I have not gotten the girls pictures taken in a while so I found a few and but this together. I down loaded the program called Picasa and it has a lot of fun options to edit pictures and create all the collages you see on my blog. 
This one is of Areya and her cousins while on our trip to Tennessee.
On Saturday July 25th we had a house warming / pioneer day BBQ. We invited a few friends from our old ward in Arlington Heights up. I am so happy that you were all able to come. We had a great time. Thanks for making the drive.
If anyone has some pictures would you please e-mail me they. I didn't really get to many. Thanks again!
We also had Josie and her baby.
We had a nice 4th of July BBQ and then did a few fireworks in the drive way. There were so many other people doing the big fireworks that we all we had to do was look up to get a great show. I think the girls went through about 400 sparklers and amazingly we only had one small burn.
We spent a few days camping at the lake and took a few rides on Uncle Mike's boat. We built sandcastles, went swimming and cooked hobo dinners, hot dogs and smores over the fire. Yummy! In the lower left hand corner of the picture are my two swimsuit supermodels posing for you. The girls also got to go fishing and even caught one. And now for my favorite of the group: Aniela asleep in the chair with her arm still in the Cheetos bag.
We also took a tubing trip down the river. We were able to go down twice and had had a quick lunch in between. Aniela was so tired from her first trip down that she fell asleep in my lap for most of the second trip. It was amazing how well she slept while floating down a river and even over a little white water.
On our way home from tubing we stopped to look out over the Smokey Mountains.
Thanks again Mike and Kim for having us, we really had a great time. Can't wait for you to come and stay with us next summer.
Damian has been off work for the past 2 1/2 weeks because he is still have problems with his heart. He went back to the doctor and she adjusted his meds and put him on a few new ones. He also had a stress test which came back good. We still aren't sure why and what is going on. He stayed home alone (with the dog) the whole time the girls and I were in Tennessee which was no fun, I'm sure. The doctor gave him a week of bed rest and he was scheduled to go back to work this Friday. Happy to announce that he did make it into work on Friday and so far has been doing pretty good. Let's hope he continues to feel well.
He has also asked us to pray for him, which is a big deal for Damian, so if you could all keep him in your prayers that would be great. Thank you!
Well it has been forever since I last posted but I do have good reason for that. We are finally Illinois home owners. We closed in the middle of March and have been working on getting it livable ever since. We are living in the basement which for the most part is livable. (I say most part because we had a huge storm the other day which flooded the basement and garage which houses everything we own.) 
I have been paint my hands off and still have a bathroom and half of the laundry room to do. We pulled the nasty (cat pee) carpet and have installed tile in the living room. We are now waiting for the carpet to be installed in the bedrooms and family room. We sure have had a lot of ups and downs with this house and I am starting to think that we got in way over our heads with this one. Let's hope the rest goes smoothly and quickly. I will try to get some before and after pictures up here soon.
***Just so you know this post is pretty long and is mostly me complaining so if you want to stop reading now I understand.***
Do you ever feel like you have way to much stress and problems and it is too much to handle? I know we all do but it seems like everything always hits at once. The past few weeks have about pushed me over the edge. I guess I don't do this kind of stress well because I am loosing my mind.
It all started (well maybe not started but got to the extreme level) about 2 weeks ago when Damian was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He was having chest pain, a hard time breathing, almost passed out at work and his blood pressure was some thing like 190/120. After a quick trip to the ER they put in an IV and diagnosed him with having an anxiety attack. After a short time they put him in the hall so they could use his room and then released him with a RX for anxiety meds. (No real tests were performed) He was standing outside the hospital by the time I got there. Damian's chest was still hurting and he was feeling like crap so we went home and rested the rest of the day. The next morning he felt the same, so he stayed home from work and because all this took place on a weekend we were not able to get him into see a doctor until Monday. He found out that he has a heart arrhythmia with hypertension. Why this is going on we are still not sure but while the tests are being processed they have him on beta blockers. He is feeling much better and has gone back to work and has a follow up appointment with the doctor next week to see what they found out.
Next level of stress is that we have still not closed on this house. We have been approved for the loan and it has been processed. We are now waiting for the appraisal to come back before they can set a closing date. We have been waiting for several weeks for them to get this report in and we only have 6 more days until our cut off date. (The contract says that we must close by the 12th) If we go over that cut of date then they will charge us $150 per day we go over. You know those shows on TV where people buy their first home and every thing goes so fast and smoothly, well that defiantly is not the case with us, it has taken us over a year to find and buy this home.
