A New Job, New State, and New Adventure

 There was a time that I was pretty good about keeping this thing up-to-date, but that time has come and gone.  This post is just to let you all know that we are still alive and well, while giving you a very brief update on what has happened with us since the last post.

Alyssa and Ambrey got their ears pierced.  I don't have a picture of Ambrey because she was with Janna when she had it done.  From what I heard she did great with it.  For Alyssa this was the second time that we've had her ears pierced, and just like last time she dealt with some swelling afterwards that prompted us to take the earrings out and let the ears heal.

Summer was horribly hot again, which was really no surprise.  The biggest shock was when we got in the pool near the end of June and found that the water 95 degrees!  That would be awesome during the wintertime, but when it's 115 degrees outside a 95 degree pool doesn't do a whole lot of good.

In part because of the heat, as well as some changes with my schedule at work we decided that it was again time to move our family elsewhere.

 But since the move wasn't until December 14th, some within our family insisted that we had to have a Christmas tree up before the move.  So we got a small one.  But that's not even the most troubling part.  Before we got this tree we had already put up two other Christmas trees.  Yes, there may be some insanity within our family.

 While dealing with about two weeks worth of delays on the close of our home in Arizona, Janna and the kids moved to our new place in New Mexico.  Moving sucks.

 This is a picture of my trip from Arizona on the 21st of December.  Janna didn't take any pictures of her trip.  When I asked her why she didn't take any pictures she said something about screaming kids, icy roads, a blizzard, and stress.  I don't know what that has to do with a camera, but whatever.

 We were supposed to leave for Utah the day after I arrived in New Mexico, but when I arrived I found a house full of sick invalids.  After considering cancelling our trip to Utah for Christmas, which was to be our first Christmas there in about five years, we spontaneously decided to leave on the afternoon of the 23rd, equipped with trash cans to catch any overflowing sickness that might appear.  We stopped in Moab after about six hours of continual screaming from Westley.  In the morning we traveled the remaining three and a half hours with a little less screaming, but this time in dense snow that at times provided as little as 75 feet of visibility.

Though the trip was difficult, it was well worth it.  The kids got to spend time with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and we got to see what Christmas would be like if we had never left.  The picture shown above is of the girls receiving gifts that my mother asked my grandma to make.  The girls were very excited to receive the handmade dolls.

 Since returning we have settled in nicely here.  The picture above is from something that came out of the bathroom sink in the master bath.  We're not sure what it was, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that the Loch Ness Monster may have tried to escape down the drain.

 The Two oldest have settled in with school.  Alyssa is in Junior High, and Ambrey will soon be finishing third grade.  Anna is excited about starting school after the summer.

 This is my birthday gift from Janna.  I confess it's pretty awesome.  I'm spoiled.

And this is a picture of Westley eating second breakfast this morning.  I think we may have a rather large hobbit on our hands.



Christmas and Easter

I'm at work so my supply of pictures is limited.  This first picture is of the girls wearing jogging suits that they received for Christmas.

This picture was taken at our family Christmas dinner.  It was a good day.

 No we didn't color eggs for Christmas.  Skipping forward a few months, this picture was taken the evening before Easter.

 And this was the end result.

 Easter egg hunt before church

 Can you see the egg?

Anna waiting patiently for dinner.

A few Pictures

So these next few posts may seem a little random.  Since it has been about six months since the last one, I confess that I'm putting a little less effort into trying to keep things organized while trying to get caught up on what has been going on.  This picture was taken of Westley at about three months.

 Here's Westley in the basinet.  He has been out of this for around five months now.

I just thought that this was a cute picture of Ambrey and Westley. 

I took this picture while I was waiting for Janna to show up to our Monopoly show down.  I waited, and waited, and waited.  She finally did show up... about two or three months later.  In case you're wondering who won lets just say that Janna went down in flames, but not before pieces of the game went flying in my direction.

School Programs, Mother's Day, and The Princess Bride

At the end of the school year Alyssa participated in her fourth grade program.  I don't know that she was too happy that we brought the camera.  This was the only picture that we could get with her looking in our direction.  Every time that she looked over and saw the camera pointed at her she hurried and turned away.

This is Ambrey at her first grade program.  She had a great time and was happy with her performance.

And this is what Anna thought of it all.  Apparently she wasn't as fond of the music as the other girls were.

For Mother's day I made dinner.  That's right, I cooked.  And it actually tasted pretty darn good if I say so myself.  I made BBQ steak, loaded baked potatoes, and roasted asparagus.

There was so much good food that it wore Anna out.

After watching The Princess Bride for about the millionth time, we came to the conclusion that we had found the name of our fourth child.  Janna found wooden letters at a craft store, which we have since painted, and she gave them to the girls to try to unscramble his name.  This is what they came up with.  For awhile I thought we were going to be stuck with the name Mestley.

Westley.

Ambrey's face on the big screen.  It's difficult to see, but she's definitely there.

13 Years!

I know that I've said this before, but it's as true today as it was the last time I said, marrying Janna was the best decision that I've ever made.  EVER.  Happy Anniversary to the woman who makes my life full.  I love you Janna.

Trip to Utah

The third part of our trip included a few days with family in Utah.  As much as any other reason, being able to visit family in Utah a little more often is what lead us to our current home in Arizona.  The first two pictures were taken at Cabela's, which is where we went with my Mom for my birthday.  I had never been to Cabela's so I have to admit, I  was impressed with the what the store had to offer.

