yourself if you want to see this movie. This is the first thing I've heard of this movie, just thought I would pass on what I've heard.

Audrey's Grandma

Happy Halloween!!!!!!


Today we got the news that Grandma Hash ( Audreys's Dads mom) who has been on bed rest the last 8 yrs may go any day now. She is having a hard time breathing due to some lung complications, and is on more oxygen. Grandpa Hash died when Audrey was 8 yrs old, 1988 and Grandma has been alone for near 20 yrs. I have nothing but good memories of Grandma such a sweet woman and pure heart. Yesterday, I called her and told her I loved her. We said our goodbyes before we left Utah knowing that her time was short, her health has increasingly been getting worse these past yrs. I'm so greatful that we have the gospel in our life, that provides knowledge we will be together forever after this life. What a comfort that is, it makes times like these bitter sweet, for without the sweet, it would be alot harder to say goodbye to the ones we love.