The Luke Family

We live! And some random pics of the kids

2012-01-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

This is going to be short, but it is mostly for Tiffany anyway! As we have been trying to decide what to write for our late Christmas letter we have had a hard time because it all seems to blend, and what it all seems to boil down to is doctors, doctor bills, hospitals and hospital bills, activities such as soccer and gymnastics for the kids, and not seeing daddy much because he is at school and work all the time. I guess the biggest news or shock that most of you probably already know is that we will be having a baby the first part of March. Hopefully I will be better about keeping up and will post pictures in about 9 weeks or so.

I forgot!

2011-03-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well I have forgot a lot of things recently, but how do I add someone new, and Emily how do I get a hold of you? I have to view my comments and publish them after I have done so, so it is safe for you to tell me.
I will post a recap shortly but I have to let my head recover for a while first.

Long over due!

2010-10-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how many people actually look at my blog anymore, but I tried to put pictures in an email, and there were too many pictures. With school starting for the kids and daddy, moving, recovering from surgery, fixing up the new house, swim lessons, soccer, and my new and very annoying seizures, life has been CRAZY!
Here are a few highlights, and some of our favorite pictures (although I should have put the ones that are at the bottom at the top and the top at the bottom).

Daddy's white coat ceremony.
Look at how big my son is getting!!!!

Shaking hands with someone important from his program.

Daddy and his friend Joe. He sees all 160 people in his program everyday in his classes.

Honestly, whose kid is this?!

I love that my kids love dressing up, and yes, that is J, he is just wearing clothes for once.

C's favorite thing to do. Make messes!

First day of school.

Another couple of faves. I told you the first one was one of many!

We went with our good friends up to Lake Michigan for our summer vacation. Because of my surgery, we were not able to make it back to see our families. Thankfully, Lake Michigan is only about three hours from our house. Our friends were planning to go as well, so we went together and decided to make it a yearly event. Speaking of which, Aimee, if you see this, I am planning to just make you a CD with all the pictures.
Our friends brought a game like "Go Fish" where you have to make the face like the picture on the card. The next few are of them playing the game. Just so ya know, it is a way fun game.

We got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Just so you know, K is the best at roasting the perfect marshmallow.

We loved Lake Michigan because there was soft sand, waves like the ocean, and great campsites. I don't think W came out of the water except when it was time to go.
K had a hard time deciding if she wanted to be in the water or playing with her friend in the sand.

Unfortunately, C was not a big fan of the water. He did enjoy trying to eat the sand though.

J was about the same as W; he loved the water!

Last day of swim lessons.

The kids and daddy got to go for a ride on the city bus as part of one of the programs the library did. They also got to go through the bus wash and see where and how the busses are fixed.

This was his only other request--besides a skateboard cake--that we go play tennis.

Poor J, he gets all of the left overs from his big brother's cakes. Their birthdays are so close together, it doesn't make sense to make more cakes or frosting. Thankfully, all he cared about was that he got a skateboard cake, regardless of what it looked like.

This is of course one of our favorites, when I say one, I mean one of MANY! This little boy is one special boy! This is very classic attire for him!

Our first temple trip took us a little longer than planned. Traffic was crazy in Chicago! Not to mention the toll roads, and I have decided that getting lost is the best way to find where you are! Chicago was amazing, even if we did just see the outskirts of it. It would be nice to have a temple closer, but I love the idea that my kids see how important it is for us to make it there. Even if it is only every three months.

Happy Magic School Bus Birthday W!

2010-07-11T18:18:00.001-07:00

We love you big guy!

W's gifts

2010-07-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

The gifts from Grammie, Grampie, Grandma and Grandpa
Thank You!

Cyst Pics

2010-07-07T11:25:00.001-07:00

There have been a few of you who have wanted to see the size of my cyst, so here are the pictures from my MRI. For those of you who don't care to see these kind of things you can move on down to the next pictures.

Catching up with lots o' pic's

2010-07-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

Soccer and riding a bike with no training wheels. I think this should catch every one up. I know I have not been good about keeping this updated but after having T. in the N.I.C.U. after he was born my life has been a whirl wind!

I found out I had a cyst the size of a grape fruit on my brain and would have surgery to put a shunt in to drain it one month before moving. This was after J. was accepted to Purdue for the pharmacy program and we had just bought a house. Within 3 weeks after moving in we have had ear/sinus infections (yes multiple), vomiting (also multiple), and lots of bites. All since the first of May.To say the least things have been NUTS! Because of all of this we will no longer be coming back West this summer. It has been a hard decision but one we feel is best for our family right now. Not to mention I still have the chance of going back in for another surgery to remove the cyst membranes altogether.

Our little ballerina! She wants nothing to do with any other kind of dance! This is not the best pic. of her so I had to throw this one in as well.

Last day of school.

My best faces! You have NEVER met a happier child. People ask me all the time if he always smiles like that and I can honestly say, YES!

