Emma is here!

Emma Charlotte Dozier

September 22, 2012

8:23 AM

7.1 Lbs, 19 1/2 in.

 Our sweet little Emma is here! After 22 hours (I think it should be more like 5 minutes because that's all I pushed, the rest of the time I happily rested with an epidural) of labor she decided to make her big debut. My mom and Clayton were there with me to share in welcoming her into the world. The girls later came with Aunt Chalice to see their new sister for the first time. After nearly ten years of waiting, this was a huge deal for our little family. It's nice to know miracles still happen. Our family is so happy to have been blessed with little Emma. The labor and delivery story will come in another post soon along with pictures of the MANY friends and family that came by the hospital to see our little one. I have to say, I have the more supportive, caring, and loving extended family anyone could ask for. From Aunt Bev's hospitality, flowers, and chocolate, to cousins popping in with gifts and hello's, it was an amazing birth and an awesome beginning to the adventure of raising our little Emma. We couldn't have done it without all of you! For those of you who got texts while I was in the hospital, if they seemed a little strange and revealing, they were from Clay( and if you didn't get any sorry, there were a lot of people for the poor guy to try and tell)!

 Let's compare our little ladies, shall we! The above picture is Emma. She was my biggest baby (by an ounce) weighing in at 7.1 lbs. She was in the middle for length at 19 1/2". Her birthday is September 22. Her animal of choice (actually the girls chose for her) is an Elephant. I like animals in their new born pictures, then I always know who is who.

 This is Sydney. My littlest girl weighing in at 6.4lbs. She was the longest out of all of the girls at 21". Her birthday is November 21. When she was in the hospital we had brought along her little lamb (a little special something from mom and dad), the photographer put it in one of her pictures on a whim and a tradition was born!

Last but not least is Alexandra. My middle baby in the weight division at 7.0 lbs. She was my shortest baby at 19". Her birthday is October 23. Her giraffe was my choosing. I found a little dress that said Alexandra at a little boutique somewhere.

So we have birthdays in September, October, and November. They're on the days 21, 22, 23. It gets a little crazy to remember when filling out paperwork and such.

I am extremely grateful to be a mother again. It's been a little hectic. From having her in Tempe, trying to breastfeed for the first time, to Emma having Jaundice and needing blood tests everyday, to going on little sleep again for the first time in years. The first couple of days were scary, and happy, and chaotic, and full of tears but we made it through. Every day gets better and better. Luckily I had great doctors and awesome support from everyone. I healed super fast and Emma was my best pregnancy out of all three. My mom came to stay a week with me. Those long first nights home, I'll never forget, and thanks to my AWESOME mom I made it through. Clay was a major help too, he stayed by my side through the entire hospital stay and sang in Spanish to quiet our little one so I could take showers and get some sleep. Having a baby is such a traumatic thing for men, but I'm happy to say my man made it through with flying colors. He was the photographer, the movie maker, the texter, and the damage controller. He is an amazing guy! No wonder I love him! More to come.........

Baby Bedding!

When I first found out I was pregnant, my sister in-law Amy asked if she could make the bedding for the crib. I told her sure (I mean really, have you not seen her quilts and cute stuff on her website? How could I say no!) I expected a blanket and maybe a sheet but this girl went all out!

 I had 2 baby showers this past weekend. (I'll post pictures of both soon). I had a ward baby shower on Friday and a friends and family baby shower in Mesa on Saturday. The gifts, and food, and decorations, and hostess, and party goers were awesome. Some people I hadn't seen for quite sometime (Linda!) and it was nice to catch up with everyone. My poor Aunt Nelda didn't even know I was pregnant before she got the baby shower invitation! The girls had fun with some of their 2nd cousins and I had plenty of yummy salsa from Nando's so I was one happy momma!

 So my camera stinks, and the baby's room is a bit small (it's just cramped, there is a crib, a changing table, a queen bed, a dresser, and a cedar chest in there), so these pictures in no way do the amazing bedding justice! The bedding is all handmade and it included a quilt, bumpers, and a 3 ruffle crib skirt. Amy picked the material out and went to work. It's an amazing sight! It makes me want to jump in the crib, snuggle under the quilt, and take a nice long snooze!

 Amy is so amazing and talented she even had enough time and energy to make matching switch plate covers with leftover fabric modpodged to them. She made me two but I only have picture of one. I love them!

