Sean, Kristina, and the Kelly Kiddos

Baby Tyce is here!

2010-03-27T08:27:00.018-07:00

Born March 3rd at 11:18 am. 7bs even. Sean got to deliver again :)

leaving Rio and on to Ribeirao Preto and Sao Paolo

2010-03-27T08:21:00.001-07:00

Here we are! Officially leaving Rio and moving inland!

Liz and I at the airport...

Made it! This is me on the map

After our driver dropped us off at our hotel, we walked around the streets. It was very different than Rio. Much cleaner, less crowded, and people were more clothed. Quieter, and more like a hometwon. Here we are in front of a fountain in the square

The next day, our driver drove us from there to Sao Paolo. Here we are at our NICE hotel in downtown.

We decided to go out to eat that night and as you can see, the streets here look like a typical American street. We even ran into a few, not many, but a few people that spoke English. This would NOT have happened in Rio!

At a LARGE city park in Sao Paolo. It was much like a Forest Park or Central Park to us.

That is a black swan below them on the bridge in this park

In the park...

On our last day there, we went downtown and discovered an amazing cathedral, walked the street vendors, and made it to the top of the country's highest building.

Here is a local who found me on the street and gave me some handmade baby boy booties! They were such a nice people down there! Very courteous, pleasant, not quick to anger, and people were very willing to start conversation with you. I was shocked that she just handed me this hand-made present and she didn't know anything about me!

Atop the building overlooking Sao Paolo

Corcovado and Urca

2010-03-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

So, the next day we decided to actually head UP to Corcovado for an upclose look at this statue. It wasn't anything like the helicopter flight, but still an amazing thing to do while we were in Rio. This is Liz and I before heading on the tram the mountain. It as a solid few hours to wait in line, get the tickets, and hten wait for your boarding time. SO, we walked the streets a bit and grabbed some lunch before boarding our tram.

Steph and I after getting off the tram at the top

Corcovado from the base. It looks a little different from here than in the helicopter

After a full day of Corcovado, we decided to head back to the condo and relax by the pool. The next day we went back to Urca. This time, we took the tram ALL the way up. No hiking, and no half way points :)
The girls streetside along our way to Urca:

Just before heading up the mountain on the tram. Urca/Sugar Loaf Mountain behind us...

Sean and I overlooking Rio at the halfway point and a view of Corcovado as well

At the top: Just screwing around taking some pictures :)

Connor's 5th b-day

2010-02-14T11:33:00.011-07:00

Museum

2010-01-22T18:07:00.015-07:00

So, after walking the deserted streets (see the post before this one), we finally made it to the museum! It was so nice to sit, grab some water, and lounge in a few air-conditioned rooms.

This is the girls along our walk toward the museum. We're almost there girls!!!

Having a LITTLE fun at the museum :)

After some museum fun, we decided that we would be better off using cabs to get back to our condo vs walking all that way again. SO...that is exactly what we did and we made it back to our place to rest our feet for another fun day tomorrow!

Rio and Copacabana Beach

2010-01-22T17:31:00.021-07:00

On our second day there, we decided to hit Copacabana Beach. Because it was a Sat and a holiday down there, it was absolutely packed! It was literally shoulder-to-shoulder people and one of those days where you wanted to keep your belongings close by. Unfortunately, all it took was probably 5 seconds for me to look away and our camera was stolen right off the shoulder bar of Sean's chair (with him sitting there).

After getting a little fried at the beach, we decided to walk down Copacabana and take the metro to Impanema. Here we are taking a little ice cream break on a city street

That night, we went out to eat at a Chuhascaria. This is Connie and I, along with Sean and I just outside our condo building.

The next day was Sunday, so we took cabs to an LDS church in town. After church, we changed our clothes and took the metro into downtown. Unfortunately, it was like a ghost town in some places due to the holiday and it being a Sunday. It was a little eerie at times because there were streets that were absolutely deserted! We eventually found a McDonalds for lunch ( you can always count on Mickey D's to be open) and walked to a museum a few miles away. Here is a picture of us at church, and a few pictures of various parts of the city along our walk

Along our walk to the museum. Notice there is really NO ONE around

A deserted street that is usually slammed with people:

A park along our walk...

Corcovado from town...

Brazil: helicopter flight over Rio and around Corcovado

2010-01-22T17:20:00.019-07:00

So, after hiking up Urca for our first day in Rio, we decided to take a helicopter flight over Rio and around Corcovado (refer to the older post below this about our hike).

At the helipad...

Fer, Liz, Sean, and I getting ready to go for our ride!

Liz and I afterward! Can you tell we thought it was awesome?

Although it was a quick flight, it was one of, if not the best experiences we had on this trip! Rio was absolutely AMAZING from the air! We were able to see Rio, all of the amazing beaches including Impanema and Copacabana, Sugar Loaf Mountain and Urca, and of course...Corcovado (the statue of Christ)!