Happy 4th of July! (celebrated on the 3rd)

The kids loved the noisy ones :)

We are getting eaten alive out here! By mosquitoes and spiders, Yuck!

C's. Blesssing

2010-01-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

We were so excited to have Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Julie here for C's baby blessing. It was also fun to live by Aunt Julianna this time. She has made something special for each of my kids blessings but this time she got to be around when it was used. Thank You to Mom, Dad,and Aunt Julie for coming and Aunt Julianna for the blanket!

Our snow man

2010-01-13T06:22:00.000-08:00

Thank You to Aunt Brianna for the cute accessories to build the best snowman possible with the snow we get here.

for Deb

2010-01-13T06:19:00.000-08:00

Thank You!

Back to normal

2010-01-13T05:35:00.000-08:00

I finally feel like I am back on track with my life. C. is doing so well with everything which is really nice. W. is back in school and I am back on my treadmill. The other two are still doin' their own thing and that works.
I am finding that if I want to get things done I have to wake up at 6:30 every morning and there is no stopping throughout the day or I think I will crash and by 8:30 at night I do.
These are a few of our December pictures...

Reading with Grandpa, and donuts,hot chocolate, and Santa at the library.

Is this Halloween or Christmas?!

2009-12-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

I have felt so behind since I had T. I didn't get to do much with Halloween with him being in the NICU. Once he came home, it was my turn to recover. I am pretty sure we had Thanksgiving because I remember some amazing food. And now here it is a week from Christmas, and I haven't gotten a thing done since Halloween. So here is a small recap of the two holidays and a little in between.
For pumpkins we go to a little farm not far from our house that we love because of the atmosphere. They have some really fun things for the kids to look at and play with and for the moms and dads to take pictures of the kids around. Sure, they might cost a little more, but my kids LOVE going there!

Diggin' in! (watch out for the pregnant women with a knife)

The after math...(although hard to tell in the picture, that's the angel Moroni in the middle)

Welcome little one

Only 2 wheels

Trick-or-treating

Grammy's visit that saved Mommy's life!

Even with all the weeks flying by, I get to enjoy this every day.

He is home!

2009-11-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

I don't think I could emphasize that title enough to express my true joy and excitement about having my baby home. I have always said that I did not want to have my baby in the NICU and you would not think that at 38 and a half weeks my baby would have to be there, but he was and it was horrible the first few days. I soon learned to trust the doctors and the Lord to do what was best for him. Because as his mother I thought I knew and both times I was wrong, and they were right. Oh how the Lord chasens us.
He was born on Oct. 28 (happy birthday Chloe and Santyna). He weighed 7 15.8 pounds
and was 20 3/4in long. We had to put him in the NICU because he thought it would be fun to stop breathing early that morning. He was put on oxygen for a day and then on a monitor for the past 9 days. He had to have the little thing under his tongue clipped and then he was able to eat and breath at the same time.
Needless to say he is home and healthy, although I will not be able to stop watching him day or night because I can't stop worrying that he is not breathing.

Chase Charlie

2009-10-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Charlie is the mascot for Ball State University in Muncie he is a big red bird that J. fell in love with the second he saw him. Anyway a few weeks ago there was a note sent home with W. that he could run in a race with Charlie. Daddy thought this would be a fun thing for him and his son to do together and W. jumped right on board. So bright and early on a freezing cold day, and when I say freezing I mean freezing it was probably only about 35-36 degrees. Regardless we bundled our little family up so W. and Dad could do their one mile fun run with Charlie. W. did great though he only looked up at Jeff one time and said "Dad I am not so sure this was such a great idea". They had to walk for a bit but they ran most of the way and out of the 64ish people that did it they came in about 53ish. We were very proud of him!

Overload!

2009-10-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well here it is our summer. Brace yourself it's a long one!
Of course I love all of my kids but this one right here is one of the snuggliest most loving kids you have ever met.

K.'s first dentist visit! She did great!

Do you see a pattern here? I can not keep this kid dressed! Well that's not true before I put his clothes on the top shelf of his closet I could not get him to stop putting on more layers. So in a game of "Take your pick" I guess I took take them off. The best is when he does it while visit teaching or in the stores. I am telling ya the kid is a one of a kind.

Ya like curly sue?!

Instead of taking the kids some where to have their pictures done we did them our selves. J. just wanted to jump and play. K. sat down and started doing all kinds of poses and my dear W. was just bored.

First day of the first grade.

My mother thinks I am horrible because I am putting these pictures on here. But I have to because my two year old got athletes foot. He loves his ball shoes and would not let us take them off for naps or night time. There for they only came off for tubs. I felt so bad though he could not walk the first day because they hurt so bad.

Check me out! Oh if only he was really doing it! Nope he just does it to get me all excited.