This is a picture of Alyssa and Ambrey in front of one of the displays.  There's just something about animals with sharp teeth and fangs that fascinates Ambrey.

These pictures were taken at Janna's Grandparents house.  We were there to celebrate her Grandpa Johnson's birthday.  Grandpa Johnson is picture above in this photo.  To his left in order is Janna's Farmor (Danish for father's-mother), Grandma Johnson, and Scott's wife Candace.

Another picture of Farmor, Grandma Johnson, and Candace.

For my birthday Janna got me a new shirt and a new hat.  The hat has given me another excuse so that I don't have to do anything with my hair.  As for the shirt, I'm still hopelessly addicted to the Utah Jazz.  Unfortunately it doesn't look like they're going to be very good anytime soon, so I guess that I shouldn't be too bummed that the NBA is experiencing another lockout.

This is always the best part of traveling when we are on the road.

When we were at the beach we found a coconut washed up on the shore.  Ambrey wanted to bring it with us, so when we returned home we decided that we would buy one at the store, thinking that at least we would have one that would taste well enough for the kids to try.  Well one of them did taste really good, it just wasn't the store bought one.

Disneyland

Part two of our vacation at the end of February was spent at Disneyland.

The night before visiting Disneyland we took the girls to Downtown Disney District. We walked around and looked at the shops, and got the girls the little souvenir that you see them wearing on their heads.

Janna taking Anna on the Astro Orbitor.

Alyssa and Ambrey getting themselves ready for the astro orbitor.

The last ride of the day was "It's a Small World." Sadly, Anna really liked this ride so I guess that we'll have to ride it again when we go next time. I also have video of Janna and the girls riding in the tea cups, but for some reason blogger isn't letting me load it.

Before leaving Alyssa, Ambrey, and Anna were able to meet Minnie Mouse and get their picture with her. Anna was a little apprehensive about this at first, but eventually she warmed up to the idea.

The family in front of Mickey Mouse and Disney's train station.

Now here is a scary thought, Ambrey on the road.

Huntington Beach

So it has been a long, long time since we last posted anything. Sorry. Over the next few posts we will be updating you on what we have done since we left Buffalo. There will probably be no rhyme or reason to what we post until we are caught up to what we are doing now.

At the end of February we took our family to the beach for the first time. The girls loved the ocean. It was probably about 65-70 degrees, but they felt a lot colder after they got drenched.

We only spent about an hour at the beach because of the weather, but the kids had a ton of fun playing in the water and collecting shells.

Anna spent about half of the time that we were there running out to the water, and then running away from the surf as it came in.

We also went to Disneyland on this trip, and to be honest, I think that the girls actually preferred the beach.

Okay, so it has Been Awhile...

For the one or two of you who have religiously checked our blog for the last couple of months to find that nothing had been posted, sorry. We have been pretty busy.

Janna flew back to Buffalo on August 20th, and on Thursday, August 26th we left Buffalo after I got off of work. We drove our 1989 Oldsmobile (now named Trusty Rusty) making stops in Ohio, Missouri, and then in New Mexico at David and Chantel's new beautiful home, before arriving in Arizona on Sunday August 29th. It was great to see my kids again, I had been without them for just under two months.

After signing papers for our new house on Monday we left for Utah (same day). We spent about a week with our families playing games and hanging out (oh ya, and attending Scott and Candice's wedding) before returning to Arizona on September 7th so that I could take care of some work related stuff. Overall we drove more than 3600 miles over the period of about a week and a half (about 3000 miles in about five days). We moved into our new house on the eighth, and we have loved our time here so far. The house is wonderful.

We have spent our first few weeks here unpacking, getting the kids into school, putting our house together, and swimming. I will post more pictures as soon as we find our camera (we are still unpacking). This picture was taken this morning with my phone. After chores we all went for a dip in the pool. Life is good.

The Trek to Arizona Begins... for Some

So today is the day that I sent Janna, Alyssa, Ambrey, and Anna off to Utah (and then Arizona) without me. As a result I have added a new timer to the blog which will be counting down until the time that I get off of work on my last day here in Buffalo. I will be leaving immediately after to rejoin my family, and I can honestly say that "I cannot wait!" I would like to thank Renee for coming out here to help them on this journey, Christopher for allowing her to come, and Jayda for being so good about spending time with her extended family so that we could make this trip happen safely. My only hope is that the time on this timer counts down a lot faster than the time on our last timer did....

Lots of Light and Heat at the end of the Tunnel

Okay, so it has been awhile since we posted any updates on our blog. For those who don't know, we are moving to Arizona! We are thrilled with the way that things have worked out. In less than a month Janna and the girls will be in Utah visiting family and going to Park City. I will remain here in Buffalo to work (looks like somebody got the short end of the stick).
This is a picture of one of the two hospitals that I will be working at. I start work in October.
This is a picture we took of all of us on what I believe what was the first Sunday after I had my appendix out. Anna promptly elbowed one of my incisions after we took this picture.

A couple of nerds.

Ambrey was able to go to the zoo with her class, and we were able to accompany her.

This is a video of Ambrey and her good friend Jenna performing: "I went to a Chinese Restaurant."