Lancaster Ladies Cruise

Ever since I started dating Haas his mom had been saying that she wanted to do a girls trip. They were going to start the tradition back when Haas was in high school and they had gone to california but a couple months after they returned his mom found out that she had breast cancer. For some reason after that they talked about a girls trip but never went through with it. Last spring we finally decided that it needed to happen. We decided that the perfect time to do it would be for my mother in laws birthday. So off we went for a cruise to the Bahamas.
We all flew into Ft Lauderdale where we met up with my mother in law and father in law. That was so great since they decided to be snow birds and move to Florida for the winter. I hadnt seen my mother in law since nov and my father in law since Oct. We all went out to Outback Steakhouse that first night before we made it an official girls only trip.
On that monday morning we got up and took a shuttle to Miami where we boarded the ship and set said to the Bahamas!! It was my mother in laws birthday that day so we got the waiter to sing happy birthday to her and she got a cake along with her regular cruise dessert.
We woke up the next morning docked in Freeport but it was really only a little straw market so we decided to have it be a boat day and we went and laid out by the pool. There was a little bit of a cold front so it was a little chilly to get in the pool. I decided that since it was a vacation I needed a nap. My sis in law (and cabin buddy) Erin joined me and we ended up taking a 3 hour nap. LOL it was so needed!

Next stop was Nassau which was pretty cool. We took a shuttle boat over to Paradise Island where Atlantis is. We were so excited to go look at the aquarium that you see so much about but they had it blocked off for hotel guests only. Bummer it was still pretty even though we could only go through the casino. So we went back to the main area of Nassau for a little shopping in the straw markets. Then it was back to the boat for a little pool time since the weather was so nice!!

Every night the ship had shows that you could go to so we would go to one of the shows before dinner. They had a hilarious comedian and amazing singers/dancers. It was so much fun to go to the shows and we all looked forward to them.
Our last port day was to a private island that is owned by Norweigen cruise line. It was all of our favorite day. All of us rented clam shells that go over your beach chairs so we could lay out and not burn. We rented them but it just ended up being a spot for all of our stuff because we stayed in the water the whole time. The water was so clear you could look down and see the fish swimming around and see the sand and shells under the water. I could have stayed there forever it was so beautiful.
We had the best time and it was really relaxing but I was happy to come home to my boys