I can not keep up with this little monster! I love him dearly but I kid you not I am always chasing him or trying to stop him from hitting everyone with bats (anything long and straight is a bat) or with a sword. He is also always getting into EVERYTHING!

K. was supposed to start ballet and was oh so excited! We got her all ready and took pictures so daddy and her cousins could see her but when we got back from picking up her big brother there was a message on the answering machine saying her teacher was in the hospital. This of course meant nothing to her because she was the one who was so picked on and she let everyone know it for the next HOUR.

Our dear friend Amanda at her baptism. The missionarries asked me to pick her up one day for church and then we did lessons at our house every week.

Oh how I love my High School Musical!

Birthdays!

2009-08-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

I told you when I slacked off and did not put W.s birthday on I would post it with J.s. So here you go and just so you know I have been so tired this past month that I did not even do J.s cake until about 10 min. before we sang to him and ate it. It is a good thing that he only turned two and wont remember any of it. All he cared about was that he got a basket ball and HSM 2 the boy is abscessed with balls!
He throws anything that is round. The other day he even tried to throw a ball that was really an egg. He sleeps with his ball shoes on and I can only get him to ware clothes or jammies that are "ball" clothes and jams.
W. on the other hand got to have cousins over and we got to have dinner, play in the water outside, and make a big mess all over the house. we have loved having cousins so close so they can come and enjoy these special times with us!
W. chose the theme of his cake it is science cake (I am letting you know this so that you aren't wondering about this cake). It is a scientist looking at the stars by his tent and camp fire. And of course a volcano off to the side. I love how scientifically minded he is! He is just like his dad in the sense that he loves and is so good at math and science. He also loves to build inventions and know how everything works!

K.'s hospital stay, and the sex is...

2009-07-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

How was that for a catchy title? I don't know what the deal is but I sure hope J. does not have to go to the hospital any time soon. The next hospital stay better be mine when I have my 3rd baby boy! Isn't that crazy?! I told my mother in law that I would be shocked to my grave if it was a boy and sure enough the first thing we see is a little wee wee. There was no missing it! As far as me being shocked to my grave I was not to far from it after the day, night, and day I had just had with K.
Yesterday as we started the normal morning ritual of cleaning up our rooms, making beds, getting dressed etc. she was complaining about her tummy hurting. Of course I thought she was trying to avoid clean up but a few minutes later she had crocodile tears and could hardly walk. When we got to the doc. office her temp was 103.6 and her white blood cell count was high. We got sent to the hospital for all kinds of testing and the poor girl had to have an X Ray, cat scan, tube down the nose, and 15 pokes all said and done. It was horrible! They tried twelve times to get an I.V. in and three to draw the blood. They had to put a tube down her nose so they could pump barium for the cat scan into her tummy. But every time they pushed it in she puked! We finally got to sleep at eleven that night and by the next morning they knew nothing more than it was a viral/bacterial something! I have to take her to get her blood drawn again today because she had bacteria growing in her blood culture.
I will post again when and if we ever get any kind of an answer.

Be Prepared

2009-07-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is my "catch up" post (it goes backwards though so sorry). There are also a lot of pictures; however, not enough though cuz I don't have the B-day boy on yet. I guess I will put both boys' parties on in a few weeks.
Our drive home and our night in the hotel. We did not stay in a hotel on the way out, but I could not take it on the way back it was too long!

We were able to do a lot of stuff over the week with Grammy and Grampy. We went boating (FYI - K was a mad woman on the tube) and hiked into the Minnetonka cave (FYI - that was 888 steps to climb but way cool). On my birthday we decided to go to the beach and Grampy got his truck stuck, so we walked to the beach through some nasty mud. When we got to the beach it was freezing! K. had to go potty, J. fell in the water with his sweat shirt on, and then it started to rain. It was one of my most memorable birthdays ever. I loved it!

W.'s Uncle Ryan gave him 20 bucks to pull out his 2nd front tooth. It was a little bit like a witch's haggle tooth right down the center of his mouth. I think my brother couldn't stand it any longer; the thing was barely hangin' in his mouth.

After a fun week with the Luke family that included a baby shower, a "retirement" party, a trip to Leo's, and some bowling. We headed to Bear Lake to spend time with the Johnson family.

We started out with a short drive to Missouri, and then we took a LONG drive to Idaho. The drive was well worth it though as we got to spend a whole week with Grandma and Grandpa. This is our trip to the sand dunes.

W.'s last day of school.

We're Here!!!!!!

2009-06-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

Yea we made it to Utah! OK technechly I am in Idaho but that is really close right?
Based on my last post and the response I got on it I am not sure why I am writing this but just in case anyone does read my blog we will be in our old town homes park on Wed June 17 at 7:00. We would love to see anyone who wants to drop by!

A little preview

2009-05-23T15:53:00.001-07:00

Well since we will be seeing so many of you so soon ( yikes time goes by so fast ) I am not sure why I am posting this but I guess we will not see everyone so for those of you who we will not see I guess this is for you.