My showers were amazing. I feel so loved and supported. I have the best family and friends I could ever ask for. All the gifts I received were beautiful and just what I needed. If it hadn't taken ten years to get pregnant I wouldn't have needed anything but I got rid of everything I had a couple years ago. A big thank you to all those who came and were very supportive, it meant the world to me. I'll post more pictures of the numerous events that have happened lately. I had high hopes to have my blog all summer updated before the baby came, but now I have thank you cards to write and only 11 days before baby will be here. Here's my new goal: Have the blog updated by the end of January so I can print out the blog book. Here's to hoping....

Aunt Bev knows how to shower!

 My Aunt Bev and her super adorable grand baby Maisy. This lady is amazing! My third and final baby shower was at her house in Mesa. I have so many friends and family from up there that we decided to save them a trip and party up there!

 The food was super yummy. We had sandwiches, dips, chips, veggies, desserts and of course SALSA! I think I only ate chips and salsa but man was it just what the baby wanted!

 Before the party started I got to sit a visit with my cousin Emily, who I wish I could hang out with more. Super fun chick! I also got to visit with my Aunt Diane, Aunt Nelda, Lavina, and my cousin Kaitlyn. I loved seeing ALL the family that came. We didn't play any games at the shower, instead I got to spend some quality time with friends and family. A baby shower to remember that's for sure.

 I received so many gifts I'm forever indebted to everyone. It was just what I needed these last few weeks to be able to rest easy knowing I'm now officially prepared. I'm so blessed, thank you all. I couldn't possibly show pictures of everything I got, but here are a few for the blogs sake. The quilt above was made by my Aunt Debbie's sister Judy! AMAZING! It's going to get used and loved daily here soon. Judy is an awesome quilter and I'm so fortunate to get one for my new little one. Thanks Judy (and Aunt Debbie for taking pictures!)

 Mama (Grandma Wing, Clay's mom) got a much needed Boppy for me, two flannel quilts, burp cloths and a noise machine. I'd say she's super excited to have a new grandchild. wouldn't you? There hasn't been a baby girl born on Clay's side in awhile so were all little excited to see pink again!

My Aunt Kay made some amazing burp cloths. My favorite one is the one with the little black balls that hang down, adorable. It's now in my hospital bag cause I love it so much! I'm going to have to make me some more of these once things calm down, they're the perfect size and just what I like!

 

 

I got so many cute outfits, and toys, and BOOKS, and bath supplies, and burpers, and quilts, and diapers, and hair things, and swimsuits, and and and. You name it I probably got it! On the way home we stopped and used gift cards to get a jog stroller (thank you Grandpa Holyoak), a highchair(thank you Aunt Nelda), and a diaper bag. We've got everything we'll need for the next week or so. Now it's a waiting game, can't wait to see our little peanut!

A special thanks to my Aunt Bev for all the time and effort she put into throwing me an amazing shower!Not only did she host the shower, we had a book raffle, she made me burpers and a flannel quilt with a matching wipe holder. Like I said she is AMAZING! To Aunt Kay and Aunt Diane for helping out with the food, and to everyone that came and showed me their love and support! THANK YOU!

Nana's new baby!

Nana came to visit yesterday and stayed until the girls got out of school to surprise them. She brought her new little puppy. They were so excited to see Nana and a puppy! Nana hadn't named him yet so we all threw a name in a bucket and drew one out.

 

The name Sydney liked was Squirt, Clayton liked the name Gizmo, Nana picked the name Buster, I picked Ewok, and Alex liked Bruiser. The name that got picked out of the bucket was EWOK! He does look just like a little Ewok from Star Wars. Not sure if the name will stick but we had fun playing with the new puppy and naming him. We'll be visiting Nana more often for sure.

 

On a side note......16 days to go and we'll have our new baby! (not a puppy an actual baby!) I'm so excited to meet her. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to make sure everything is on schedule for my induction on the 21st. I guess I'll go take a nap and dream of my little baby :)

Feel good story of the month!

We all know moms/wives and under appreciated, overworked, and never thanked enough! It only takes one story like this to make it all worth it.

 

 

We all know I'm pregnant, emotional, tired, and craving salsa. I think I would have cried anyways whether I was pregnant and hormonal or not.