Another Angel

When I was 4 we moved into our long time home in Stansbury Park. I had (and still do have) disfunctional family members on both sides of my family. I never really had a great relationship with my moms side of the family. She had 7 sisters and 1 brother and only spoke with a couple of them and her dad until he started suffering from alzheimers. On my dads side we had a good relationship with my grandfather until he passed away when I was young and then once my parents were divorced we pretty much never saw my grandmother.
When we moved into our home in Stansbury, we lived across the street from a couple named Rudy and Flora Garcia. They had 3 children. 2 were grown and out of the house and the other was about to graduate from high school. Both Rudy and Flora were the nicest people you would ever meet. I often would go and hang out at their house to play with their dog.
My mom had my brother shortly after we moved in and Flora would often let me come hang out at their house while my mom took care of John. It was a good getaway and she loved the company since she didnt work and Rudy work long hours at Delta Airlines. Both Rudy and Flora by then had become like grandparents to us. I loved them just as much if not more than most of my extended family members.
When my dad started not coming home much, I ended up becoming in charge of getting us home from school and getting our dinner on and our homework started before my mom got home from work. If anyone knows me they know that I tend to lose things like keys all the time. I would often lose my house keys or forget to bring them with me. Flora was always home and we often spent our after school time with her. She would always have us start our homework while she went into the kitchen to make us an after school snack. It was always homemade tortillas with butter and sugar. Once Rudy came home from work he would help both John and I with our homework and then take us down to play in their game room.
Our christmas tradition always included going to Rudy and Flora's to help make tamales a few weeks before Christmas and then playing pool and darts while we all hung out together.
When I was in the 4th grade my parents began fighting alot and my father was always really abusive towards my mom. Our safe place ended up being at Rudy and Flora's where we were to stay until things calmed down at home. They never hesitated to bring us in and we always felt that we belonged there. They always treated us like family.
By the 6th grade my parents were divorced and my mom had a wonderful job but she had to take business trips often and work long hours to manage to pay the bills as a single parent. When one of her business trips to her to Costa Rica for a week, Flora volunteered to watch us. While we were staying there Flora wasnt feeling well and Rudy went to check on her and found her not breathing. It was so scary for us as multiple police officers and ambulances came and rushed her to the hospital. I stayed up all night praying that she would make it through and be alright. Flora was diagnosed with an illness called Sclerederma. It is a disease that causes hardening of the skin and then attacks the organ causing them to harden and not function right. She ended up having to go through kidney dialysis 3 times a week since her hospital stay.
Over the years I was so thankful to still have her in my life. Even after my mom got remarried and we moved, we always stayed in touch. I even received a visit from Rudy and Flora on my anniversary last year. They showed up on our doorstep to give Haas and I an anniversary present. Flora's health had been deteriorating for a long time but said that she had to see me and Tyson that day. It was so sweet of them!
this morning while checking the newspaper I decided to check the obituaries and had found that she passed away. I was completely heartbroken. Another strong influence in my life had passed away. My brother and I went to the viewing tonight to say goodbye and support Rudy and their children. I went up to give Rudy a hug and their daughter Lisa pulled me aside and told me that Flora still talked about me all the time and that she had always considered us her family. I was so touched because to me she was my Grandma. I know that Flora is now another angel to me and will be watching over me with my mom and Steve.
I will never forget you Flora and I thank you for always being there for me and for being a wonderful role model. I love you.

Evil Knievel

I know its been a while since I blogged. We moved and never hooked up our internet since we were able to use the internet on our phones it didnt matter but we finally hooked it up.
Tyson has been doing so good and loves our new house. He has been so good with stairs since he turned 1 that we havent been worried about blocking the stairs off in this house. He knows how to go up and down them and doesnt really play on them. Well today he was riding around on his rocket ship that was in his room. I had heard him in his room and didnt see or hear him come out. Then I hear a thud thud thud. He loves to throw toys down the stairs so thats all I thought it was. THen I hear a blood curdling scream and I knew that he had fallen down them.
When I looked down the stairs I realized that he tried to ride his rocket ship down the stairs. the handle bars hit him in the cheek so he has a little bruise on his face but other than that he's fine. We called Haas and was telling him about it and Tyson was talking all serious then he would bust out laughing and point to the stairs.
I have a dare devil and it looks like it might be time to block the stairs off or make the rocketship and his dump truck outside toys. LOL

Memorial Day

For Memorial day I decided to take Tyson up to visit my parents at the cemetary. We also stopped by to put flowers on my great Grandma, both my Grandpa's, and my aunts graves. I wanted to get a picture of Tyson at my parents grave but he was more interested in running around. I did get a couple of pics out of it though.

Finally a post

I guess its been a while since I've posted anything. We have actually been doing a ton of stuff but nothing I really feel like blogging about. Good news is that Haas is back to work. Which is wonderful but he has been working 16+ hours a day so I dont see him. He is so tired by the time he gets home he just goes to sleep.
For those of you at Myriad you can thank him for all the traffic on foothill and leaving Myriad. I know you are loving it. He has told me about all of you guys yelling at him. LOL

So for all of you that have heard all about Haas' gas station addiction I have something for you.

From the mouth of Haas:
Haas: You would be so proud of me today.
Me: Why
Haas: I didnt stop at the gas station once today. (While holding a drink clearly from the gas station)
Me: Where did you get the drink then
Haas: Well ok I stopped at the gas station to get this drink because I was so thirsty. .....And I stopped at the gas station this morning for breakfast because getting breakfast from there really wakes me up.
Haas: But those dont count!!!!