W. is done with kindergarten on Friday and Jeff will be done Saturday ( the teachers have to go for a half day longer ) way not cool but what-eva. It still means we will be able to leave when we were planning. The kids are so excited to see friends and family it is all they can talk about. Actually it is probably good cuz it takes their little minds off the baby, kinda .
Well I hope we will get to see most of you on our trip back to Ut. and Id. call or write back if you don't know when we are planning to be in your neighborhood cuz we really do want to see everyone!!!

W.'s hospital stay

2009-04-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

I know five weeks later! Well it was a normal Friday night Jeff and I sent the kids a packin up to bed about eight and then watched a movie. At about eleven when our show got over W started complaining about not being comfortable a few minutes later he came down with his hand on his neck and said my neck hurts. When he moved his hand his left side of his neck was so swollen it was even with his earlobe. The right side was also swollen but not as bad. This was the first time I have had to take a child to the E.R. and let me tell you I was a wreck I thought that I would be the calm parent and I would walk in all calm cool and collected and awe the doc's and nurses with how calm I was. Oh how I was mistaken! I was speeding like a mad women I was in tears and I parked in the spot where the ambulance is supposed to because I did not know where to park. Thank goodness for nice police men who took my keys and moved it for me.
Any way I will cut down the next seven hours for you so you can get to the next blog you would like to read.
They did a whole bunch of tests including a cat scan which I could not be in the room for because of being pregnant (ya I cried) but he did awesome! By six that morning and a thousand offers for coffee and no sleep the doc came in and said he had tonsillitis, and his glands, and lymph nodes where swollen because he had mono. Yup mono! And no my son does NOT kiss girls so how in the heck did he get mono at this age? Anyway they had to keep him in the pediatric ward for two days to make sure the swelling was going to go down. They were worried it would get worse and cut off his air supply. So daddy came and gave me a break and slept with him there that night and then he got to come home Sunday afternoon.
So it really was no big deal the little turkey was back at school on Tuesday. Speaking of turkey thankfully we have killer insurance and have not had to pay a cent so far!
Also, I wish I would have gotten a better pic of his nick too but the ones I took just didn't do it justice.

What to expect when...

2009-04-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

I am expecting!

Week 5 - Massive amounts of nausea, heart burn, and headaches!
Week 6 - My oldest son in the hospital and no sleep because of it. Not to mention massive amounts of nausea, heart burn, and headaches! - I will post about the hospital later-
Week 7 - Pretending that everything is hunky dorey while family visits. Not to mention (again) nausea, heart burn, and headaches!
Week 8 - Wouldn't be the same with out massive amounts of nausea, heart burn, and headaches! I was able to recover my house a little bit, a very little bit.
Week 9 - Yea, we get to see family again! Only this time there is no pretending because thank you very much folks I am already showing and have been for about two weeks. Things could get real ugly by the end of this pregnancy.

We are due on Nov, 6th,7th,8th,or 9th. I have been told all of these dates by different people but if any of you know me very well you know I will not make it that long!!!

General Confrence

2009-03-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

I know two posts in a row (Tanya don't die)! Anyway recently I have started to read the Ensign while I walk on my treadmill. As I did this today I read an awesome article about Preparing Our Children for General Conference. I am sure most of you are much better than me and have already read it but if not it is on page 23 of your March Ensign. I tried to put the link in but apparently I am computer illiterate. I need you smart bloggers to help me know how to put pictures and links in my postings not to mention change my background. If you go to lds.org find gospel library scroll down to magazines then click on the Ensign a page will pull up with a few articles but you will have to click the Ensign again to find the article. (By the way the play by play was for all the other computer illiterate people like me out there hopefully there is at least two of us).
I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did and it helps you in the next few weeks!

Me a slacker?!

2009-03-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad recently about replying to emails, checking facebook and my blog. I finally went through my emails, checked out facebook and caught up on every ones blogs. I also decided I should update my own. And because I am lazy I am just putting a couple of pictures of the kids from the past month.
W. is doing better in school (thankfully). He has always loved the social part of it but for some reason right after Christmas break everything just seemed to click with him and he is now doing a lot better with the actual school part.
K. Where do I begin with her? I think like most girls I could say there are good days and bad but I truly enjoy her. She loves to go shopping with me (that includes grocery shopping)which I love! She is getting to be a really big help there and in the kitchen. She thinks that she is the mother of her baby brother and talks frequently of having a little sister. Some day when I do have another baby she will be a mess if it is not a girl.
J. Is getting into everything! The other day I went to shower after running when I got out K. was calmly saying "mom" after the third time of me responding she yelled mom J. got eggs all over the floor. I quickly got dressed came downstairs and sure enough eggs all over. Just so you know egg yolk is almost impossible to get out of carpet. As I was cleaning the eggs up he dumped out the rice crispies. AHHHHH I can't keep up with this child!
Well I hope that brings you up to date a little better and I will try to be better about keeping in touch via the internet.

