James or Mike?

So, this morning I pulled out some of my baby pictures and some of Steve's so that we could get a feel for where Josh fits into the pictures and as I thought he is a good combo of both of us. I first pulled out a pictures of me and Steve and I both thought our Tater looked a lot like it, then we came across one of him that Josh also looks like. He is definitely built just like Steve was, but then the classic moment came. I was flipping through the pics and came across the one posted above. Brooklynn was sitting next to me and asked, "Mommy is that daddy sitting on James lap?" We started laughing because we always say how much James looks like Mike, well Mike he looks enough like you that Brooks thought you were James. Here are the pictures.

Steve as a Baby

Alright this post is mostly for the Empey Family. I saw the pictures that Kayla posted of Chase and thought that it really looked like Steve's baby pictures. So I pulled out a few pictures of Steve at around 6 months old, a little younger than Chase, but I thought I would post them so that everyone can weigh in and see if they think that they look alike. So here they are, let me know what you think.

Strep Throat and Beautiful Flowers!

You have to love Strep Throat. After finding out that the Fever Brooklynn had on Sunday morning and then again on Sunday Night when it was 102.8 (in my opinion that is higher than I am comfortable with) was due to Strep Throat, I thought and hoped that I would not get it and that the boys would not get it. Well, after having a really bad headache and upset stomach all day, I decided to examine my own throat because it was starting to feel sort of scratchy. Indeed it looked a little funky so I trucked us all off to the Dr. again today and yep I have it. I only remember having Strep one other time in my life. It was over Christmas and we were going to Florida. Anyway, I am holding out that Ty and Josh won't get it, but who knows for sure.

On a lighter note, when I got home on Sunday night I noticed that my rose tree named 'First Prize' was in full bloom along with everything else around here. It is so beautiful, so I took some pictures of it. Enjoy!

'First Prize', I'm not sure why the kids call the tree that, I think it is the color of the flower or the name of this particular tree. The kids and Steve bought it and planted it last spring. Ty and Brookie on Easter

Brady making sure his money was in his pocket, you never know when you'll need some cash

Josh on Easter Sunday, this was the only picture I got with my camera because he was to busy exploring and being crazy.

The Freezer aka CHICAGO

I realize that I have not updated my blog in quite a long time. So now that I am at Julie's in Chicago, I figured it was a good time. We arrived here on Saturday and what an adventure I had. Steve, the kids and I flew to Salt Lake and then Steve had to head to Atlanta for work and me and the kids went on to Chicago. The trip was mostly uneventful. except that Josh didn't sleep a wink and was having fits and throwing soothers and blankets at people. Of course when we were ready to land, some sort of funky micro burst cloud or something planted itself right over the airport and we had to divert and fly around for another hour before we landed. Julie in the mean time thought I was lost in the deep dark trenches of the O'Hare airport because Delta kept telling her we had landed. Then, as we are getting off the plane we realize that they don't have a jetway for us, so we have to go down the stairs and then back up some stairs into the jet way. Under normal conditions not that big a deal, but at 10 pm in the pouring rain with no coats, big deal. Luckily I had a really nice flight attendant who was flying home helping me. So, I got to the bottom of the stairs and had to stand there and wait for my stroller, which ended up being at the top of the other stairs. Is this making any sense at all? I finally got up the stairs unfold my stoller and what rolls out, but my wheel. Yep, they broke the wheel right off my stroller. I was most annoyed and may have let a small swear escape my lips, I'm not saying I did, but I may have. Now what made it most annoying was that I had purchased the stroller the night before I left. So, there I was hauling me and my kids through the airport and pushing a stroller with three wheels. Oh the fun! We finally found Julie and got the luggage and filed a claim for the stroller, which of course was denied and off we went.

So, then the fun started the kids were most excited to see each other and I was most happy to see my sister. It has been since July that we last saw each other. On Sunday when we woke up I went in and said Hi to Brady and he immediately looked at Julie and asked to go to the zoo. He had been asking for days and she kept telling him that we would all go when I arrived. So, Monday morning, after getting a new stroller for me, we went to the zoo. The kids had a great time, the weather was nice and it was fun. We got to see a dolphin show, and then all the usual zoo animals. We had a lot of fun and made it home right as Jack arrived home from school.

Since Monday the tempurature has dropped and we are very cold! My California, wimpy kids, have not enjoyed the deep freeze. We did go bowling and then to the mall for a ride the carousel and Uncle TJ being the champion that he is took all the older monkey's to a movie! It has been wonderful to be here. We are looking forward to Coloring Easter Eggs this evening and just relaxing before we have to leave for home tomorrow, but we aren't talking about that.

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The video of TJ really needs no explanation, but I will say that after a couple of stressful days he needed to 'unwind.'