Great pics!

Our good friend, 'Uncle Mike', had a break from school and came to visit. We took a ride out to Montauk and he was so nice to take some great pictures for us. We had a great time playing in the park, shopping and of course, singing the kids Disney music in the car. Amazingly Mike knows all the words. :) Thankfully, he put his foot down when Payton wanted to listen to an old n'sync cd he'd found. (I know I know, from HS!!)
When my kids see a camera, they pose. I swear, we didn't teach them that. It's hilarious though. I love it.

Payton at the top of the Lighthouse.


GQ here I come......
It's so hard to get us all looking semi decent. :)
I call this look, 'blue steal'.


A lady came up to Halle and told her she was so cute. Halle said, "Thankyou, I AM so cute!"

whatever, I'm the greatest

For some reason, I seem to be ALWAYS doing laundry. So much so, that my kids now think it's fun. CRAZY! Anyway, they are my little helpers and decided they wanted a washer and dryer of their own to play with. I looked on craigslist and couldn't find anything. I even looked on line at several toy stores to see if there was maybe something affordable but nothing. So....being the super mom that I am, (ha ha) I grabbed some boxes and tada! I wanted to paint them but they wouldn't let me. These are so much better than anything I could have found.
There are so many times when my kids are whining and not listening to a thing I say; won't go potty or share their crackers and make the house a disaster. So many times I feel like a crappy mom but today I felt totally redeemed. Though most days here are chaotic, there are few things I can't do with super glue and markers. The kids now do a lot of laundry and ironing. If only they really worked!
Haven't updated these for a while but this is our 'yellow day'.

More Fun at Grandma's

Payton put on numerous concerts and shows for us on the trampoline. Though he does a wide variety, I'd still say 'Camp Rock' is his forte.
So cute. She's finally not scared of the trampoline. That's the only thing she was nervous about though. Halle was climbing all over the playhouse and swings. She insisted on going "super high and super fast". High enough so she could kick the tree. :)

Such is the life. Eating Cheetos and chillin on the boat. Later we roasted marshmallow's, mm mm good. Halle of course eats anything but Payton just volunteered to do the roasting.

FuN WitH FaMilY

Aunt Alice and Robyn

We headed to the south for a nice break from the cold and had a great time with the our Gold family cousins. We had the best time just playing, playing, playing. The kids played from morning til dark and were so tuckered out they actually went to bed despite they all filled the loft for several giant sleep-overs.
Payton and Spencer had a fun birthday party BBQ. And after everyone gets their pj's on, Grandma breaks out the little ice-cream dishes! I've never seen kids so attentive and sitting so still at the table. :)
aunt Ashley
aunt Afton and Kris
Though it wasn't exactly 100 degrees, the kids had a blast playing in the lake. Halle kept saying, "this is where I get to splash, but not in the bath." They rode the paddle boat, jumped from the pier, and at least attempted to make sand castles.
Next, us 'old' ladies just watched but the kids had fun playing duck-duck-goose and making giant bubbles. Well, mostly they just got extremely sticky but a few of them managed. :)
The next day we headed with Grandma and some of the cousins to the Houston zoo. This is one of my favorite zoo's. It's huge, shaded and has a ton of animals that you can actually see up close. We'll definitely have to get a pass when we move.

Like my kids need more sugar....

Another extension of Payton's birthday was when Grandma Lori came to visit. On the one day it didn't rain, we went to the city to play. We found Dylan's Candy Store and of course had a fabulous time finding all sorts of goodies. I told the kids they could each pick out 1 thing and it took us a long time to find something they could finally decide to keep past the next aisle. I love that there are huge stores devoted to chocolate and treats!
Peyton and Payton

We then headed to the Wax Museum. Grandma hadn't been there yet and Payton was very excited to see the new Jonas Brothers figures.
Of course my kids are American Idol fans... Only a strong girl like Halle could put up with Mr. Cowell.
Payton and the Jonas Bro's
Not a day goes by that we don't hear a tune from this band. The kids were so excited to say the least.
"this is real, this is me, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.. Gotta let the light, shine on me!" Oh yeah Halle, go girl! Cracks me up that she knows this entire song.

Happy Birthday Payton!

OK, so Payton's birthday was back in March but I'm just now getting caught up in our journal. I can't believe he's 5 years old! Took him a while to stop saying he was 4. For a while he'd say he didn't know how old he was and now he's finally adjusted to being 5.
Payton was so lucky to get to a few birthday parties this year. We had a fun birthday at Grandpa and Grandma Gold's house. Almost all the cousins were there and we had so much fun. He and Spencer got to have a joint party and he was just so happy. They had a blast playing duck duck goose, making giant bubbles and running around. Notice Grandma is trying to keep Halle from blowing out the candles. Classic Halle...
As always, he was so spoiled. Thanks so much to all the aunts, uncles and cousins for such a great party. We love you!
On the actual day of Payton's birthday we had our own little family party with our good friends, Raegan and Jack. We made yummy scones and homemade chili. We had a wonderful time and are so grateful for friends.
Halle and Payton helped make his cake. When I asked what he wanted he said a Gingerbread man cake. (he gets this from watching Shrek 2. ) He even did the frosting himself! Great job!!