 

The other day I was sitting on the couch (I was either watching t.v., just waking up from a nap, or on my laptop, I can't remember), Clay comes in and sits directly in front of me, so close we were practically face to face. He says, Wife, I need to talk to you. He had a very serious very scary face on. I immediately started racking my brain trying to think if I had done something to upset him. I couldn't think of anything. He just sat there for a minute staring at me, in that minute I got really scared (of what I don't know, but he was truly scaring me), and instantly started crying. Then it was his turn to get scared. He asked if there was anything I needed to tell him. Ummmm no! He's the one who wanted to talk to me! Then he asks why I'm crying. Through my tears and snot and runny mascara and gulps of air I tell him because he's staring at me so close and I'm pregnant. We have a little laugh then he gets serious again. He says ok, you ready? I say yes. He goes on to say, I want to thank you wife (yep, tears start flowing again). I come home from a long day of work, sweating in the sun, I change my clothes and wash my face. Do you know how nice it is to come home and be able to wash my sweaty dirty face with a fresh, clean, non sour washcloth! Thank you wife, I love you. Then I get a kiss and he walks away. Talk about feeling good about making my husband happy.  

 

 I had done a load of whites that day, since our towels and washcloths are white they were cleaned. I always try to switch out his washcloths because I don't want them sour. If you don't know, I'm pretty OCD about my laundry. For the most part it has to be done a certain way, washed, dried, folded, and put away that day or I won't start it. I love doing laundry (dishes, no thanks!).  There have been days when the last load of the day stays in the dryer and wrinkles beyond believe but those days a few and far between.

 

We as moms/wives do so many little things that go unnoticed on a daily basis. (water plants, wipe counters, empty trash, pick up toys, straighten rooms, clean out the fridge, dust, find lost things, kiss boo boos, the list goes on and on!) It is soooo nice to get the thanks and recognition we need and want once in awhile. If it came to often we'd get a big head and expect it. I love little moments like this. It makes me truly love my job as a mother and a wife! I'll keep doing the little things, like changing washcloths because I'm weird, because I know deep down my family notices every little thing I do for them and they love me for it! 

 

 

3 weeks and Salsa!

I have been so horrible at blogging lately. I thought for sure my summer would be full of blogging and sunshine and swimming. Blogging took a back seat to naps. I have tons of pictures of everything we've done between May and now, I just have to blog it. Blog it I will! I have to for the sake of our blog book. I also thought I would take tons of pictures and document everything that was anything when it came to this pregnancy, because it could be our last. Another thing that didn't happen. I haven't felt super big or super miserable up until this week (and it's not even that bad, lots of movement that I can't control or shut off, but hey better lots of movement then none right!). It's like I'm finally feeling pregnant and it's already over.

 

 

 I'm being induced on the 21st of September. My due date is September 28th. I'm having the baby in Tempe so the doctor thought to be safe I should be induced a week early, to make sure I would make it to the hospital in plenty of time and safely. I've had a few contractions here and there. Sunday baby was very active and so were the contractions. She's still active today with a few contractions every time I stand up. I have a little over three weeks to go, I hope she can wait that long! I've gained 23 pounds so far and hopefully I lose 50 pounds the day she's born.....haha. I love being pregnant and the end is coming so fast. Everyone keeps asking me if the summer heat is getting to me. The main indicator that I was pregnant before the doctor confirmed it.......I freeze! I'm never cold, ever! Except when I'm pregnant. I think there have been two very hot, very humid days where I have been so hot I might have complained. Other than that I've been curled up on the couch snuggled up with my blanket and a fan on, sleeping the days away. I really, really hope this is not my final pregnancy.

With my other two pregnancies I didn't crave much. This time around me and salsa have become BFF's. I haven't had heartburn but a few days so the salsa is super yummy! One of the guys Clay works with brought me some homemade salsa from his wife. OH MY GOODNESS.......Delish!! I was in heaven. Also my next door neighbor brought some salsa over at the beginning of my pregnancy and I've been hooked ever since. My baby loves taco bell and can't get enough of the mild and green salsa mixed. My kids are so sick of going there they won't go anywhere with me if they know we're eating at taco bell. I've had numerous doctor's appointments in Tempe and what's a trip to Tempe without salsa. Macayo's now knows me by name and knows that I always order a cheese crisp with green chili and HOT sauce! My Aunt Debbie even treated me to Manuel's ( I think that was the name of the resturant) and I got to enjoy another yummy cheese crisp and loads of salsa.

I'm so looking forward to meeting our new little girl. The older sisters are getting super excited. My mom has already scheduled a week off to come and help. Clay has asked for time off. The baby's room is all set up, baby clothes and toys have been washed, and baby shower is in the works! I feel pretty prepared. I'm going to miss being pregnant. Feeling the hiccups and kicks and movements, but I'll have a new playmate to keep me company! I can't wait to meet her! After being high risk (that's a whole nother blog post in itself), to being told I'm having a c-section, to being not so high risk, to being told baby isn't head down yet, it's been one crazy stress filled pregnancy not to mention trips to Tempe and other doctors. I'm ready to get off the crazy train for a while....just not forever!

