Ireland or Bust

Okay….I'm not the greatest writer, but with my terrible memory I'll be kicking myself in a few years if I don't write down some stories of our Ireland Adventures. Also, since its hard to communicate with everyone back in the US (due to our slow internet), this is a good way for those interested to know what we have been up to. So I will start from the beginning. 20 Bags!!! We received notice in mid/late November that we MIGHT be moving to Ireland in Jan 2014 (that was 6 weeks away)…again...Might!! We had an apartment in Oregon, a house in AZ, a car, 2 trucks (borrowing my Dad's in OR), and a boat, no passports and 12 years of collected kid/home furniture, not to mention celebrating Thanksgiving, Riley's Bday and Christmas in the middle of the potential move. We finally received notice that it was really happening and went to work right away. Greg packed up his apartment in a few days, I flew into Oregon on a Thursday afternoon, hoped in the truck and we headed back home to AZ by Friday evening. From there its all a blur. I won't forget the awakening I had when we had our garage sale a few days after Thanksgiving. With the help of many family and friends dropping what they were doing on a holiday weekend to come help us prepare. We loaded our garage full of our possessions that we weren't able to bring with us or just couldn't keep in a storage unit. It was sad watching things that we worked so hard to get and spent so much money on to sell at a fraction of the cost. It also opened up my eyes on how many thing we had that aren't needed. Still very scary to sell most of your belongings. Finally, after a quick 6 weeks of packing, sorting and trying to spend time with family and friends Dec 29th had arrived. It was a very sad day. Saying goodbye to our cat Poker (she went to a good foster home while we are gone), Indy (my parents are watching him), and all our family was hard. It was still not a really sad goodbye because its more of a seeya later, we HAVE to come back. My parent and Greg's took us to the airport with all 20 bags of luggage. (those pictures are sad so I won't post them). We arrived at the airport 2 1/2 hours before our flight. With Greg on Crutches from his recent wall jumping accident we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. Security was breeze, even though Greg with his crutches and his metal shoulder set off alarms, we were on our way to the gate. We had dropped off 10 of the 20 suitcases at the check in counter so now we are left with 2 a piece. We opened up the iPads and the headphones and tried to forget the sad goodbyes that just happened. The girls of course alway hungry wanted to eat before we go on the plane. Many trips to different restaurants in the terminal so everyone could eat what they wanted, we finished up our food and waited for the plane. Greg went up to the check in counter to check and make sure the flight was ok, even tried to upgrade his seat so he could elevate his leg and found the flight to be delayed 10 minutes later. Finally they start boarding, we wait for our zone to be called, give her our tickets, alarm sounds WRONG FLIGHT!! We sat at the wrong gate for 2 hours trying to get on a plane that took off 10 minutes later than our flight. We immediately start running for the other gate, of course it can't be close, we are 1/2 a mile away from the correct gate, with 10 bags, 3 kids and a husband on crutches we have to run as fast as we could to the other side of the terminal. We get 1/2 way there and hear our names on the loud speaker "Farmer Party this is the Final boarding call for Flight 839 to Philidephia. We were going to miss our flight!! I drop the rolling carry on bag to give to Greg (who now has a back pack, roll bag and duffle bag on crutches) and start sprinting to the gate. I pass the girls and encourage them to keep running we are almost there. I finally make it sweating, wheezing and panting while getting lectured from the ticket lady asking where we were, we checked in over 2 hours ago. She argued that their wasn't another gate/flight, I didn't care, We MADE IT! I informed them my husband was coming on crutches to hold the plane he was on his way. Everyone was seated and ready, I think they might have been a little irritated with us. WHO CARES WE MADE IT!! The flight was long and boring, nothing exciting which is a good thing. We made it to Dublin the next morning at 8am about 45 minutes earlier than scheduled, of course it was raining and breezy (WINDY). Now we had to find a way to get our 20 suitcases to the car dealership where another van and car will be waiting for us. It took 2 van taxi's and too much Euro to get to the dealership. We finally make it to our new home! The girls went crazy and ran through the house over and over again to make sure they weren't missing anything. They had already preassigned their bedrooms and wasted no time in unpacking and organising the few items we brought with us. They ran outside and started climbing the trees and hiding in the fort, enjoying the cold Irish Winter, they didn't care it was just above freezing outside or that it was 30mph winds and rain, they fell in love with Ireland the minute they arrived. As did Greg and I. On New Years morning we woke up to a Rainbow outside our kitchen window. I think thats a good sign for our Ireland Adventures in 2014!

