All Moved In...well mostly!

Greetings from the Yosemite Area!!!
The kids, Tim and I have moved in and probably are mostly settled. You know how it always seems like there is just one more box to go through. But nevertheless we have been fully functioning in our new home. Ruby is loving all that the outdoors has to offer, as is Luke, however we have to keep him much more contained in the outdoors or all of it would end up in his mouth. We have also found a church that we really like and have begun to get ourselves involved. Ruby has had VBS this week and is having a great time. I have met a few mothers and will be getting together with them in the next couple of weeks. So I feel like in the short amount of time that we have been here, we've managed to make it feel more like home. Although I am still getting used to all the wild animals and insects that also share this area. We had a bear come in the middle of the night and attack our trash can in search of the raw meat I had put in there. So apparently up here you can't put raw meat in the garbage. It did however make me think of the time, Amber, when we went camping over the Torrey conference and a bear came into our camp searching for the hamburger helper I was making. And I think it was Dave's idea to click our flashlights and his Teva sandals at it to make it go away. Do you remember that? My husband still laughs at the naivety of that story. Anyhow, here is our new information should anyone want to call or come for a visit (we have plenty of room):
39436 Manzanita Dr.
Oakhurst, Ca. 93644
559.641.5809
Don't hesitate to call!!!
Love ya all,
Danielle

Hey Girls! We are back from Mexico, happy, rested and tan:-) We definately were happy with our resort and the time we had there, it was the perfect anniversary celebration. What did we do, you might ask.....absolutely n0thing! We swam in the ocean, had many drinks, and laid by the pool and had many drinks, and we ate a lot in between all that. We did go into downtown Puerto Vallarta one afternoon, and decided it was too hot and too much work, so we went back to lay by the pool:-) The crazy thing I thought was that Puerto Vallarta has a Walmart! They also have many other American stores and restaurants. Anyway, I would recommend this resort (Dreams Resort and Spa) to anyone, it was really great. The service was wonderful, the spa was wonderful, and there are 5 different types of restaurants on the resort and the beach had no public access, so it was exclusive to our resort only. Anyhow, if you are looking for a fun, relatively inexpensive vacation, all-inclusive is a great way to go!

Things are going well here, I was just in one of my good friends wedding here (and helping her plan it), and that is all over, so now I finally have some free time again....it has been crazy since the beginning of May. I attached a picture of me and Annabelle in the wedding, I was a bridesmaid and Annabelle was a flowergirl. Hey Melissa.....i love your new webpage, it's great! I do hope to meet your girls when you are here in December.

Lastly, if I could ask you all to pray for us and our church. Without going into too much detail, our church elder leadership is not healthy, our pastor (who has been there for almost 3 yrs. now) is not a very good communicator or leader, and the church body is suffering. Our youth pastor was just let go for no apparent reason, and it has begun a division already. We really love the fellowship at our church, and I love our youth there. Also, the Lord has laid it on Chris' heart to begin a home church, and so we are figuring out how that fits into the whole scheme of things right now. Just please pray that we follow the Lord's leading in all this. What are you all doing with your summer? I would love to hear about all your vacations. Danielle, how did the move go, are you guys all settled in? Love to you all,

Amber

Life on the Wild Side!

Hey Girls!!

Sooooo....yes, I'm finally posting onto this S.S. blog. Only what...FOUR months after it began! Phew! Life with kids is a little hectic. And having three makes it ... all the more hectic. For any of you considering three...here are some things to consider...

1. Try to insure complete loss of sanity by somehow causing all three to cry at the same time. Most likely the older two are crying because they are fighting while the baby is crying because she's hungry. It's great if you can start crying, too. Enter husband. =)

2. If your older two are sick when baby #3 arrives, have them touch and rub and kiss the baby mercilessly. Then, you can go back to the hospital when baby #3 is only 2 weeks old for some more rest! (ha! Yes, Kaitlyn got RSV at 2 weeks, sending us back to the hospital for another week!)

3. Just when baby #3 is only waking up one time a night, move child #2 from a crib to a bed and start to night train child #1. You see, this way you can still wake up 3-4 times a night, in case all that extra sleep from the previous week was getting to you.

4. Protect baby from the terrors of...her older siblings. If baby is choking, make sure it's not food or bottle or spit-up or....older sister's finger half way down her throat!

5. Of course, savor every moment ... when child #1 lovingly comforts the baby. Or when child #2 cuddles sweetly in your arms and asks you to hold her on the couch or lay by her at night time. Or child #1 and child #2 laugh hysterically at each other's antics. Or child #2 sings so sweetly you're sure she'll be an American Idol. Or baby coos and smiles so softly you think your heart is going to melt right out of you.

So, yes, three is pure joy...and pure terror...and pure chaos! But, we're definitely enjoying Daddy being home for the summer, and the warm weather of a Colorado summer! We'll keep you "posted!" (ha, ha!)

Love,

Shari

Do you love Yosemite?

