Ivan and Emery- my March babies

Ivan Balle, my first born March baby!

When I was pregnant with Ivan I was teaching at Wasatch Middle School. Two little 8th grade boys in my sewing class threw a little baby shower for me during class. They made a cake and bought some little baby slippers. The 9th graders in my teen living class also had a little party with gifts and food and then a few days later I woke up at about 3:00am feeling some stomach pains. I thought maybe I was hungry so I went in the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. The pains picked up so I moved from the tub to the toilet and to the tub again. I was only teaching 2 classes and thought maybe I could still teach through the stomach pains. About 6:00 they were getting pretty good and I thought I'd better call in for a sub. I woke Mike up and we left for the hospital. We got there about 7:00 am. I was dilated to a 7, got an epidural and began the wait. Our little Ivan came at about 10:00. 8 pounds and 13 oz. He was a big boy! I loved baby dolls growing up. Now I had my very own baby doll!! 

 

Look at that little face. Now my boy is 12. I still love this little face

Look at that little face. Now my boy is 12.

and that little face has grown into this big face. 

 We've had some great times over the past 12 years. This kid loves his little sister soooo much. He is always pointing out all the cute things she does and says and he is always commenting on how much he loves her. Ivan is a good kid, he works sooo hard in football and does great in school. He is a champ at doing online school. He loves to hang out with friends. I think he complains less these days, but is still really good at begging. He's got a fun little sense of humor that is coming out as he gets older and is still ok with a little snuggle once in a while

(watching Mr. Salmon read aloud for online school)

We love watching our Ivan grow and mature.

Miss Emery Balle is my 3rd born, but 2nd March baby. 

I can remember the day we found out she was a girl just like it was yesterday. Now my baby girl is 8. I was scheduled for an induction. We got to the hospital early that morning, started the pitocin and I can't really remember how long it was after that. I do remember the nurses leaving me alone for quite a while and I felt like I should be checked. I finally suggested they check me and I think she was crowing at that point. They quickly called the doctor and out she came...... with a broken collar bone.

She kinda got gypped this year with the Covid lock down. We didn't get to do much celebrating, but My mom did sneak out one afternoon to wish her and Ivan a happy birthday

Emery girl also loves her little sister and can be very sweet with her. Sometimes it's hard when little sister wants to get in the way, but for the most part they get along great. 

Emery is still very capable and can take good care of herself. She is creative and likes making things. It's slime making all the time around here. She is a great student and all her teachers love her in school. She is thoughtful and gets a tad giddy when it comes to boys. Ivan's friend Will came over one day and she disappeared for a second, then came up stairs in a new outfit and a little lipstick. She still tumbles all over the place and has gotten so good. We also love watching our girl grow.

Happy Birthday Kiddo's

 

COVID-19

As soon as we returned home from Hawaii things around us began to close down. Business's are closing, people are working from home, the grocery store is bare and there are lines to get in, school has moved to online for all the kids, we need to wear masks wherever we go, we aren't suppose to get together with family and friends. There is definitely a panic in the air. However.........It's 6:00 and dinner is done, cleaned up and my kids are all downstairs laughing and playing together. 

The situation we are in is crazy, different than anything we've really had to deal with before.  I must say, we are doing just fine. I love to be involved with my kids extra-curricular activities and I love my kids to be out playing with friends, but I also like how we've slowed down and have little to do. This time together, with no distractions, has been nice. We have time for the kids to help prepare and clean up dinner.

We have time to watch TV together. We have time to play games together. We have time to take walks or ride bikes together. We have time to just be around each other. Sounds like a recipe for disaster and maybe after this first week it will be, but for now we are really enjoying each other. 

Complaining about doing chores is less, because they don't have anywhere else to be.

Amazingly we haven't been overrun with electronics. They seem to find things to do together.

They all have a designated space in the house, where school is set up and they do their work with few complaints. It does get hard for me when I keep hearing, "mom, come here," I feel like I'm walking from room to room most the day, but I enjoy seeing what they are learning.

Mike's working from home and it is wonderful. The kids are respectful of his privacy, but he can come out and take breaks with us and he's home by 5:00. Please don't take this away from me.

The best part about it all is the funny meme's floating around the internet. Man people are funny. I may be on my phone more than the kids are. It's amazing to see the creativity and goodness in people.  I like to watch the world pull together for a common purpose. I guess that's also why I like being a member of the church, where a group of people are working together for a bigger cause. We have neighbors who text while getting grocery's to see if they can get anyone else's groceries while they're out.  We caught our cute neighbor leaving this for Jack

Another neighbor suggested we all find something to hide in the front yard, take a picture of it and then hide it. She sent out a picture list of the items and then we could walk from house to house, stay on the sidewalk, and locate the hidden item. When you finished the list you could grab a treat off her door. 

The newness of it all has been sorta fun. HOWEVER we do miss seeing our grandma's! Hopefully that will come sooner than later.

Just in the nick of time

Each year, at Mikes work, they do a big rewards trip for all the sales guys. They usually invite other employees to go and this year Mike was invited. We've been so excited to go, then this dang virus started spreading. Luckily we went just in the nick of time. Had it been scheduled a week later they would have had to cancel the trip. While we were in Hawai having the time of our lives we watched face book and got messages from friends about how things were unfolding at home. No toilet paper or lysol products to be found. Grocery store lines, etc. It was pretty crazy. Even so, we had a REALLY great time.