Easter Sunday

Well, we had missing family member this Easter. Greg was offered overtime for the weekend, so he decided to take it. Our Easter was still a busy one. So Greg wouldn't miss everything, the girls and I decided to wait on the Easter Egg Hunt until Greg came home. So I woke up on Easter and found all the eggs that the Easter Bunny left and put them in a bag. The girls did get their Easter baskets at home. Plus I must have not done a great job collecting all the eggs, there were still 3 I forgot to find! At noon we went over to Greg's Grandparents house to have lunch with the family. It was the quiet day. There weren't very many of us over. Our annual Easter Egg hunt was between the girls and I, usually I'm more competitive with finding the eggs, but when your finding them against your kids, you just can't be. Then we left for my parents house. It was quiet over there too! My mom, and Kerry, Christian and the kids were there. They had a great big blow up "Fun Ball" to play in.

The following Sunday we had our egg hunt. It was so much fun and I'm glad we waited for Greg.

The Fam

They do hold hands like this regularly!




Indy is not allowed on the couch, however, since his front feet stay on the ground, he technically isn't on the couch. Luckily this is the furthest he gets on the couch, he is a great dog for our family.





Poker is still going strong, she's got that middle aged pouch on her tummy, she is well fed and well loved. She usually sleeps with Julia at night, unless Greg isn't home, then she sleeps with me and sleeps in Riley's room in the daytime.



Morgan has had a rough start this year, we started off with a broken elbow, and after the cast came off she smashed her finger with Gregs 50 lb weights. She was a trooper though, she was so good at all the Doctors appts, never crying at any of them. She even watched them put in the stitches, and when they went to saw off the cast, she wasn't scared at all (I was)!









Riley is doing well, she has been killing it at soccer! This year she was the only girl on her team, and that didn't slow her down a bit. She seems to really like it and doesn't want to try a new sport. She is doing amazing in school and is just an awesome help around the house. Riley keeps us all laughing





Little Julia is not so little anymore, she has recently purchased her first set of glasses. She just finished the winter season of Basketball. She impressed me this year, she dribbles the ball around the house everyday and loves to try new drills, she even takes her ball to school with her and plays with the boys. I was able to coach a few of her games and then became the unofficial asst coach to her team. Her coach decided not to play the spring season and we wanted to keep the girls together, so I decided I would coach this next season. I am very excited to coach Julia, just a little unsure about teaching 10 3rd/4th graders. She is doing well in school, we've had a few battles on her testing the teacher, but I think she learned her lesson and is back on track and doing great.





Greg is doing well, he seems to be liking his new company, he started doing P90X and is seeing improvements already. His knees aren't hurting and his back has been fine. He eats like a horse trying to gain weight. It is so weird for him to try and eat so much, for years he had been watching his weight and trying to loose it, now he can't seem to gain any. When he finishes the program, I will post some pictures of before and after. He has also helped out and is the assistant assistant coach of Rileys soccer team. He is really enjoying being involved in the girls activities.
Nothing too exciting with me, I am the offical chauffeur of the family. I have been able to attend a few yoga workshops in the last few months, this last one Greg came with me and did partner yoga! We had so much fun, good thing there were no pictures, we did some weird poses!

Fun Summer

Well...its still hot, but school started so our summer is over. sad. We had a very unusual summer! Even though we decided not to go on the annual summer vacation, we still had many trips. We started off the summer in Tulsa, OK. We had a very fun time, like usual. That vacation was a great way to start off the summer.