Well yet again we have had an incredible turn of events in our family. Everybody knows who the Heimlichs are, right? If you don't- they are my adopted family. I always say that I have two families. My biological family and then there are the Heimlichs, my adopted family. I lived with them after Ruby was born, they took care of Ruby for those years that I worked at Chili's. They have been an integral part of my life and of my family's life. Anyway, Tim and I invited them over for dinner last week to tell them the news and ask for their counsel about what would be the best decision for our family. They, last month, bought a retirement home in Bass Lake which is 10 miles or so from the entrance of Yosemite, and they offered it to us to live in until we can get ourselves financially stable. The only thing was if Tim can get a transfer to the Chili's in Fresno, about an hour away. We found out that he can!!! We are moving, AHH! We are moving to Bass Lake into a 6 bedroom cabin in the woods. Can you believe it? Amazing! This will be so good for our family. Ruby will start school in a small town where hiking and horseback riding are the norm. I'm just so thrilled and amazed. Last week we were biting our nails praying that doors would open and here we are week later moving in June to the mountains near Yosemite where I have spent so many of my summers. SO... if any of you are planning to visit the Yosemite area you need to visit us starting in July. And Cayce I know for a fact that you go to Yosemite. I saw the JH blog, too cute! Seriously, you have a beautiful son. I see that he has his mom's sparkling eyes no doubt. And I saw those thighs, obviously he's a good eater.
Amber, thanks for the affirmation that our job is stressful. It's nice to hear every once in a while. How's the sleeping through night thing with the little one? Is she making it through the night? Luke is doing fine right now, although we are transitioning Ruby back into the room so we'll see how that goes. We are celebrating his first birthday tomorrow. I can't believe that a whole year has gone by. There were times it didn't feel fast enough, esp. those many night feedings, but all in all it's been quick. And now he's walking about 80% of the time. He's a boy on the move.
Keep you posted on the move!
Love,
Danielle

Welcome Cayce

Wow, it's so fun to continue to hear from people! Sounds like you have a great family Cayce. How exciting that you and Jeremy have your own studio! Sounds like a great thing. How do you like motherhood? Is it what you expected? I actually just heard a stat from a MOPS speaker the other day......apparently mothers of preschoolers have the 2nd most stressful job in the country, doctors and lawyers are of course first! (Okay, maybe the mafia is up there too) But isn't that encouraging? It's not just me, my job is hard! Anyway, I'm glad to hear things are going well for you Cayce. More babies!!! Congrats Dephanie on little Estelle , how is that going? Hey do you still need some help figuring this blog thing out? All you need to do is go to the web address: www.blogger.com and click on sign-in in the upper right hand corner, then it will have you pick a username and password. Then once you are set up, you will sign in with your username and password and then click on "New Post" and then it gives you a box to type in....it is pretty self explanatory from there. It really isn't too hard. But I know we would all love to hear from you....I know that right now you don't have much free time....so we can wait patiently!! Also, congrats on your new bun in the oven Danielle:-) I must say, I have begun wanting to be pregnant again! Chris and I are finished, but I really enjoyed being pregnant.....hopefully this will pass! Thanks for the updates Amy! It is so fun to hear how life has been in Croatia! Things are well here in Vancouver, WA....just waiting for allergy season and sick kids to be OVER!!! Love you guys!
Amber

Back in Touch

that is so great danielle!! (this is cayce by the way)congratulations!! wow, i am seriously going through time as i read these posts. renee, your post cracked me up. well, a lot of people's did actually. skippy's story about her girls flipping out really got me. and danielle, your's made me totally laugh b/c i could hear you saying everything you wrote in a couple of your posts. anyway, it is refreshing to hear the stories from everyone. thanks for letting me be a part. amy, so exciting you are in croatia. someone sent me one of those "getting to know your friends" questionaires (which i actually love playing-i think it's the only forward email i do), and one of the questions was,"if you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?" and i said croatia. you know i still have alot of relatives over there, so if you see any scurich peoples, tell em hi for me! congrats to jana-sounds like you found a good one! and amber your kids are beautiful! actually everyone's are! so fun to see where we all go-i hope wa. is treating traci and rachel well. congrats to dephanie. i absolutely love the name estelle. i hope "the boy" is still working out for you susie. well, life here in santa cruz is great. i returned to work in feb. and it has worked out so nicely going back. i teach afterschool art classes in a studio jer and i started here and so i can take jack henry with me when i go. the kids love having him there and needless to say, he loves them and the attention they give him. so far it is working out great. jer is teaching english to high schoolers and loves it. he is also working construction on the side. he is quite good i must say. he remodeled our whole house. we bought a big time junker and have loved fixing it up ever since. i actually am embarrased to admit it, but we have a blog going on our kid. we did it to keep in touch with all of the people that live in south carolina and for people far from us now; if you want to check it out there are way too many pics, but be my guest. it is : jackhenryellison.blogspot.com please dont think i am trying to get more pics in, it's just an easy way to keep in touch. jer's dad goes crazy over it, it means everything to him to get updated. anyway, just thought i would write to say hi. i just got back in touch with shari k. too and it is so great. love to all, kc

+1 makes three!!!

Tim and I are finally announcing that we are pregnant...again! I have an appointment in May to see exactly how far along I am, although I would guess 9 -10 weeks. While this wasn't exactly planned on, we are becoming more excited about it. I'll tell you though, it doesn't matter how careful we are if we forget even one time apparently thats all it takes with me. So our talk of moving Arizona has now gone from casual to more determined. We are consulting some couples from church whose advice we trust and are really seriously thinking about the move. My whole hang up is that I don't want to move from my support system here and have a baby without them. But at the same time it's really expensive to live here and moving to Arizona would make it so that I really don't have to go back to work. Lots of questions that Tim and I have, but ultimately we need to decide which is best for our family. Keep us in your prayers or at least thoughts and if you all have some advice I would be opened to hear it. Thanks!
p.s. Congrats to Dephanie!!!! How exciting!