Margaret Rosel Hull is Here!

This is Michael posting as Anna is rehabbing in the hospital...After much anticipation and much desire for her to come as soon as possible, Margaret Rosel Hull was born today (8/2/13) at 11:44am.  She decided she wanted to see the world as soon as possible so she came out looking straight up!  She weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and a length of 19 1/2 inches.  She has great color and is a great baby!

Of course, just like her older sisters, she came with a head full of dark hair.

And apparently a little bit of an entertainers flair.

Anna was amazing!  Isaac came down this morning at 4:30am complaining of a nightmare / feeling scared and the contractions started coming.  By 5:30, they couldn't be ignored any more so we packed up the kids and dropped them off with friends (thanks Jessops!!) at 6:30 and headed to the hospital.  Anna showed great patience as she labored until about 11:00, when it became game time (come on, you didn't think I'd get through this whole post without a sports reference).  She had some painful back labor, but she worked through it and Maggie came at 11:44am and Anna was able to go completely natural.  I'm so proud of her!  We were fortunate to not have any complications with this labor which made it possible for Anna to calmly work through the pressure (read pain).  She's my hero!

So after some lunch and a nap, I went and got the other kiddos so they could meet their new little sister.  Let's just say we're all super excited!

It is obvious to me that Maggie's got everyone wrapped around her finger.  Such a fun time!

Kaitlyn's Wedding

In August, Michael's youngest, and the last, sister got married in SLC.  As soon as we found out they were engaged I knew that I wanted to go with Michael. And thanks to our awesome friends we were so willing and generous to have our kids stay at their house for 4 nights, we were able to go just the two of us. We had so much fun. Since the wedding wasn't happening until Monday, Michael decided it would be fun to take Friday off as well so we could have a day just to play. We flew into SLC Thursday night, rented a car Friday morning, and headed down to Provo for the day. 

We started the day at Wal-Mart picking up some last minute things for our wedding gift, then to Macey's for fun (it was my favorite grocery store), stopped at the distribution center for a new temple dress, and then headed up to BYU campus. We walked all over. We went to the HFAC and various other buildings that had significance to us around campus. We even walked down to my old apartment, which is were Michael and I met for the first time when he picked me up for our blind date. After a few more stops, we had lunch at the Creamery. When we were poor newlyweds we would occasionally go to the Creamery for a date, were we would get their grilled cheese sandwiches, garlic fries and some ice cream all for around $8. It always makes us laugh thinking about how much fun that was. We just couldn't resist eating that same meal again, with the addition of some chocolate milk and cheese curds, my favorite. I will admit, with the exception of the grilled cheese sandwich, everything was as good as I remember it. 

After lunch we had fun buying all sorts of things at the bookstore, including a rose for my sister's grave, which we then drove down to visit at Provo Cemetery. After a sweet visit, we drove around for a while looking at the changes and non changes of Provo. We then picked up dinner at Cafe Rio and said goodbye to Provo and hello to American Fork. Our first stop was Kohl's to buy a purple tie for the wedding, and then  to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple (which is were we were sealed) to eat our dinner at the park across the street. We ended our day with a wonderful visit to my Grandma Alice before heading back to SLC to see family and get ready for the wedding. 

Sunday was a low key day with family. We went to Music and the Spoken Word, sacrament meeting, and had lunch at Brigham's Park. While others went back for naps, a few us went to the Beehive House for a tour before heading back ourselves. We then went to the Capital for a picnic dinner.

Monday was beautiful, the wedding was great, Kaitlyn and Eddie are an awesome couple and it was an honor to be apart of the wedding. It was really sweet to have all 7 of Michael's siblings at the temple, an accomplishment I hope to achieve myself someday. 

The reception was fun. Since we didn't have kids with us we were doing a lot of running around to help put last minute things together. We even got to help decorate their car. It really was a ton of fun to be their together and to be there with so much family. 

We returned home with no major problems Tuesday evening. The kids all seemed to have a good time and everyone survived the trip. I am so grateful it all worked out. 

Our view of SLC from our hotel room

Yummy grilled cheese, garlic fries, and chocolate milk.

Ice cream!

The Gordon B. Hinckley alumni building- we had never seen it. It is beautiful!

This is where Michael proposed. How sweet. :)

My sister's grave.

