Whirlwind Trip to Utah

On Wednesday evening we packed the car and loaded the kids for a trip to Utah. John & I were a little, well a lot, concerned how Georgia would do in the car since she typically hates being in her car seat... and she wasn't feeling well. As we headed east across the desert with the sun behind us, but shining brightly in Georgia's eyes {that's gotta suck to face backwards!!}. Thankfully she fell asleep and didn't make a peep until we stopped for dinner at In-n-Out in Barstow. Jake slept as well. We were off to a great start! After dinner we continued on our journey and the kids played with their toys for a little while and then they were off to lala land again. We made it to Mesquite and decided to call it a night-- it was a little after midnight. Jake woke up as John was getting out of the car to check us into the hotel and wanted to go with him. I guess he was in awe of all the games in the casino because as soon as he saw them he repeatedly said, "games, games, games." By the time we got into the hotel room both kids were wide awake and climbing all over the place! Needless to say it was a long night! {But... we were so glad the car ride went so well!}

Thursday morning we got on our way again. The drive into Salt Lake went just about as well as the day before. Both kids slept a lot. We made our first stop of our busy trip at Great Grandma Buhler's house in Midvale. Grandma & Papa were there too and Jake was very excited about seeing them!

While there Jake helped Great Grandma with the dishes

and played with Papa in the backyard. Georgia spent time with Grandma and loved all the attention. After dinner and playing with them we headed north to Dan & Megan's -- our 'hotel Utah'. Jake was more than excited to play with Hadley {he'd been asking to play with her since Sunday!} They were too cute watching Teletubbies together in this big 'ole beanbag.

The next morning - Friday - we were off on another trip. My dear friend, Dani, lives in Star Valley, Wyoming and we haven't seen each other for awhile. She'd never even met Jake! So we decided to go visit her for a quick trip. Since we started our trip north of Salt Lake we took the route through Logan. I had hopes of getting pictures of my babies with all my favorite Logan landmarks like Old Main, the Logan Temple, my old apartment, the 'Meet The Challenge' Aggie, but no such luck. They were both sound asleep so I got this quick picture of one of my favorite places.

Once we got to Star Valley we had a great time visiting with Dani and her family. I got to introduce her to Jake & Georgie and she introduced us to Emi. It was so good to be with her again. It had been way too long! Jake had a great time playing video games with Parker,

playing with toys with Emi,

and talking with MaKenna.

Georgie loved cuddling with Dani and talking with MaKenna too. I loved seeing all of them! I cannot believe how quickly time passes and kids grow. Kenna and Parker are supposed to be babies still! Once everyone went to bed Dani and I stayed up talking, going through baby clothes, setting her up with a blog, and looking at bracelets she's made and sells for some serious cash at boutiques. It was wonderful just being there with her.

Saturday morning it was time to say good bye and head back to Salt Lake.

Before we left we had to get the tourist picture in front of the elk horn arch to prove we actually went to Star Valley.

We even had a traffic jam on our way out of town!

{at least they weren't cows. they rub up against the car and get it all dirty!}

On our way back to Salt Lake we made a quick detour through Bern, Idaho. John's great- great grandparents settled Bern and named it after there beloved homeland of Bern, Switzerland.

{yes, that sign says population 126}

The cemetery is filled with John's ancestors: Buhler's and Kunz's. We even located his great grandfather, Jesse Joseph Buhler.

This is the school house where his grandpa, Roscoe Jesse Buhler, went to school.

When we arrived back at Dan & Megan's it was time for Hadley's 2nd birthday party! Jake loves birthday's and cannot wait until his birthday. The entire party he told everyone, 'it's my birthday next'. {Which technically his birthday is next in our family... but it's not until February! Poor kids got a long time to wait!}

Sunday brought another busy day. We drove back into Salt Lake to have lunch with Melanie. We were so excited that she invited Tom, Soffe, Becky & Jason. Jake had a great time entertaining {or annoying, I'm not sure} everyone.

He loved playing Guitar Hero with Tom and Soffe and reading stories with Melly.