Our past month

2009-03-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

Our little princess

2009-03-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Check out those "B-B" clothes!

Our littlest guy

2009-03-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

My sons first school project. YIKES!

2009-01-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

This kinda weirded me out to think of my baby having a school project. But his teacher called it a family project so we all helped. It was really fun and it turned out really cute.
He wrote a song and then colored pictures to go along with the song. The words are as follows.
Wag your gallimimus tail
Stomp your dino feet
Shake your gallimimus claws
And roar your dino greet. Rargh!
W. came up with this song almost all by himself daddy had to help with the last line though.
Another part is like a puzzle on felt so you can build your own gallimimus.
Then there is a dot game called... Are you a true gallimimus? You have to lift up 10 dots if you get 5 or more facts you are a true gallimimus. If you get 5 or fewer you are extinct.
Last but not least he had to write his own report. He drew a picture on the flap in front to go with his report.
I am very proud of him that he did this and at the same time I think how I want to find a way to keep him young forever!

Our BIG Christmas present

2009-01-12T17:19:00.000-08:00

This was our gift to the kids. They have been on it since the second they saw it! I bought if off ebay and drove up to Indy to pick it up in Sep. and then Chris and Julianna kept it in their attic until Christmas eve. It was a bugger to put together but we got it. Oh how greatful my couches and I are.
The lady I bought it from thought that I was crazy because I wanted to put it in my house. I am sure that when anyone walks in my front door and sees it in my front room would say that she was completely justified in her thinking. Hey what can I say all that matters is if my kids are happy. And since they can't go outside this works like a charm.
Although Jeff says it is staying here when we move because it was such a pain to put together.

2009-01-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

This boy has so much hair!!! I let it grow out once or twice a year but then when I go to cut it I have to hack into it with the scissors before I can get near it with the clippers.

2009-01-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

I actually went out and bought material to make my kids there Christmas jams this year. Which made it possible for me to also make pillows and blankies for their stuffed animals and babies. It was fun for a change but I don't think I will do it every year.

Merry Christmas... already :)

2009-01-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Well this Christmas was very different, different but good! We enjoyed not having to go here there and everywhere over those few days. With that being said we did miss family and friends. Thankfully we live close to Chris and Julianna so we could do a few things with them. We drove up to Marion on Christmas eve, eve to see some awesome lights! Then we did our own Christmas eve and Christmas activities. This was the first year that we did the nativity by ourselves and the kids loved it! J was a sheep, K was Marry, W was Joseph, Daddy was the Shepperd, and Mommy pulled double duty and played the part of the angel and the narrator.

Our Missionaries!

2008-12-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

These two missionaries have been here since the time Jeff was put in as ward mission leader. We had a really hard time getting people to feed them at first because of the confusion of whether or not they had to have an investigator, and our ward is really small. So they were in our house for dinner every week. I consider them my boys I pray for them and think about them all of the time. K. loves Elder Lowry so we found it funny they sat next to the opposite. W. loves Elder Green who is most likely being transferred tomorrow. We wanted to get a picture with them and the kids before he left. W. was dressed up in his church clothes earlier that night, which he normally does when they come over so we were sad that we did not take the picture before he got jams on.

Our first lost tooth.

2008-12-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

As we sat watching our family movie Friday night W. came over to me and asked me to look at his tooth because it felt funny. Sure enough it was loose when I told him this he started shaking with excitment and started running all through the house saying... " I have a loose tooth" and " I am going to loose my tooth". When he had somewhat calmed down he told Jeff and I that we needed to... "call the paper and tell them a 5 year old has a loose tooth".
I thought we would not stop wiggling it but to my amazement it was me who continually asked him about it. So last night as I was wiggling it I told him we should get it out right then. He liked the idea of the tooth fairy coming so he agreed. I gave it to good pulls and out it came. He was very brave and although it shook him up a bit at first the excitment came quickly.
It is so wierd to me to see my son go through things I remember from my childhood. It also scares me becasause I wonder if he will remember how much mommy losses it.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

As I looked at my blog today while logging in to post these I realized the last time I posted anything was a month ago. That is really pathetic I know. I think this has something to do with the fact that our camera batteries are dead so there has not been a lot of picture taking going on. I don't like having to plug in the charger and try to get a good angle for a good picture.
W. and K. LOVED helping me set up for Christmas this year but their favorite was the train Grammy and Gramppy gave W. last year for Christmas.
For those of you who are not on our Christmas letter list we wish you all a Merry Christmas, if you would like to get on our list you can email me at lukejeff@ymail.com

Brush, brush,brush your teeth!

2008-12-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

This is one of J.'s favorite things to do! I tried putting a lock on the drawer but I ended up braking the handle off instead. I had hoped this would stop him from getting into the drawer but he is too good at getting things out that he really wants.