Corcovado! You really can't gain a grasp of how huge this statue is. It's the same size as the Statue of Liberty. Quite amazing!

And, some more!

After our long hike up the mountain along with the amazing flight, we had to hike back down the wet and muddy mountain and walk a good 5 miles back to our condo. We were a little whipped that day, but it was TOTALLY worth it!

Brazil: Urca/Sugar Loaf Mountain

2010-01-22T16:34:00.027-07:00

After spending an AMAZING New Year's Eve on Copacabana Beach, we decided to fully exhaust ourselves in Rio the next day. As you'll see...we surely did! This is a picture of some of us walking down a typical street in Rio. Our destination? We were on our way to Urca and Sugar Loaf Mntn for the afternoon.
*By the way, you can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them :)
After walking for what seemed like FOREVER, we made it to the beach! Liz and I are pretty excited!

Once we arrived, we noticed the HUGE line to get tickets to take the tram up the mountain. It probably would have taken 2-3 hours to get the tram tickets. So, we took this picture by the water and debated what to do with our afternoon.
We finally decided to get some food at an air-conditioned buffet just next to us, and then hike up the first part of the mountain. The huge cone shaped mountain behind us in these two pictures, is Sugar Loaf.

After enjoying some air-conditioning and water sin gas (non-carbonated water, thank goodness), we started hiking half way up the mountain. You have the option to hike all the way up, but it would be a full day hike, not many people are willing to do it, and well...I'm 7 mos prego and didn't feel like popping out a baby in the middle of the rainforest. SO...we decided to hike the first part of the mountain, skip the long lines for the tram, and maybe pick another non-holiday type of day to take the tram all the way up. *Remember, it's New Years, so EVERYTHING is swamped with crowds! So, this is a picture of the boys and of the gang along our hike.

This is just one of the views along our hike through the rainforest. The beach that is wayyyy down there, is where we took the family picture and ate the buffet. Yeah, it was a bit of a haul, but totally worth it :)

And, this is a lovely monkey we fed along the way...

This is a picture of Rio along the hike (excuse the tram cables in the picture)

And, this would be US! We made it! Can you tell by the sweat-soaked shirts and muddy shoes?

The rest of these? These are just views from this halfway point of Rio below. The views were so amazing that we actually took a helicopter flight over Rio and around Corcovado. I will post those pictures on the next one with details of the rest of our day.
Unfortunately, we couldn't take a tram up the rest of the mountain because we didn't have tickets, and we couldn't take one down afterward, so we had to hike it down and walk back to our condo that evening. But, I'll give you all a glimpse of Corcovado and the helicopter in the next post :)

South America 2010: New Years Eve

2010-01-22T16:16:00.015-07:00

After a 3 hour flight from Portland to LA, and then a 12.5 hour flight from LA to Sao Paulo, we finally made it to gorgeous Brazil for our week and a half vacation! And, this vacation was COMPLETELY kid-free! Woo hoo! Let the party begin!

*I did this post on a MAC, so sometimes the pictures don't line up with the text if you're viewing this from a PC. So, sorry if it isn't matching up :)

So, this picture is of us "excited" gals in the Sao Paulo airport. We were so glad to be there, and SO incredibly glad to be officially off of that airplane...

When we arrived, we hired a driver in a huge 16 passenger van to drive us from Sao Paulo to Rio that evening. Before hitting the road, we stopped at a road-side store in Sao Paulo to grab our first Brazilian-type grub. Here are the four gals after eating our ham and cheese sandwiches and trying some guarana :)

Along our drive to Rio, we stopped at a Cathedral; a typical tourist destination in that particular area...

When we arrived in Rio, we were STARVING! So, we began walking the streets and came upon BOB'S. It's supposedly Brazil's version of a Burger King. So, this picture is of Sean and I at the infamous BOB'S, enjoying our yummy cold fries, and as you can see...Sean was missing his lovely implant. No worries though, when we returned to the states he was reunited with a new implant and great smile :)

After eating at BOB'S and walking around downtown Rio, we made our way to Copacabana Beach. It was New Year's Eve and the largest New Year's celebration in the world was about to begin. It's Brazilian tradition to wear all white on the night of New Year's, so as you can see, we're participating in the tradition :)

After hanging out down on the beach, we walked back to our condo, which was on the 22nd floor. It overlooked Copacabana and was the PERFECT place to watch the amazing fireworks. What a fun New Year's and AMAZING fireworks show over the ocean

Family Picture

2009-12-01T08:51:00.006-07:00

This was taken over Thanksgiving in Grand Junction

Kade

2009-12-01T08:49:00.004-07:00

Just couldn't resist :)

Thanksgiving in Grand Junction

2009-12-01T08:44:00.009-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving, we spent it in Grand Junction! We spent a few evenings at home, and spent the great Thanksgiving meal at Brad and Camille's. What a great time with everyone!