Guess I couldn't be a Vampire

Oddly, the first thought that came to my mind this week, was that I couldn't be a vampire. Most likely because I got talked into reading the Twilight series and just finished.
Halle has been pretty sick with a viral gastro intestinal thing since last week. She wouldn't eat or drink and we finally had to take her into the ER after she wouldn't even lift her head.
We surprisingly got in quicker than I thought. I knew they'd need to give her fluid and that she'd be a fighter against the IV. Uh..Yeah.... It took 3 of us to hold her down and since they were also trying to get a blood sample, it was much worse. It was taking soooo long. Drip, drip, drip. I don't know how they expected to get it done without a mess. There was blood everywhere; Halle's arm, the nurses hands, the bed. I started getting a little light headed and I remember saying I need to sit down and the nurses yelling for help. Yep.......I passed out. So embarrassing. I woke up and it took a minute to realize where I was and what happened. They had a bunch of people in there and they quickly put me on a stretcher with oxygen and ice. Poor Halle kept saying, "mama, mama".
So Halle and I layed there together while she got some fluid. Both of us strapped with lines of some sort. Luckily our good friend is a chief resident in the ER and he called Andy, who seriously thought he was playing a joke on him.
After two bags of fluid and no urine they decided to admit her and we then waited 6 hours to get her a room. Luckily she slept but I was worried she'd get something else just sitting there in the hallway.
We had a stressful 3 day stay but thankfully she is doing much better and we were able to come home. She even smiled at the nurses and told them thank you as we left. It was a big change from when we first got there and she would tell them that they could NOT touch her belly and they could NOT take here temperature. "No you can't", "Leave me alone!" That's a red head. All I could do was laugh.
I didn't realize how good we had it in Southern Utah hospitals. We shared a room with two other sick kids. It surely wasn't ideal, but luckily, we had Disney channel.
I'm so grateful to the Francis Family for keeping Payton for us. He had a great time and it was nice to not have to worry about him too. You guys are awesome! We definitely owe you.
Halle still has a little tummy pain every once and a while but other than that she is back to her wild and crazy self.

Yep, that's my boy.

My friend Reagan was about to have her baby and since we've been hanging out with her, I can only imagine she is the reason for this post. I love the things my kids get from you, :) JK....
We found him this way one night. Yep, he was preggers.
While I've been trying to get the house packed up, my kids have been putting on concerts again for the neighbors. They can obviously here us above them. The bed is their stage and I believe this particular song was 'This is me' duet from "Camp Rock".

Happy Mother's Day--from us Men

This shout goes out to all those Huge Mother Striped Bass in the Long Island Sound that gave us Medical folk something to do on a rare R &R Monday in NYC. While our women are back home sleeping or reading gushy Vampire romance, we're out there putting our lives on the line to bring home meat for the table. Well, sort of...
Jeremy, Me (Andy), Dave, Rob and Capt Joby Vinarski met up at the dock a few blocks away at 6am for the first trip of the Spring Striper run out on the Sound. On Long Island all of the world record stripers (now at 78lbs) were caught and is home to some of the most prestigious fishing ground in the USA for saltwater Bass. Jaws was filmed based on a semi-true story off Long Island East end. Though we didn't find Jaws, we found something a little closer to reality, and much better tasting.
We started the trip under the Throgs Neck Bridge, (the bridge to get to the Bronx) a short 20 minute boat ride, but rather cold, where we found a few Bluefish running off with the cut bunker slabs in about 50 ft of water--but none of us able to set the hook... I finally reeled in a (Capt Joby calls small) 15 lb 30 incher to break the ice and open up the adrenaline.
With the overcast and temp at 50 degrees with 15 mph winds we headed back to Manhassett bay to catch the Bass moving up into the warmer shallows as the tide came in. Dave finally hooked up with a gorgeous 20+ pounder approaching 36 inches on some cut bunker in under 6 ft of water. It was a beauty to watch and as good as it gets. For this early in the Spring we had a blast and stocked up the freezer for the next time us guys get a night off...very soon... It's nice to be this close to NY and not have to ever see concrete or climb a subway stairwell with a stroller!! Most guys avoid the big city, but they just don't know about these large mothers that are sitting a short stone's throw off shore. So to them we say--happy late mother's day!!