The big man's little man

2008-11-16T18:16:00.000-08:00

If anyone feels my blog is a little lopsided towards my third child your not the only one I feel the same way. But he is just so darn cute!

The big mans B - Day

2008-11-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write him a big mushy birthday card but I was busy making him his "cake" and dinner while he took a 4 hr. Sunday nap. I must really love him. Oh how I do! He is always so good to me in a million ways. It never fails that every Saturday morning he lets me sleep in and until his new calling every Sunday morning as well. He knows I hate doing dishes and cleaning bathrooms and so being the wonderful man he is he does those A LOT too. He is always so supportive of me when I feel like life is so rough, or all the millions of "I don't feel very goods", not to mention all of the times he comes home early from work to be with the kids so they don't have to go to the girly doctor with me. And most importantly he helps me with my stupidity. Not only with spelling and grammar but with the gospel as well. He is so darn smart! Some times it drives me crazy but other times he comes in handy. I love him so much and we have grown together as a couple with a lot of help from our Savior Jesus Christ and a great marriage councilor!:) I know that sounds horrible but I would recomend it to ANYONE if they were ever even considering going to a councilor in a heart beat! There have been some real rocky roads but I would NEVER change them for anything in this world! I know the Lord wanted us to be together and that we could get rid of those rocks together with his help and quite honestly I would absolutely do it all over again. All of it. Happy Birthday Jeff I love you!

W. 's Halloween parade

2008-11-02T18:03:00.001-08:00

I got J. and K. dressed up and everyone at the school thought they were so cute and so one of my friends took a picture for us. Mrs. Huffman (W.'s kindergarten teacher)is so great she dressed up so cute and did a fun Halloween party for W.'s class.

Trick or treating with the cousins.

2008-11-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

We have loved having the cousins so close we got to see them everyday this week! The kids are all such good friends and it has been so fun to get to know Chris and Julianna better. Oh ya and the kids loved trick or treating K. was so worried about having to go to the door all by herself and actually talking to someone but since she was with all of her cousins and she found she got a lot of candy she got over that fear real quick.

Halloween Party

2008-11-02T17:32:00.000-08:00

I am so glad to have Halloween over! I love it and so do my kids but because they love it they want all kinds of fun things to happen.
W. started asking me for a Halloween party a few weeks after we moved here. So we called the cousins and planned a party. Aunt Julianna made a ghost piniata and we had homemade pizza. The kids and I made cupcakes for a pumpkin walk and there was a whole lot of crazyness with 8 kids running around. It was a lot of fun and W. is already planning one for next year.

Dah!

2008-11-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

I forgot to put the finised products!

Feeling so torn

2008-10-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

I have loved it here in Indiana in so many ways. The town is so nice when you go to the bank, library, or store everyone knows who you are (I think that has something to do with the fact that I have three young kids taging along with me). I have met friends that I love. W. has met so many friends and has loved his kindergarten teacher. K. loves her cousins and her nursery teacher.
It is different here though. I don't like to go outside because I am affraid of what my kids will see and hear from the neighbor kids not to mention you can't breath because everyone is smoking.
I like so many things about being far from Utah as far as the church goes though it makes me get out of my bubble. Not all of my friends are members and all my neighbors don't go to the same church as me and so it gets me excited to do missionary work. I have to make a huge effort to go visiting teaching because of how far our ward boundries span. Which is good because it helps me remember how important V.T. is. My kids get to have the missionaries in our house every week and they have learned to play with each other because there are no friends real close to run and play with. They do have friends to play with I just have to set up play dates.
I miss my family and friends and I feel like because it was me who left they are going on with their lives and have forgotten about me and my life. I recently went to an OB here and she told me I had major PMS pathetic I know but there is actually medication for this "condition" and I have met other people who are on it so I am not making this up. I will attribute my whining to that right now because I really do like it here and I KNOW this is what the Lord wanted for me and my family.

I love my food

2008-10-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

All he ever does is eat! I think he drinks a gallon of milk all in a matter of 2-3 days all by himself.

2008-10-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

2008-10-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

2008-10-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

My dear pumpkin

2008-10-29T12:10:00.001-07:00

I stuck the knife in W.'s pumpkin and all of the sudden huge crocadile tears came streaming down his face. He was devastated that we had "ruined" his pumpkin.

It was very tramatic

2008-10-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

King for the day

2008-10-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

W. thought that this is what was supposed to happen to the pumpkin I guess rather than cutting into with a knife.

pumpkins

2008-10-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

We went to a small farm down a long road here in Indiana to find our pumpkins there was no tractor rides or yummy treats but it was beautiful! The kids had a great time and we had a fun day together as a family.

2008-10-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

What a poser! She had such a fun time she just kept walking around saying I want this one no that one and when I would say are you sure she would say um no wait what about this one. It was so hard picking just one but we finally decided this one was good because the top looked like a witches hat.