Connor's Thanksgiving Program

2009-12-01T08:35:00.011-07:00

What a super cute program. The kids sang a few songs at the front of the class and then we all sat down to eat a Thanksgiving feast of stone soup, among other things that the kids made.

Connor

2009-11-08T19:59:00.003-07:00

This is Connor's 4 yr old preschool picture!

Kade

2009-11-08T19:51:00.007-07:00

Just for fun!

New Orleans!

2009-11-08T19:41:00.017-07:00

The AOA/AAOA Conference was in New Orleans this year and because I'm the Vice President of the RVU SAA, I and the President were able to attend this year. It only lasted 3 days, but we sure crammed a TON in. We arrived on a Sunday evening, checked into the Renaissance Arts Hotel in the Arts District, and took a dinner cruise along the Mississippi that evening with a local Jazz Band. The next morning, we attended our required conference sessions, then headed down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter for lunch. I tried the typical red beans and rice, jumbalaya, and gumbo, and finished up by walking the dirty streets back to our hotel. That evening, we ate dinner at a French Restaurant named Cochon, and I had my first ever fried rabbit liver, hogshead cheese, and paned pork cheeks. Yep, I know....it sounds disgusting! But, it was seriously amazing! We sat at the chef's table and we were lucky enough to have a complimentary appetizer sent out for us to try. It was absolutely a FABULOUS, contemporary place in the corner of the Arts District and I would go there again in a heartbeat! The next morning, we boarded buses to Audubon Park where we did a 5:30 am 5K, then attended a few conference sessions later that morning, and caught our cab for the airport by 2:00. So, yes, it was quite a whirlwind, but a TON of fun.
Would I go back? Never! It was filthy, stinky, and one of the dirtiest, rudest places I've ever been. Fortunately, next years convention is in San Francisco and I am on the national committee to help organize it. So, hopefully it will be a much cleaner experience :)

This is us getting ready to board our river cruise Sunday night

At the Convention Monday morning with some local entertainment :)

Checking people in to the first session

Voting

Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street

And, Bourbon Street again. Not much to look at :)

A bunch of pelicans in the trees along the 5K early Tuesday morning

After the 5K

Halloween!

2009-11-08T19:29:00.008-07:00

The day before Halloween, we had a Hallo-boo-loo party at RVU with a costume contest and catered lunch. I, along with 4 others decorated that morning on behalf of the SAA group and when it came time to eat...the boys showed up :) No surprise there! So, here are some pictures of the kiddos in their costumes at Sean's school. Connor entered the contest, and Sean was one of the judges. There is also a picture of Lacey and I with our two little giraffes (which we didn't plan at all, really). After the contest, we took the kids trick-or-treating around the school:)

Then, we came home and Sean and Connor carved a pumpkin in the garage. There is a picture of Connor sitting near it by the front door. The last picture is of the boys trick-or-treating Halloween night. Connie came in town just in time to go trick-or-treating with us, the Parks, and the Fitzgerald's. So, that night, we went down one street, and it was so cold that we threw in the towel and went out for pizza for the rest of the evening :)

Snow!

2009-11-08T19:17:00.010-07:00

Let it snow! Two days before Halloween, this is what it looked like outside. Look like a lot? It was 26 lovely inches of frigid wintery white stuff. Since school was canceled for both of my students, we got together with some friends (other med students and their kiddos) and went sledding at our friends' condo. Some of the pictures are of the snow on our car, and on our back patio furniture and grill. There is one picture of the snow on our roof and the others are of us sledding at our friend's place.

Pumpkin Patch!

2009-11-08T19:10:00.005-07:00

Connor's preschool class went to a pumpkin patch where they played ring tossing games, walked through a small hay maze, searched in the sand box for treats, and picked out pumpkins. Happy Halloween!!

Flying High!

2009-11-08T19:03:00.013-07:00

We were in Grand Junction for a weekend in October and thought we would catch a flight in Christopher's new plane! He took us over Grand Junction and the National Monument and then dropped us off at the hanger to take Steve, Connie, and Brett up for a little bit. What a fun ride! I sure love my brother-in-law :)

Garden of the Gods

2009-10-27T08:46:00.027-07:00

Just a quick trip down to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs! It was so nice outside and just perfect for the short 1 mile walk.

Kade and Mickey

2009-10-27T08:38:00.010-07:00

I just thought these were too cute to pass up. Connor thought it would fun to put his Mickey hat from Disneyland on Kade, and well, here he is :)

The boys

2009-10-27T08:33:00.005-07:00

These were taken in September with the thought of getting some 6 month pictures of Kade. I thought it wouldn't hurt to throw Connor in there as well, so here you go!