And finally the tipping of the scale........
Sunday morning Ida took our dog Mekie for a walk, all the sudden I hear screaming and dogs fighting. I run to the window to see the neighbors dog (not on a leash) running back into their house after getting it's butt kicked by my Mekie. I guess what happened was that our neighbor, who is the manager of our complex, opened the door right as Ida and Mekie were walking by. Her little dog ran out and tried to attack Mekie but she was not having that and defended herself, picking up the little monster and shaking it a bit. Ida did her best to keep the little dog away and had Mekie by the collar holding her back. The neighbor tried to go after their dog but she just had surgery and could not get there in time. Ida and Mekie finished their walk and came home.
* I just want to add in a few side notes here.
Rules
1. In our complex the rule is that your dog must be on a leash at all times when outside.
2. You can not leave your dog tied up outside unattended at any time.
3. You must clean up (right away) after your dog.
Facts
1. The neighbor's dog has left nasty little gifts for us on our patio.
2. She leaves her dogs tied up outside unattended all the time.
3. Her dog was not on a leash when all of this took place.
4. She is the manager over the complex and she does not abide by any of them.
*Keeping those things in mind I continue my story.
Later the that day the girls and I are outside enjoying the sun and the neighbor makes a comment that her dog was attacked this morning. I already knowing this because it was my dog that was involved said "I know it was my dog that yours attacked". I guess she was pretty mad about this fact and went off on me saying that her dog was hurt pretty bad and that it was luck that it did not hit a vain or her dog would have been dead. I told her it was not my fault that her dog was not on a leash and it came after my dog. She told me that she knows that it's not our fault but that we need to keep better control of our dog and that who ever was walking her did not have enough control of her. At this point I was getting pretty mad so I told the girls it was time to go inside. On my way in I said again that it was not our fault that their dog was not on a leash and was not the one to blame, the husband then said "if I thought it was your fault I would have called to police already". They then asked me if she had her rabies shots and I informed them that she was current on all of them. A little while later Damian got a call at work asking him if we had proof of our dogs vaccinations and told him that he needed to bring them into the office. He informed me of this and I told him the whole story. We looked up our rental agreement and there is no where that states we have to show proof of this to them so I didn't think it was fair of them to ask for it. I decided not to take it in and to file a police report to cover ourselves. We made the report showed the police officer the vaccination records and thought that would be the end of it, Wrong!
Today we got a call from the corporate office saying that me must remove our dog for the premises and that after I showed proof of liability for my pet on or renters insurance I could bring her back but that she must be muzzled at all time. (What the heck? Her dog attacks mine and we get in trouble for it.) I lost it! (I went off on the lady and got so mad that she almost hung up on me, that is when Damian took over) I guess they compromised on letting Mekie stay but we still have to show them the proof of our insurance and I guess we are asked to keep a muzzle on her when she is outside. From what we understand the lady for the corporate office was told, by our neighbor (the Manager) that our dog attacked hers and that Mekie is dangerous. I am sick and tired of her breaking all the rules and us getting in trouble even though we haven't done anything wrong.
Sorry about how long this post is and to be such a whinny baby. I guess it would help if I got a little more sleep at night, that way I might not be so grumpy.
Areya had 2 Field trips this month, one to the Fire Station and the other to the Arlington Heights indoor swim pool.
Here are a few pictures.
I didn't plan to get in the water so I didn't take Aniela's swim suit (we all know how hard it is to keep a baby out of water) so she was soaking wet by the time we left. At least they had a great time.
After Damian got home we all sat down and had another Easter dinner with him and Ida. Thank you Ida for helping with dinner.
My brother Tj and his wife Shaylee came for a visit this past week. It was so nice to see them, it has almost been a year since we saw them last. (which for me is a very very long time) This was their first time to Chicago (Tj and my dad drove our stuff here from Utah so he did spend a few days here during the summer but we never made it to the city) so we decided to buy city passes and do the sights. It includes the Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science & Industry and either the John Hancock Observatory or Sears Tower.