I promise to get my blog caught up, I promise to be a good mom and wife, and I promise to enjoy these last few weeks of my pregnancy!

Behind again!

Summer time has rolled around yet again, and yet again I am SOOO behind in blogging. I don't know if it's the pregnancy, the pool calling to me, or just enjoying time with the kids, but I cannot get into all the blogging I have to do. A part of it is the baby is so low and she hates when I sit in the computer chair and squish her. I won't be going back to work in August and the baby isn't due until Sept. 28th so I should have a pretty good chunk of time to blog, or at least I'm hoping so! I haven't stopped taking pictures of course so I'll have plenty of work to do when I finally decide to do it! Stay tuned, lots of fun and exciting news coming........soon I hope!

Starting off May with a bang!

I got a call from my mom this morning. She calls  quite often, sometimes to visit sometimes to vent. She called me one morning not long ago to tell me Will had been in a car accident. I couldn't really understand her. After what felt like forever she calmed down enough to give me the details. Today she wasn't crying which was almost even scarier. I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Our conversation went like this..

Mom: Roxanne, we have an emergency

Me: What now?

Mom: Your husband showed up on my doorstep and he's bleeding...BAD!

Me: What? Are you joking?

Mom: No, he had a flat tire and he's bleeding

Me: What? He's in Tucson, are you joking?

Mom: No, he doesn't know I called you

Me: I'm calling him, I'll call you back

Mom: He's going to be mad I called you

Me: I'm glad you called me! He wouldn't have, I'll call you back.

 I call Clay. Here is how our conversation went....

(Ring Ring)

Clay: Wife...

Me: Husband, you know my mom is a dork and she was going to call me. What happened?

Clay: Nothing, I was a dork

Me: My mom says your leg was stabbed and you're bleeding everywhere!

Clay: I am but it's OK

Me: What happened?

Clay: I'm going to finish changing the tire, then go to the hospital and get stitches.

Me: You need stitches?!

Clay: Yeah I'm pretty sure

Me: You sure you're OK, I can take off work and come get you.

Clay: No, I'm fine

Me: OK well I love you and I'll see you later

Clay Love you, bye.

 I went home for lunch expecting Clay to be home. I couldn't get a hold of him on his cell so I thought he might be home sleeping off all the excitement. I get home, no husband. Try to call him, no answer. Eat my lunch, go back to work. Call my little brother to see if he knows where Clay is. I get a call back saying he went to the hospital got stitches and went back to work. Will did say there was TONS of blood, the knife was real sharp, and Clay didn't even feel it stab him. Way to make a girl feel better!

I get home after work, Clay's laying on the couch. He tells me the story of how he was changing the tire on his G ride and his switch blade knife came open, cut through the pocket of his pants and stabbed him in the calf. He showed me his bloody pants, his bloody socks, his wrapped up leg and said he got 2 or 3 stitches. He showed me his knife, you could tell how far it had gone into his leg. I almost fainted, blood and I  are not friends, at all! Doesn't sound too bad in the end but I was worried sick all day. He even told me he wouldn't have called me, he didn't want me to worry. He didn't even take time off to rest. I would have milked it for days. Glad he's OK and he made it home safe and in one piece!! May has bee exciting so far. With the Science Fair coming up, my birthday, mother's day, the end of my final school year working, putting up the swimming pool, and more baby news, we have one heck of a month coming up!

BRING IT ON! 

 

Bathroom Update!

One of the great things about being pregnant... Home improvement projects get moved up to the front burner and we have a certain amount of time we have to be done in.

 I came home from work today and Clay had been busy tiling on his day off. I got into my grubby clothes and had every intention of helping. An hour later I woke up and he was outside cleaning up. Whoops! Another great thing about being pregnant...naps whenever I want!

 Clay is moving right along (with no help from me...today). I can't wait to see the finished product. I may just have to live in the bathroom because it will be so pretty and clean. Perfect place to raise a baby right :)

 When I woke up and dragged my self off of the bed and back to the living, this is what I found. The girls had quietly made a fort. They were reading stories to each other and had all kids of glow bracelets and sticks everywhere. They wanted to sleep in it but being the mean mom I am I made them tear it down. I told them once school was out, they could sleep in their fort one day.