2008-10-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

J. was in seventh heaven he thought that being outside was good but when you add all those pumpkins everywhere that he could sit on and move and roll he was one happy boy. He did not care about what one we came home with so you can guess who picked it out for him. Yup his second mother and father.

Joy

2008-10-18T12:31:00.001-07:00

Well I feel like I need to update everyone. I did not send out a weekly update this week because well I'm not sure why but hopefully this will help
Today is Saturday but Thursday and Friday I got to spend with Jeff and my kids because it is fall break (in Indiana they don't have UEA they have fall break). We have got to spend some fun time together and we got to go to the social security office and to the BMV to renew our licences which was not so fun but the kids did awesome.
What I really wanted to say in this post though is how blessed I feel to have an eternal family. It is one of those days when my kids could do whatever they want because all I feel is JOY right now and I want to share these feelings with those who don't know what I know and how blessed we truly are.

OK so also Tanya I have to apologize I am such a bad friend and I never reply and you tagged me forever ago and I have never done anything about it so here goes.

5 joys

1. The Church of Jesus Christ
2. Jeff
3. My kids
4. Me time
5. Anything I can do by myself that starts out as nothing and turns into something... ie sewing, cooking, scrapbooking

5 fears

1. Losing Jeff
2. Losing my kids/ not teaching them enough about the gospel and the Lord loses them
3. Snakes and Spiders agh just writing that gives me the creeps
4. Someone will see what my house really looks like on a bad day
5. Not knowing if I will have more children

5 obsessions

1. Food of any kind sugar or not
2. A clean house
3. Finding a carer for my husband when he grows up
4. Working out everyday
5. I cannot have clutter it drives me CRAZY! Thankfully I did not marry someone who is a clutter freak.

There you have it.

2008-10-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

W. and K. decided they were sick of waiting until mommy and daddy took them swimming again so they build their own swimming pool equip with everything you could imagine including a place to surf on a Rubbermaid tote lid. They have such fun imaginations! Today Jeff and I took them to the park and as I sat on the swing with J. and watched W. and K. play I felt the spirit so strongly and I knew that this is why we are here... Families! I love mine so much and although it seems I complain about this one and all of his energy I love him dearly he is such a good boy and I just need to learn how to channel all that energy into good.

2008-10-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

W. taught K. how to do a dive. So here she is in all of her glory. Mind you that W. does not know how to do a dive so it was a good thing this was all just pretend. K. has been so excited to go to swim lessons and prays for it in all of her prayers because she knows that she gets to do them next summer which is when we get to go home and visit family. It has been a lot harder for her to let go of her old friends and family than it has been for W. she is always talking about her friends and family in Utah and Idaho.

yummy

2008-10-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

J. has recently overcome his fear of making messes while eating and has decided instead of eating food through his mouth that he would try his hair, ears, nose, eyes, armpits and where ever else he or you could think of! J is also very into honking people's noses and he loves singing the itsy bitsy spider and patty cake. He loves playing outside and will run into the door if I get it closed before he can make an escape. He has started the classic scream at the top of your lungs and throw your body on the floor ( I'm not sure how children learn this because even children who don't have siblings try it). In our family it gets you left on the floor while everyone else carries on with their business hopefully soon he will learn that it gets him nothing until then I will laugh at my incredibly dramatic 15 month old little boy. I have to say though my all time favorite thing is when I lay him down in his crib for naps or night time he will wave bye bye to me with a huge smile poking out from both sides of his binki.

Friday night without daddy

2008-09-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

I have to say that when Jeff told me he had to go to the homecoming parade and then do the game Friday night my first thought was to finish dinner fast get kids in bed and have the night to myself. I am not always such a grumpy mom but I have not been feeling the greatest recently so yes it was my first thought. Thankfully I decided to be nice mommy instead and it ended up being such a fun night and I still got some time to myself because Jeff did not get home until eleven. We pulled out the tent and J. had his first experience with a tent he was laughing so hard he could not even stand up. Not to mention that W. and K. had put every pillow in the house in the tent. After our dinner I made popcorn and J. would not let go of the bowl oh he thought he was so big sitting there with brother and sister holding the big bowl of popcorn I could not even begin to capture it on film.

2008-09-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

2008-09-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

2008-09-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

Our sweet boy!

2008-09-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

For those of you don't already know Jeff and I agreed when I started blogging I would not use the kids names for security purposes so this works well for J. He is the sweetest thing you could ever come across. People say the third child is angelic and that has absolutely been true with J. But his latest thing has been to have us put socks on his hands and then he will go about on his marry way and do everything he would normally do. This includes taking naps some day I will get a picture of this but I am to afraid of waking him up (you mom's know what I mean). Anyway here are some pics of him awake with them on.