In June we had a few bdays. Julia celebrated her 8th and she had a "Dive In" party at Grandmas house. She loved it! Morgan also had a party at Grandmas the next morning, She had a big Bouncehouse/Waterslide.




We also went to a surprise party for Greg's Aunt Becky. It was at the TGI Friday's Suite. The girls really enjoyed the game (I think it was all the junk food they ate)




Next was a nice cool weekend up North at my friend Jessica's Cabin. We enjoyed the rain and the cool weather, we went down to the creek and searched for HUGE crawdads. The end of the trip wasn't that much fun for MO, she threw up on the Taco Bell floor, I felt bad for her, she was a good sport and laughed about the carrot chunks in her hair (sorry, too much?).






We also went to California for a long weekend. That was a really fun trip. Because we were on a "Budget" we were creative with what we did. Morgan had never seen the beach before, so we went and spent an afternoon there. The girls had a great time. Greg went out with the girls indiviually, Julia was a good sport, she got rocked with some huge waves. Then, while Greg was body surfing, the girls and I started to build a sandcastle, after that they started to search for sand crabs, that was entertaining, I think they enjoyed that the most. While we were there three dolphins came in with the waves, they were very close to shore and people in the ocean. It was really neat to see that, I had never seen wild dolphins before. We also went to Downtown Disney and spent a day there. Even though we didn't do much, Riley said it was "the best vacation ever!!" hmmmm...Can't seem to find those pictures.

We've also made it to the Science Center this summer. We decided to take the light rail to downtown Phoenix. It was our first time on the light rail and to the Science Center. We brought lunch and Julia's friend from school. They had this really amazing Storm Area that made us feel like we were in an earthquake, hurricane and volcano area. I think that was our favorites. We also got to lay on a bed of nails, see optical illusions, subduction and many other educational exhibits. I would like to go again, its hard to see everything, expecially with 4 kids.....and Greg!







We also got to spend the summer with family and friends, We made it out on the boat too, not as much as last year, but we expect that its going to be less and less as they get older and there's more and more bday parties to go to each weekend.

School's Out for the Summer!!

Well....almost. The girls (Julia and Riley) only have a few more days left, Morgans last day was Wednesday. Riley is having a Graduation for Kindergarten, she is going to be in 1st grade!!
And Miss Julia is ending the school year with wonderful grades and many new, nice friends. Girl Scouts ended last week, she earned many many badges, basketball ended today except (this is me bragging)she got recruited by another coach to play on there team, so she is going to practice with them through the summer and find a league for the fall. I'm real excited for her, she seems to really enjoy playing, she practices on her own and brings her basketball to school.
Gymnastics is over tonight, they all have a recital, I'm not sure if I'm putting Morgan back in dance or tumbling, she does have plenty to do this summer.
Soccer is almost over, Riley is on a new team this session, but she has really stepped up and become more agressive, that little girl really impresses me sometimes with her hustle, just like her big sister.
Its summer time again, our water is warming up, the older two started to wakeboard again, and Morgan is ready to ski and "wakey boarding" Thats all for now!

A Day at the Dairy Farm

Riley's Kindergarten Class went on to the Superstition Dairy Farm. I was chosen to chaperone. Riley's preschool class had been there before, so we knew what to expect. It was funny because Riley was real excited for the feild trip. The last night when I was putting her to bed she couldn't wait. Then this morning we get into the car and we are driving to school and she asks if we are dropping off Julia first. I told her that we were all going to school and then we were taking a bus. Oh my she was more excited about the Bus than the actual feild trip.



First we went to feed the animals. We got to feed a donkey, goats and a horse. And we petted the bunnies, and chickens.




Then we got to drink some of the milk they make, Riley had butterscotch flavored milk. After they drank that we played on the tractor and in the hay maze where we found chicken eggs.







Then we took a hayrack ride around the dairy we saw a few newborn calfs there was one that was about a hour old and he tried to stand up and kept falling it was pretty cute.


After the farm we went to Freestone park. We ate lunch and played on the playground. I saw the bench were Greg proposed to me! Thought that was neat!