 We also noticed today that our swallows are back! They haven't built a nest yet but hopefully they will soon. We enjoy watching them from our couch. We like to see all the baby birds grow up and fly away. I'm so glad they made it back safe. Spring is in the air!

Baby Belly

Lots of people have been asking to see my baby belly. Here ya go! This picture was snapped today by Sydney. I'm 17 weeks now and getting bigger every day. That's a good sign, at least we know our little girl is growing! We bought a fetal heart monitor, I'm still not a pro at finding the heart beat but it does register on the monitor so all is well. I have an appointment with my Sierra Vista doctor next Friday. I also have two 3D ultrasound appointments coming up in May. I love rubbing my belly and feeling the baby move more and more. You'll be seeing lots of blog updates about the new little Dozier girl. I love that we print out our blog book every year. We'll never forget the huge miracle we were blessed with this year. Stay tuned for more baby news! Yay I'm pregnant!!!

Kitchen Light Fiasco!

How many of you remember how we got started renovating the bathroom about 3 years ago? Here's a little refresher if you have forgotten. One day a few summer's ago we decided to take the siding of the kitchen wall and put up sheet rock. Easy enough right? NO! Behind that wall we found nothing but black mold and bugs. The shower had been leaking for years. A simple project turned into a demolition and complete gutting of our 2nd bathroom. Although we haven't been as sick as often since all the mold is gone, it has been a tough few years living with one bathroom for the four of us (three of us being female).

When we took the day off to tile we also decided our kitchen light needed an update. Here is what it looked like. Ugly and old fashioned right?

Simple job. Take the old light down, put a new one up. Wrong. When we took it down this is what we found. I actually thought the brownness around the whole was burned but it turns out it wasn't painted.

Then we start taking a closer look and here is where the fun begins!

The wires were all melted together. It looked like whoever had last worked on the light (could have been the builders way back in 1960 for all we knew), had put black tar on the wires. Come to find out it was electrical tape that had melted. We were thinking we had stumbled onto something that would require us to rewire the entire house or something like that (flash back to bathroom situation) UH OH!

We didn't want to call an electrician, we were afraid he's give us some really expensive news. So we called the next best thing....our home teacher. Over he came, said it was no problem and him and Clay had it rewired and a new light put up in a jiffy!

   

I love our new kitchen light, it's so modern and pretty. Now we're thinking of tiling the kitchen and redoing the cabinet doors. The only bad thing about the new light, it gives off way to much light. I never knew my ceiling was so dirty!

Bathroom update and Mr. Amazing!

For the sake of journaling, here is yet another bathroom update. Now, I've always known my husband was cool and super talented when it came to almost anything (he's not really a mechanic but Adam is helping him with that, and one area out of thousands isn't bad). What I didn't know is that he is a master at what ever he puts his mind to.

When Clay got home from his mission back in 1996, he started working for a construction company and a man by the name of Mark Fenn. He learned more in the four years he worked for him then he would ever realize.  What a blessing it was for him to get the opportunity to work for him and learn so much. I remember going on side jobs with Clay where he would take his own tools and install base board late into the night. We didn't have any kids yet so of course I went along to help (more like watch) instead of staying home alone being bored. This is when I developed a strong love for my husband and watching him work. In fact today I called into work just so I could stay home with him and help (or watch him). He's amazing.

Clay has always had to do things perfect and the correct way or it isn't good enough for him. My visions for the bathroom were big square slabs of stone thrown up, maybe not meeting up exactly perfect, and bam we're done. Oh no, that doesn't work for Clay (good thing too, then our bathroom would have been boring and ugly). He stratagizes for a couple years, plans and does the math, and bam this is what we get! This bathroom is anything but boring and all the lines match up perfectly!

The cuts are precise every time. He measures and remeasures. Squares up tile when it's off, and takes pride in everything he does. Like I said, amazing.

He's even designed the shower so it will have a built in wall shelf and two floating shelves. I am so incredibly excited to see the final product!

So I guess with all that being said, this post is really to thank Mark Fenn for all he taught Clay. He was a man who believed things should be done right the first time and if they weren't, do it again until they are correct and perfect. I'm thankful Clay took his job (and any job he's had) seriously and that he was able to learn so much. We live in a house now that was built in 1960. It's a great house, I love it, it can use a lot of TLC. I for one am glad Clay knows everything he does so he can make our old house an amazing home.

I love you husband, you're amazing!

Cabbage and watermelon!

