Savannah, GA

We left our home 4 weeks ago, and have had many adventures since. Here are a few of our adventures...

We met up with our friends Ed and Becce Berg (and kids) in Savannah. Everywhere we went with our 7 kids, people just stared. Weird. Anyway, we climbed to the top of the Tybee Island Lighthouse. 178 steps to the top.

The boys were not excited about the height. Once we got to the top, I realized that I prefer my loved ones on the ground level. It seriously made my stomach do a little flip thing inside.
We took a dolphin cruise through the intercoastal waterways near Savannah... they let the kids drive the boat.

We're always game for a good tourist trap. All the food here was boiled, stewed, or baked -nothing fried, and no salads. The food was actually ok, but the highlight was feeding the alligators.

On the second day, we took the trolley tour through historic Savannah.

We ate at a pirate restaurant, which was supposedly very haunted. I felt a little sorry for the waitress who had a party of 10, with 7 kids. She was a pretty good sport though.

We stopped at one of the city squares to walk around and let the kids play at the park.

I took our kids to the Coastal gardens, which included blackberry picking. The berries were SO SOUR!!! It was hilarious watching the kids eat them.

The last night we were there, we did a horse and buggy ride around the city. Can you believe they fit all 11 of us in one buggy?

He's finally home!!

Its been 4 1/2 months and he's home!! I love Hannah's face in the picture as she first sees him coming off the train at the airport. We all missed him so much and are so glad to have him back.

We have been so blessed to have the time pass with safety for him and us. We had so many people offer to help me out with the kids and the yard. Thank you so much for all the support! We could not have done this without you!!

My baby is 2!!!!

Happy Birthday Natey!!!!! We love this boy!!

Nate isn't quite ready for the Thayn family traditional breakfast in bed, but he loves a good bowl of cereal. Maybe next year buddy!

He likes to climb in the other kids car seats and pretend like he's a big boy. He's such a ham!!

He loved opening his presents....

That's a happy birthday boy if I ever saw one. I know its not the best picture, but he was just being so funny!!

Elle's first swim meet

Elle had her first swim meet last month. She swam hard and had fun!! Here are a few pictures of her and Hannah and a couple of other girls on swim team. Fun times!!

Liz and Rachael

I am so blessed to have 3 wonderful sisters. While Jarin was gone, 2 of them came to visit.

Liz came from Lincoln, NE. She is amazing!! She has 3 boys 3 and under!!! Plus, she was preparing for a move to Provo, UT where her husband Mike is going back to school for his MBA. Liz is a regular TAMNer in the making (only nicer. Seriously, she's WAY nicer!). Thanks Mike for sending her!! We loved playing with Aunt Liz and her purse full of bumpy jelly beans.

Rachael came from American Fork, UT and left her 4 little ones in the capable hands of her in-laws, then her husband when he arrived for the weekend from Portland. She was getting ready to move to Portland, OR, where Marshall is working for Nike. We had a blast playing "beauty shop", going to the beach, and playing with her iphone. Too fun!! Thanks for coming... I hope it was as fun for you as it was for us!

They have both moved now, well semi-moved. They are both in heavy transition with their little ones. We pray for them daily as we know how challenging that can be. Love you girls!! Thanks for coming!!!

The Williams Family!!!

We have missed the Williams family SO MUCH since moving here to Florida.  If only we could have brought them with us.....

...I guess the next best thing is a visit from our dear friends.  The kids went straight for the pool, which I think was around 70 degrees.  WAY too cold for me!!

We celebrated Aidan's 9th birthday.  Happy Birthday Aidan!!  Shelley and I "decorated" his cake to look like a soccer ball.  It was a loose interpretation of a soccer ball at best, but it was yummy!

Shelley cut her finger really bad on a razor.  She now has no finger print on her finger.  It was bad, and yes, all that gauze and tape was necessary.

We did easter baskets (buckets) and went to church with 7 matching kids.  CHEESY!!  But we all loved it, including the kids, so who cares if it was cheesy.

We did an easter egg hunt in the yard.  Aidan and Hannah helped Nate.  It was really sweet.

This was truly the best picture we could get of the kids.  It was so funny trying to get them all to smile for the picture.  

The beach pictures were lost in the crash of '09.  We had an amazing day at the beach.  The weather was perfect and the kids swam and had fun in the sand and water.   We also celebrated Madisyn's birthday, but my pictures are fried.  Happy Birthday Madisyn!  Thanks for sharing your special day with us!

My life story in a nutshell...

I love my home.  Its a beautiful home, but I am not much of a housekeeper.  That's not a really big secret, its just a fact.  So I checked out a book from the library on home organization, thinking I might change the very nature of my being.  I sat down a few times to read it, but was interrupted, then forgot about it.  Then I received an email from the library saying it was overdue.  Already????  I resolved to read it for real this time, as I'm sure it could change my life forever.  I found it in my car.  It was wet from a water bottle that had spilled.  I read a few chapters and layed it on the kitchen counter, where it acquired some bbq sauce.  So now I have what was a brand new sparkly library book, which is overdue, water damaged and stained with bbq sauce racking up late fees.  Should I still try to read it or concede and return that poor book to its rightful owner?