We have been to the Shedd several time but have not made it to any of the others so this was a new experience for all of us. One the first day we went to the Field Museum and the Planetarium. It turned out to be the "Far out Friday" at the planetarium and had fun stuff going on after it got dark. We watched a few shows and looked around. On our way back to the car after a long day of walking we stopped and got a few pictures of Lake Michigan and played on the toys just outside of Soldiers Field.
The next day we went downtown again, this time to the Sears Tower and Navy Pier. The top floor was under construction so we only got to go to the 99th floor. 
Monday was Damian's day off but he had to go sign some papers on the house and did not get to go with us to the Museum of Science & Industry. It was really neat and had lot of stuff to do and see.
Tuesday was their last day and Aniela's birthday. Damian also had this day off and was able to go with us to the Aquarium. Part of the Aquarium is under construction right now so we missed out on the dolphins and whales. Which is the best part but we were able to catch a 4D show which was fun for everyone except Aniela, who cried through most of it.
I can't believe my baby is 2! Where did the past 2 years go? She is getting so big, is learning so much and wants to be just like her big sister. It makes me sad to think that she is not my little baby any more. ( I guess this is when most people try for another one)
11 days old 
1st birthday
2nd birthdayWe celebrated Damian's 30th birthday on March 3rd and my ___ th birthday on April 1st. Man are we getting old!! It is amazing how fast time flies, it is hard to believe that I have 2 kids and have been married 7 1/2 years. Any way for Damian's big 3 0 I wanted to throw a party for him and invite his friends over but he just want to go out to dinner with his girls. It was nice just spending time together as a family. Happy Birthday sweet heart, I love you and am so grateful for all that you do for our family.
For my birthday we did not get to do any thing because Damian had to work but it all worked out fine because the next day Tj & Shaylee arrived for a visit, which made it feel like my birthday all week long.
Areya had a field trip to the River Trails Nature Center where they learned how to make Maple syrup. They took us out into the Maple woods and told us how the trees get the sap that is needed to make the syrup. Then they drilled a hole and put in the spout. They let the kids taste the sap right from the tree. After that we headed over to the "sugar shack" where they cook the sap and turn it into syrup. We did not see that part of the process but they told us how it works, It was really neat to see and learn about.
They also have a few animals and other thing for the kids to do and see while they are there. They had a great activity room where the kids have lots of hands on stuff to do. I think we will have to make another trip there soon to see what else they have.
I am so happy that Spring is finally here!! It has been a long COLD winter and I am ready for the flowers to bloom and for everything to turn green. I love the smell after a Spring rain, all the sunshine and best of all it's warm. The weather has been wonderful ,we get out and enjoy it as much as we can. Some of the things we have been doing are playing at the park, ride bikes, color the driveway with sidewalk chalk, and we even went to Lake Arlington to play in the sand. We got the cars out for the kids and gave the Moon Sand, that Uncle Matt gave us, a try. It is really neat stuff. 
The Moon Sand is cool because you don't need any water to make it stay together. As you can see by the pictures below all you have to do is apply firm pressure to make it stick together. It says that you can play indoors but I found it to be pretty messy so we played outside. The girls loved it and Areya didn't need help making a sand castle.
On Thursday we had a play day with some of the kids from our ward. We went over to the Rubow's house and had a picnic out on their deck. Then the kids ran around in the huge field behind the house and when they were finished we went inside movie and play time. The kids had a blast playing together. After the movie was finished they all danced rocked out to the music. (Areya got a little wild, but what else is new?)
Thank you Sandi for letting us come play and Thank you Lori for lunch. We had a great time and will have to get together more often.
Areya got to have her friend Kirsti over for a fun sleep over. They watched movies and ate popcorn, played doll house, cooking, dress up and had a great time talking and playing together. Areya loves having another girl her age around to play Princesses and make up with. Thanks for coming over Kirsti we had a fun time with you here. Areya can't wait for the next sleepover!
I love the look on Kirsti's face in this one. It just proves how crazy Areya really is, even her friends think so!
This year in Primary we are learning about building our Eternal Families. To go along with that theme we had an activity where the kids got builder hats and working together to built a home. They went from station to station preparing the things that were needed to make our house a home. Each group got a chance to make furniture, create things to hang on the walls, and to build our house. When we were finished we had a home with a garage, fireplace, curtains, art on the walls and brick path lined with flowers. They all did such a great job and had so much fun doing it.