This year at school, all the third graders received a colossal cabbage plant. They're goal is to grow it all summer. They have to weed it, water it, debug it, and fertilize it. Alex was all in a panic and said it had to be planted today or it would die! At the end of the summer we have to take a picture of Alex with her cabbage she grew and the picture is submitted into a contest (it's a state wide contest with a prize of one $1000.00 scholarship per state, I don't think she knows how small her chances are of winning but...). So off we run to Ace, get a bucket to plant it in since we have gophers, get some potting soil and other stuff, and a watering can of course, and we head home to plant it. It transplanted well. A little wilty in the beginning but it soon snapped out of it and it's been getting bigger and bigger everyday!

Planting her Cabbage plant got us into the garden planting mood. We planted some watermelon. (Since this picture was taken many watermelon plants have begun to sprout.) We also have a little nursery inside where we have planted carrots, peas, lettuce,and squash. We plan on moving them out side once they've sprouted, then maybe they'll have half a chance of growing. Our dang neighborhood is so full of birds it's crazy. I did notice our hummingbirds are back and our swallows, although the swallows just pop in from time to time this year and visit instead of build a nest under our porch like most years.

You gotta love AZ for all it's sunshine, and Bisbee for it's tolerable summers! C'mon plants grow, momma needs some fresh groceries!!

Break out the pink!

I had my second and third sonogram today.

I went for a doctors appointment today. I took my mom and the girls along just in case we had a sonogram they could enjoy seeing the baby with me. The doctor came into the exam room and couldn't find the heart beat. I had just heard it last week at a doctors appointment. They found it rather easily. Of course I start bawling, they move us directly to the next room which is the sonogram room, turn the lights off and proceed to see what's going on. There's our little baby moving around wildly like I just had sugar for breakfast. Then he turns on the speaker and blasting through the speakers roars the littlte baby's heartbeat. More tears, this time for joy. The doctor then calls a 3D sonogram place and gets me an appointment for that day. We race across town and get my second utlrasound of the day. 3D was an amazing sight to see, the baby was moving and waving and opening and closing it's mouth. Then we look to try to decide gender. We don't see anything sticking out between the legs. The sonogram technician shows us three little lines and says in all her years as a technician this usually means it's a girl. She said that she was 85% sure it was a girl and she's never been wrong. Break out the pink and call her Peanut! The girls were so excited. At the first sonogram the doctor said he thought it was a boy by the speed of the heartbeat. We'll get another ultrsound soon to confirm. The 3D place made a DVD for Clay since he didn't know we were having one or he would have been there. We went to Target afterwards and picked up a baby girl outfit and a card to surprise Dad with what we think the baby is! My first due date was set at October 10th, then moved to Sept 29th, then moved again to October 7th. We'll just have to see when she wants to make her grand arrival!

Day after Easter Hike

This year, for the first time in years, we got the day after Easter off from school! In years past we've always had to use it as a make up day because of snow or some other weather related incident. This year we spent the day hiking with friends!

I was feeling a little worn out and tired. I'm sure it was just being pregnant. I did try to hang in there with everyone. By the end of the day I was never so ready to go home and rest! The girls enjoyed every minute of the hike. We can't wait to do it again!

Hamburg Trail leads up to a look out. I was too much of a wuss to try it. I sat at the bottom with Camilee and her two little ones while everyone else headed up the trail. It was a tougher hike than the trail we were already on but still sounded to tough for me!

All the kids survived with a few minor scrapes and bumps. We had a great time. It was a cheap and close to home day activity for us.

We saw Turkey's on our way back down. They were strutting around the place like they owned it. Humans didn't seem to bother them much. It was fun for the kids to see them up close and alive instead of naked and cooked on the Thanksgiving table! There were also tons of hummingbirds everywhere. What a sight!

Madison is a great friend for the girls. She's very adventurous and outgoing. The perfect influence for my quiet little shy girls. They need to come out of their shells sometime and run around screaming into the wilderness.

They saw lots of deer on the Hamburg Trail and shooed them down to us so we could enjoy them too. They also didn't seem to bothered by humans. We were able to get pretty close to a few and sit and enjoy watching them. I was amazed at how much wildlife we were able to see so close to home.

I was glad Clay went up Hamburg Trail with the kids. I was sad I missed it but I think eating lunch before we headed up did me in. I was not feeling the hike at all once we got going but I plugged along!

Our friends the Nelson's have an amazing family and we enjoy doing things with them. The kids love to hang out, there's always good conversation and laughs, and it gets my family out of the house! We had a great time, we can't wait till our next adventure as a family!