Dinner across from Mt. Timp Temple

Music and the Spoken Word with family.
And how sad, the main purpose was the wedding, and we have no pictures. :( 

Emma Turns 6

Due to our early start of school, Emma was lucky enough to have her birthday on the 2nd day of school. I don't think she minded too much, she was the first one to bring in doughnuts, get the fun birthday crown, and a couple fun prizes from her teacher.
When she got home we had decorated the house with balloons, had her birthday dinner, which was homemade mac and cheese and had her traditional cheesecake for dessert. We then had fun opening presents. Sadly we didn't get a friend birthday party put together for her this year, so instead she was able to have a sleep over at a friend's house and then have a Daddy Daughter Date, where they saw Ice Age: The Final Meltdown and dinner at Corky's. She was sad to not have a party but was happy with the alternative.
It's so hard to believe that she is already 6 and in 1st grade. She is growing up so fast and I am so blessed to be a part of it as her mother. She is one awesome little lady and I am so proud of her.

Summer Swimming Lessons

Somehow I have forgotten to post a couple things we did this summer. One of which was swimming lessons. We decided to put both Emma and Isaac into swimming lessons this year. We went to Coach Rob's Pool School, since it was highly recommended from a couple people in our ward, and we were all happy with the results. The kids both had great teachers and they learned a lot. Isaac became much more comfortable with the water and putting his head underneath, he even figured out how to swim a couple feet at a time. He still has a ways to go before he can swim on his own, but we made some good progress. Emma also did really good. When her confidence was high should could swim forever, it was when she got nervous that she would stop. I am really proud of how much she has accomplished and with some more practice she will be an awesome swimmer! It was a fun two weeks for all of us and I am glad we did it.

Germany- Day 11 to the end

Day 11- Saturday, June 16th

Since the kids were hitting their done limit and Lizzie was even battling a fever, we decided to take the day a little slow. I did take Isaac with me for a final run to the bakery for those delicious brotchen for breakfast. I then met up with Mom and Dad to do a bit of shopping for delicious gummies, chocolate, and various other goodies that I can't find in the states, sad to say the large majority of those goodies are already gone; bummer.
After lunch I took Emma with me so we could meet up with Oma and drive to Aunt Gisela's house for a bit of cake and coffee or in our case, cake and juice. Thankfully, Uncle Ferdinand was there along with my cousins Iris, Roman, and Gunnar. It had been just as long since I had seen any of them and it was great to catch up a bit. While our ways of life differ and we speak a different language, I still  love them and sad that we can't visit more often. I was bummed that Michael wasn't able to make it with Isaac and Lizzie, but what do you do when they are sick? Once we were done visiting we drove back to Oma's house and met up with Michael and the kids, had a quick bite to eat and then headed over to see Opa's grave.

Oma, Roman, Mom, Emma

Ferdinand, Gisela, Dad, Iris, Oma

Mom, Gunnar, Emma

Gisela. Dad and Emma, Oma

Opa's Grave

Day 12- Sunday, June 17th

Once again we were able to go to church at the Heidelberg Military Ward with Mom, Dad and Oma. After church we came home for some lunch and naps and then headed 30 minutes to visit the Speyer Cathedral, which is huge and cold! Thankfully we had one more gorgeous day to enjoy.

Mom and Oma doing a crossword puzzle, something they use to do a lot together.

Speyer!

Downtown Speyer

This was something I had never seen before, it is supposedly a femur bone of a saint.  But frankly, even Oma didn't believe that!

Pictures we took on the way home

Let's let Michael be a boy for a moment-  exit signs in Germany are called Ausfahrt... you do the math. ") 

And another one...

Rhein River

 

The hills of Heidleberg

After Speyer we came home, had some dinner and just did whatever until it was time to say goodbye. Growing up with the military and having moved a multiple times I have become accustomed to saying goodbye to friends and family. However, nothing compared to this highly emotional and tender parting. I am extremely blessed to have a testimony of the plan of salvation and eternal families, which eased the pain somewhat, but it still doesn't take the sting and tears of mortality away. I will forever be grateful that we made it to Germany before Oma died. Even with the long trip over, the tears, the tantrums, the funny and crazy schedules, the cold and rain, the sickness, and all the money we spent, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It means the world to me to know that Oma approves of Michael and loves my children. It meant the world to me that my children now have that memory of Oma, and I pray it will stick as much as possible. It meant that world to me that Michael was finally able to experience a little of my background and where I became who I am today. This was truly a trip of a lifetime!

Day 13- Monday, June 17th

The trip home was fine. We made it to the airport with just enough time to check our bags, get the kids dressed,  buy breakfast and rush through security to board the plane. The kids did alright, Lizzie was a bit of a handful and I was kind of an emotional wreck. Thankfully Michael was able to be the stronger of the two of us and managed her, while I dealt with Isaac spilling soda on the grumpy German man sitting behind us. Since we fly back during the day, the kids didn't sleep much at all, unlike flying in the middle of the night on the way there. But we made it, all of our luggage got to us to problem, and there were no problems with the house. It took us about a week to fully get over jet lag, but we made it and like I said before I would do it again in a heart beat!