2008-09-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

2008-09-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

2008-09-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

2008-09-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Colubus, Ohio temple trip

2008-09-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday we where able to go to the temple in Ohio. I realized that I am so spoiled! When we lived in Logan the temple was less than five minutes away and I bet we went once every 3 or 4 months. When I lived at home and babysat for families in the ward that went to the Ogden temple it took three or four hours. When we lived in W. Jordan and Payson I thought it was hard because I had to get a babysitter and it was a whole 2o min. away!!! Now as we traveled 2 hours and 20 min. to get to the temple I realized driving into a different state trumps all. After the long drive with kids Jeff and I had to switch off so Jeff did a session first and then me while the other one entertained children for 2 hours. Thankfully the sessions where so incredible they were WELL worth it. As I talked to people later I told them I thought it was important for my kids to see what an effort mom and dad made to make it to the temple. When we got home at 11:30 that night I had to remind myself of these things. But now K. and W. talk about it all the time and W. is drawing pictures of it, and he wrote "The temple" that is the first thing he has written himself . It made me so grateful for the temples and I realized 2 hours was not as bad as saving my whole life for the one time I could go.

Mommy, W, K, and J in front of the temple

2008-09-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

September

2008-09-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Last night as I got ready for bed it occurred to me that I had missed a stake Relief Society activity, but how in the world was it Sept. 6 already last week as I sat in Relief Society it was still Aug. I have to say I completely agree with Michelle where did the time go.
I am not doing a big blog today because it is late here so I want to go to bed but it has been my goal to up date this every week so everyone knows what is happening with the Lukes. Therfore I hope you enjoy the pictures and that they say enough so I don't have to.

W. (not his backpack)

2008-08-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

The night before school started W. could not fall asleep I'm not sure if it was excitement or fear but we really had to rush the next morning in order to get there on time. The real problem however was the huge fit he threw over his hair. Yes I know boys are not supposed to care about such things but not our special W. you see he has recently decided that he is a rock star I am not sure how he came up with this idea but it is rather real to him. He has asked for a rock star lamp for his room along with a guitar and pictures to "make his room cool rock star." Anyway he wanted his hair rock star the first day and it was just not working the way he had envisioned it apparently and so there was quite the commotion bright and early the first day of school. We have recently worked out a deal that W. does his own hair in the morning because I will not go through that again and we all know no matter what you do to his hair in about 2 hours it is going to be poof anyway.

W first day of kindergarten

2008-08-31T13:52:00.000-07:00

W. was so excited for his first day of school although he kept asking me why I signed him up to go so early. He was also very excited and proud of his back pack (if you can't tell).

We made it!

2008-08-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

You can all sigh a huge sigh of relief yes we have a job and yes we have a house :) Things where a bit iffy for a while but we took a huge step into the dark and the Lord blessed us for doing what we KNEW He wanted us to do. (Now if we only knew why He wanted us to do it.)

We left Payson on Thursday July 31 and started the dreaded three day drive to Indiana. Luckily for us we discovered it was not bad at all the kids where champs! We had absolutely no breakdowns, melt downs, or tears we did have a very messy car however. Thanks a million to Mom and Dad who drove in the big truck so that we could all be together in the van. We will forever be in their debt.

Jeff and I loved seeing all the different states it amazed us that Nebraska took us one whole day and everywhere you looked there was either corn, or soy bean fields for miles some people would call this boring or ugly we however loved the drive and now say bring on the summer drives back to Utah.

We arrived safely at Chris and Julianna's house late Saturday night and stayed there until Tuesday morning making it possible for our apt. to be cleaned and painted. Thanks for opening your house to us guys we really appreciated it.

The next few days where a bit crazy. Jeff had an interview Monday morning but because all of our stuff was still in the truck he had to borrow Chris's suit (thank you yet again) and I spent most of the day changing our address and taking care of the kids.

Tuesday morning Jeff, Chris, Mom, Dad and some wonderful ward members moved us in. I missed the whole thing. I would love to tell the whole story but it would take to much writing so lets just say Julianna and I tried to be awesome and change it with out the men but it was raining and there was lightning (both of which are much more severe here) and Julianna is just way to strong for her own good. Chris to the rescue again came back and fixed it for me while Jeff stayed here to finish up.

Wed. was a long day of unpacking and we still had not heard anything about a job for Jeff until that evening when they called him back for an interview on Thurs. morning. Gratefully we said yes and he went to the interviews on Thus. Only to find they could not officially hire him until the following Tues. because the posting had to be up until then. Although they gave him all of the info. a new hire would receive and asked him to come to a meeting Monday. Once again we gratefully accepted and immediately said a prayer of thanks when he got home.

Like I said before we knew this was where we were supposed to be and it was a huge step in the dark but we felt the Saviors hand in it every step of the way. Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support we have even found since we moved here that people who did not even know us where praying for us and we can not even begin to tell you thank you enough for your love and support.