Gotta love it

Trip to the ER

Tyson was not a fan of the ankle bracelet

Now that Tyson is walking he is really starting to get his fair share on bumps and bruises. Yesterday he tripped on his pant leg and fell face first into the floor. He bit his lip and is was bleeding and got really fat.
Then today he was in the bathtub and stood up, I told him to sit on his bum and as he was sitting he slipped and hit his chin into the side of the tub. When he did that his bottom teeth hit the roof of his mouth making them bleed. I felt so bad for him and was thinking that this accident prone lil guy is definately mine.
We went the rest of the day without any accidents and I thought maybe we could get through the night too. After I got his jammies on for the night he spotted his blanket on the ground and decided to go head first off the ottoman to get it. He had figured out how to get off the couch and ottoman feet first but decided not to today. He ended up being ok just with a little mark on his forehead. He went about watching yo gabba gabba and playing for a little bit. I had him sitting on the couch with me watching the Cardinals baseball game and he had been standing up on the couch and trying to drop paper in between the couch and wall. He ended up standing up and fell off backwards and hit the back of his head. He cried and cried for quite a while then he started throwing up. I know they say that if you throw up after hitting your head you might have a concussion so we took him into the ER to have him checked out. I didnt think that there was really anything wrong but its better to be safe than sorry.
When we got to the hospital he was laughing and having a good time. The Dr also said that he didnt think anything was really wrong but if they fail any of the concussion symptoms they have to do a CT scan. Since vomiting is one of the symptoms Tyson had to have the scan done.
Tyson seems to have claustrophobia like Haas so I knew that he would not be happy having the scan done and I was right. They strapped him down on the scanning bed and also strapped his head down. He threw the biggest fit I had ever seen, he had veins popping out of his forhead. poor guy. Then when i got him out of the straps he started crying even harder almost like he was trying to make all the nurses feel guilty. LOL
We sat there for about a half hour and then Dr came back in and said that everything looked completely normal and just see how he is doing in the morning. Im glad that he didnt have a concussion. I know that this is only 1 of many times that he will get hurt and it probably wont be the last time that we will have a trip to the ER.

Tysons parties

For Tyson's first birthday we had 2 different parties so that my mother in law and Tyson's cousins could be there. Haas' mom had just had surgery and was doing surprisingly well but couldnt risk an infection by being around too many people. I was glad that she was doing well enough to be up and about for his party. We tried to get Tyson to unwrap his presents but he was more interested in the fireplace. He got some cool toys though and finally started playing with them. The golf set his Nana and Papa got him was so cool. Sam enjoyed it too which was so cute to watch. Tyson carried around a club with him for awhile. He will be Papa's golfing buddy soon enough!!!
We got him a cool cake and even his own personal cake. I was expecting him to dig into it but he just picked the frosting off so carefully and ate it. Haas ended up smearing frosting on his face to get it started. His face looked so gross at the end. Note to everyone, black and orange frosting looks disgusting. And the black stains your lips.
Im a bad mom and was trying to get Tyson to try to blow out his candle but he grabbed it instead and burned his hand. OOPS.

We then had a party for him the next day at our house for the rest of our friends and my family. If anyone has been inside my house you know that our living room and kitchen is small. Somehow we managed to fit 35 people into our house. It was so crowded and was a little overwhelming but really made us feel loved that we have so many family and friends that care so much for us. I really appreciate everyone so much. Tyson got so spoiled by presents. Once people left I still was feeling claustrophobic from the overwhelming amount of toys and clothes that he got. Once we got all of the toys out of the boxes there were still toys everywhere. I ended up going and buying a huge rubbermaid container to use as a toy box and i still couldnt get all of his toys from the party in there. It is crazy.
We had the same cake for Tyson and it was so funny to see everyone walk around with stained black lips. I want to thank Brandie for being so kind and taking pictures for us. Tyson will have lots of pics to look back on when he gets older!!!