We flew in Thursday night. The almost 7hr flight was way better than I thought. We got in, got our rental van and where about 20 min outside the airport when I realized I left my phone in the seat pocket on the airplane! Ugh. We turned around and went back. I had to wait in the ticket line again. They called up to the gate and a lady had it up there, but they were short on employees so she couldn't bring it to me. I had to go back through security (luckily the line wasn't too long) and back to the gate to get it, all while my poor tired husband and kids sat in the car. It may have taken me a good 45 min before I finally got it. 

FRIDAY morning we got up and hit the pool. Wow- the pool or should I say "pools" were awesome. We could have spent our whole trip swimming. There were about 5 different pools all connected by small water slides.

This is the main lower area the kids played in the most.

This pool is higher up and starts the chain of slides leading to other pools. You can hardly see it,  but there is a slide straight ahead where those chairs are lined up.

Slide down

and come out here.

From this pool, take these stairs, slide down

and come out here. Catch the slide at the other end of this pool

and you land here, 

There was also one long, fast tube slide that I liked, but felt very claustrophobic in. Another small slide that had this rushing rapid at the top that sucked you up and then pushed you down. 

And a rope swing.

We played at the resort most the day then walked over an outdoor mall and had a hamburger dinner.

Cheeseburger Grill and Tap Room

We browsed the shops, stopped at the "ABC" store for snacks to keep int he room, bought ice cream 

and then walked along the beach boardwalk to the neighboring beach, where a friend from home (Chase and Cassidy Broadhead) were staying their last night. We visited with them for a bit, saw some Dolphins jumping out in the ocean and then went back and went to bed.

SATURDAY morning we did the beach right out from our resort. The sand is fun to play in, the waves were ok for boogie boarding and we just played most the day.

Then we went back to clean up and get ready for the Merit social and dinner.

SUNDAY we got up and went to sacrament meeting. It was fun being in Hawaii with work, because it seemed like here we were in this far away place, yet there were a few familiar faces everywhere we went.

We stopped and did a load of  laundry after church, ate at the Keihei Cafe to taste their  banana, macadamia nut pancakes someone recommended

and then went to Ho'okipa beach to see some turtles 

(All those big rocks behind them are actually turtles) 

and look in the tide pools.

The kids wanted to get room service so bad, so that night we got room service pizza for dinner and watched TV. The food was eh, but the lounging was ridiculously nice.

MONDAY morning Mike had a meeting, the kids stayed in the room and I took a spin class. Holy cow, I've never done a spin class before. The teacher was older than me, by probably 10 yrs, but way more fit and way cooler. It was so fun. They peddled those bikes right to the beat of the music and their arms were doing all sorts of cool, choreographed movements. An experience for sure. Afterwards, I took the kids to the pool while we waited for Mike to finish Meetings.

We checked out the play room

and played the big checkers  board

and documented the naked statues throughout the lobby.

 we ate at Fred's Mexican that night

TUESDAY we did the beach again. The beach was right outside the resort. It's so nice when you can just walk there and don't have to track sand into your vehicle. We snorkeled a bit and saw a turtle and some really cool fish.

Here is a view from down below the resort, by the beach, looking up at the resort

We ate at the Monkey Pod that night. 

Walking back to the resort.

Night swimming. Hardly anyone at the pool.

WEDNESDAY- Happy Birthday to Ivan

I made him eat his cereal out on the porch so I didn't have to hear him chew.

Mike had meetings again this morning.

We walked over and got an ice cream. 

We took a long walk along the boardwalk.

We played in the game room again  and swam for an hour and then Mike joined us for lunch at Fred's Mexican again. After lunch we drove over to a plantation and walked around. 

.

Then drove over and hiked up towards the needle

After that we drove over to Lahaina for some Hula Pie to celebrates Ivan's birthday.

and if pie wasn't enough we then stopped in for ice cream and sat in this little spot right on the ocean and watched the whales. Another fun day.

THURSDAY, our last day, we finally ordered drinks by the pool, something we had wanted to do from day one, but hadn't yet. So simple, but so fun

Swam for our last swim

and prepared to leave.

Here is our resort from the front

We noticed they always had two pretty ladies by the front door handing out leis to the new comers checking in. We figured we got in too late the night we arrived and didn't get ours. So about the 2nd to last day, Emery was saying she wanted one. Mike took her over and explained we didn't get ours. Then in one of his meetings, Fred mentioned some areas they had cut back costs this year, like not getting leis, because they're $8 a piece. Oops! haha, I wonder what those ladies thought of us.

Just some pictures from different angles of the resort

When I look at the pictures I took I realize I am no photographer. 

These pictures don't do the scenery justice!

For our last lunch in Hawaii we split up. I had to have the butternut squash ravioli again and Ivan had to have another hamburger. 

Mike, Ivan and Emery went to the hamburger place we went to the first night. 

Jack, Kate and I ate at the Monkey Pod.

Emery put a flower in her hair

We stopped at Target for airplane snacks

and that was it for Hawaii.

It was an Awesome trip thank you to Fred Lampopolous. The world is a beautiful place and we felt so lucky to spend a week in this part of it. If the trip would have been one week later they would have had to cancel it. We made it just in the nick of time.