We had such a good visit with them. It was way too short and hard to say goodbye. As we were leaving Jake waved, blew kisses and then gave Soffe the biggest hug. It was so tender and brought tears to my eyes. He loves my friends and they love him. What a lucky little boy to be so loved.

After Mel's we headed a little further south to visit with John's life-long friend Rand and his adorable family. The last time we saw them I was pregnant with Jake so it'd been awhile. On our drive to their house both kids fell asleep so they missed out on playing with the kids as much as they could have. Once Georgie woke up she completely enjoyed the attention Kate and Anne gave her.

Our visit with them was short and sweet, but we're looking forward to seeing them later this month at Disneyland!

The last visit of the day was with John's cousin Julie and her family. Jake had such a good time playing on the trampoline with Jayce and Kaden. Georgie loved being held by Jayce.

We loved being with family and catching up. It's been far too long. We're hoping they make that January Disneyland trip they were talking about. Our visit there ran really late, but it was so nice to be there with them.

On Monday morning Jake & I and Megan & Hadley rode the FrontRunner into Salt Lake while John & Georgie drove downtown. We planned to meet Grandma & Papa and Dan for lunch and then tour Temple Square. Jake and Hadley loved riding the train and being together. They are so silly {and sometimes a little frustrating}. But while they ran around the train Megan and I had time to visit. We don't get to do that often enough. It was really nice.

Once we met up with everyone we had a great lunch. Afterward Dan took Jake & Hadley up the elevator and they got stuck! It wasn't for very long but it was still really funny. Dan had to hurry back to work and we walked over to Temple Square.

I love Temple Square and it was a beautiful {and hot} day there. The flowers were amazing, as always. We rode the elevator to the 26th floor of the Church Office Building to the observation deck.

We took a tour of the Conference Center and took family pictures. It was a wonderful day at Temple Square. Again, it went by far too fast, but it was a good visit. After Temple Square it was time to start our drive home.

We made a quick stop for our favorite Utah treats... Iceberg!

And then drove to Las Vegas for the night. We finally made it home this afternoon around 5pm. The kids did really well on the drive home, although Georgie started to protest getting into the car. The drive home was fairly uneventful. We're so glad we were able to make the trip to Utah, but it's never long enough. There are too many loved ones there and not enough time to really spend the time we want to with each one.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Jake got to sing his favorite song tonight at the Dodger game. He was so dang cute and waited so long for that 7th inning stretch... but when it arrived he was the happiest kid around!

{sorry, I forgot about the whole 'can't turn videos on blogger'. aargh.}

Thanks to *UniCal 76 {and Nielsen} we were able to go to the game for free. Well, the tickets were free. We still had to pay for parking {$15, highway robbery} and food {$18.75 for 2 Dodger Dogs, a drink, and a bag of Cracker Jack, more robbery!}

We all loved being at the ball field.
It was such a nice evening.
Everyone was in a good mood.
It was a good night.

*76 was running a promotion where if you filled up 4 times - in a certain amount of time- you got 2 free Dodger tickets. Since John has to fill up his car twice a week most weeks he decided to get gas there and was able to qualify quite quickly. Actually he filled up 8 times so we got 4 free tickets. AND, since Nielsen pays for his gas... it really was free for us!!

So Long Rockin' 80's

Georgie was born with a little patch of hair in the back that was longer than the rest of her hair. A lot longer. It reminded me of my childhood and one certain 80's hairstyle... the tail. My brother had one. Most boys I know did. In fact, even some of the girls I knew had one. It was cool back then. Georgie would have fit in well.

So long Rockin' 80's, today we cut off her tail.
{No worries, I saved it}

She was hardly traumatized at all!

And the back of her hair looks SO MUCH BETTER now.

FHE with the Reagan's

Tonight we met the Reagan's at Souplantation for FHE {family home evening}. Lately we seem to end up there quite often. Jake knows they have soft serve ice cream and will no longer eat dinner, instead he asks over and over again for ice cream. It's a challenge to get him to eat anything when he has such a one-track mind. But who can blame him?!? I love going there for the soft serve too.

We had a nice visit with Clint & Eden while Jake and Flynn pushed food back and forth across the table. Those boys are funny together. After {hardly} eating it was time for ice cream....

Their favorite part of Souplantation!!

I just can't understand why? :) Check out that bowl of ice cream John got for Jake! I'd be pretty excited about it too. Don't worry about Flynn though, he had 3 cones. They were well taken care of tonight.

Thanks for the fun dinner Reagan's. And thanks for the invite Keil's, we sure missed having you & Kyle there. Hope you had a nice birthday dinner with your mom.

Makin' Cookies

The kids and John made oatmeal cookies today after church. Boy did they smell good! They tasted pretty good too.

A boy after my own heart...

She really wanted some. Sorry Georgie, your turn will come.

Number 5

Five years ago this morning John & I came out of this temple as Husband and Wife. It's been a great five years... can't wait to see what the next five bring.

Disneyland For FREE...

Just heard that Disneyland is offering everyone a free ticket on your birthday in 2009. All you have to do is register and then show ID at the park.

Here's the link: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/index?name=FreeOnYourBirthdayPage

Everyone should register and enjoy a day at The Happiest Place On Earth as a guest of Mickey. Happy Birthday to you!!

After a Long Summer We've Returned to Disneyland

As residents of Southern California we have Disneyland Annual Passports. We buy the 'cheap' ones -- if you can call them cheap!! -- which means there are a lot of days we can't actually go to Disneyland, like the entire summer. But today we made our Fall return.

Jake loved being there and Georgie got to go on a few rides since she's gotten a little more head control over the summer. We had a great time! John was able to go with us {thank goodness, I'm not quite sure how I would do it alone with both of them!}. We met up with Heather & Kyle and Jessica & Charlotte.

Those three kids are hilarious together. They're all the same height and age. They practically look like triplets with all their blonde hair.

Georgie loved Dumbo

Jake loved running through the water in Bug's Life

and riding King Triton's Carousel

We all loved Pooh's {drug induced} Adventure

Jake loved his first Disneyland sucker, Georgie really wanted some too.

Instead she found this... which she loves.

Ahhh, another successful day at Disneyland.

Midnight ER Visits Are No Fun!!

Last night our sweet Georgie Girl gave us quite the scare. She went to bed her cheerful happy little self around 7:45pm and woke up at 9 crying, which isn't unusual. I went into her room to feed her and get her back to sleep. Just a few minutes into feeding she looked at me with this far off look in her eyes, let out a loud yell and then... vomit. Mass amounts of it. Repeatedly. It was awful to witness. I called for John immediately (sorry Dan -- they were talking on the phone) to help me get Georgie cleaned up. I was completely soaked. Really, to the bone. Soaked.

John took her and she continued to vomit. Over and over and over again. Once he took her into the bathroom I went and changed my clothes and then started the clean-up process. When I first went into her room to feed her I didn't turn on the light -- trying to keep her as asleep as possible -- but now, once the light was on I saw the reason she had woken in the first place. In her crib were several little piles of vomit. My poor baby girl!

As I cleaned she continued to vomit. Once all the milk was out of her tummy she started on mucus. This didn't go well. She started choking and turning ash gray. I used the sucker-thingy to help her out as much as possible but it didn't seem to be helping at all. She continued to vomit thick mucus and each time it came up she struggled and her color got worse. And she was absolutely silent. No cries. No moans. Nothing. Just vomit, gray skin and a far away look in her eyes. She couldn't even look at us. It was like she was looking our way but lost. It really frightened me. John gave her a priesthood blessing and we decided to take her to the ER.

I called Gramma to come over and stay with Jake so John and I could take Georgia together. Jakey offered the sweetest little prayer for his baby sister and once Gram was here we took our sick, gray, sleeping baby to the ER.

The hospital is practically across the street from us, but it was still a scary drive for me. I sat next to Georgia and watched her like a hawk... well, a worried mother. By the time we pulled up in front of the ER entrance she was fast asleep. I started second guessing my decision to bring her so I called the pediatrician on-call through our doctor’s office to see what they would suggest. I was told the doctor would call me back and so we waited in the car for awhile. Finally, I got tired of waiting and so we just went into the hospital. {note- my call was never returned!}

Georgie was sound asleep when we checked in but her color was looking a little better. By the time the triage nurse saw us she was wide awake, smiling and blowing bubbles. I could not believe the difference in her appearance and spirit. The nurse seemed a little confused by our being there... but said with all her vomiting we should see the doctor... and that the wait would be an hour and a half. Apparently Sunday night is the busiest night in the ER, who knew?!?!

A little before midnight we were called back to see the doctor. Georgie was still wide awake. Her color was almost back to normal; a little pale but a million times better than it was. She was talking and cooing and climbing all over John. {I know the doctors thought we were completely overreacting, I even heard them make some comment about 'first time parents'. jerks.} We were told to wait in 'hall 5', a bed up against the wall in the main hall of the ER. Our doctor walked over {well, I say swaggered over... he really thought he was IT, if you know what I mean} looked at Georgie and asked why were there. He did not touch her. He did not look in her ears. Or at her throat. He felt her tummy. Told us she seemed fine. Offered some nausea medication -- zofran {for a 5 month old?!?!? My pregnant friends take that stuff for morning sickness. And it's intended for chemo patients!!}, we said no thanks. He suggested I feed her and then we'd wait a while to see if the vomiting happened again so that's what we did.

And nothing. The girl was her sweet, happy, fun-loving little self still. So we came home. She slept between us so we could keep an eye on her and listen in case she had any more episodes. Although we got a late start, it was a restful night of sleep for all of us. She seems fine today. Her color is back to normal and she's as happy and playful as can be.

I am so thankful that John holds the priesthood and was able to give her a blessing. I am grateful that prayer was almost immediately answered. I'm grateful for the lesson I learned about faith and the power of prayer. I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who knows me and my children individually and loves us. I am grateful for the lesson in compassion and healing my sweet Jakey boy learned as he prayed for his baby sister and his prayer was answered. It appears we may never know what the cause was behind all the vomiting last night... and that's ok -- just look at all we learned from it.

Happy Birthday Papa D.

In honor of your birthday today we went over to Red Mango and had some fabulously tastey frozen yogurt, we'll have to take you there the next time you come to visit. We think you might like it.

Today Meme & Norah and Elizabeth & Noelle came with us. But first we had lunch at StoneFire, that was tastey too.

We love you and hope you had great food today as well!
Happy Birthday. Here's to another great year.

Happy Monday!

Love,
Georgia Ann

Weekend Update

Friday Jake had a fun time playing with Norah. They seriously are so cute together. I love how sweet they are to each other and how well they share. These pictures of them are adorable... {someday could be used for blackmail}. It's my hope that they'll always be such good friends...

Saturday Papa & Grandma Cheri came to visit. We celebrated Papa's birthday with dinner at T.G.I.Friday's. It was great to see them and spend time together. After dinner we walked over to the mall and checked out the puppies in the pet store. Jake loves seeing the puppies and we love watching his little face light-up. So every once in awhile we go see the puppies.

Sunday, after church, we made our weekly trek to visit G'Gma. It was a nice visit. She was in good spirits and loved watching Jake and Georgia play in her room. Jake loves drawing pictures on her dry-erase board for her and Georgia sits by her and pulls her hair, hands, skin, etc. {We have to watch Georgie, she can be dangerous!}

On our way home from visiting G'Gma the sun was in Jake's eyes so Gramma let him wear her sunglasses. He thought he was soooo cool.

It was a good weekend. Now onto another week...

Gimme Some of That!

We went to Costco today.

Poor Jake, she wouldn't leave him alone.


::also, found out today that 2 of my dear, dear friends are having babies next spring, guess i was a year early! love you girls, congrats!::