New additions

2009-10-27T08:22:00.004-07:00

Ok, so I thought I would post these fun pictures. We just got the clock in the corner off of craigslist. Yep, I LOVE craigslist! The other two pieces...the chess pieces were something that I've wanted for quite a while and after seeing them last Spring and thinking about them all summer, I finally went back for them. Anyway, here they are! Fun new additions to our little family!

16th Street Mall, Cheesecake, and the Rockies/Cardinals game

2009-09-30T21:03:00.016-07:00

The Bigelows and our little family were in need of a night out. So, this meant going downtown to the 16th Street Mall and eating some yummy food at our FAVORITE restaurant...the Cheesecake Factory!! If we are ever hungry, we always end up migrating to the Cheesecake Factory.

After waiting absolutely forever to get in, because well, it was a Saturday night and the CARDINALS/ROCKIES baseball game was starting a few blocks away, we finally ate and rushed over to the baseball game. After searching for parking downtown for nearly a 1/2 hour, we finally decided to park illegally, and walked a good mile and a half to the ball park to get there just in time for the 5th inning! Yep, the 5th, but hey...we made it! And the best part? The Cardinals won! Yay...my favorite team!!!! Sean wasn't too happy since he's a Rockies fan, but what does he expect when a team is named after some rocky dirt mounds? Ok, BIG rocky dirt mounds, but still...

If you look at the pictures, you'll see that the stadium was COMPLETELY PACKED...there were TONS of Cardinals fans!! It was such a blast. Oh, and we didn't get towed! Yep, even better. We were totally prepared to have to ride the train home, but our lovely car was still there!

Hiking the Colorado National Monument

2009-09-30T20:27:00.006-07:00

We went home to Grand Junction a few weeks ago and thought we would take advantage of a nice day! So, here we are hiking the National Monument behind Steve and Connie's house!

Connor's first time mini-golfing

2009-09-30T19:55:00.013-07:00

The boys

2009-09-30T19:49:00.007-07:00

Connor's Swimming Lessons

2009-09-30T19:38:00.004-07:00

Connor began swimming lessons this year and has had a blast! The last day of each 6 week session, the teachers take them down the slide, which they otherwise would not be able to go down because they have to be much older. So this sure was a treat for him, and these are just a few pictures of him "beaming!"

Connor and one of his "classmates"

The infamous SLIDE!

A weekend in Grand Junction!

2009-09-30T14:27:00.016-07:00

The last weekend in August we headed over to Grand Junction for Dane and Aimee's reception and for Brett and Jessica's baby's blessing. As you can tell from the pictures, we sure had fun! Friday night we had a great reception at Brad and Camille's house, and on Saturday we had a pool party/BBQ!

Here is a picture of Connor and his cousin Austin getting thrown around the pool.

Just lounging by the pool and hanging out with Kade

Sean and "Pops" grilling

Connor getting tossed again

Connor yet again getting tossed!

Kade and I hanging out!

Connor and his cousin Alyssa!

Just getting their feet wet on the waterfall

Kade enjoying himself

Connor and Alyssa eating a hotdog

#3 on the way?

2009-08-17T09:53:00.004-07:00

Yep, I can't tell anyone why or how, but it just happened! I think we're still in shock! The due date is the SAME date that Kade was born. So, they will be EXACTLY a year apart. Well, they're technically one day apart...Kade was born on March 7th and this one is due March 8th. Yeah, crazy, I know! So, here it is...it's official! I

Salt Lake and Park City, UT

2009-08-17T09:21:00.013-07:00

Well, after a fun 12 days in Laguna, we drove up to Salt Lake for a few days and stayed with Ryan and Steph. These pictures below are of Connor and his cousins having fun on some rides at a Salt Lake park, and one of him and I riding the ferris wheel.

Park City! We decided to drive up to Park City to see Ryan's office and to go out for lunch. I had never been there and I think it had been nearly 10 years since Sean had been up there! We had a great time seeing Ryan's office, going out to eat, and strolling around!

Laguna Beach!

2009-08-16T20:39:00.031-07:00

After a week in Tucson for my Grandma's memorial and family reunion, we made our way to Laguna Beach for 12 days. Steve and Connie have a beach house where we met them there, along with Brett and Jess for some summer fun before heading up the road again to yet another destination! As soon as we arrived, where did we go? Down to the beach of course! Here is a picture of Kade enjoying himself for the first time at the beach.

Here are some pictures of the Montage! It's a fancy resort resting along the edge of the ocean with quite amazing views! Twice, we lugged food, chairs, and blankets down for some fun picnicking and play time.

Angels game! It was Kade's first time at the ballpark and he did absolutely great! Connor loved watching the game, but also loved watching the bugs shine in the bright lights, thinking it was Tinkerbell watching the game with him. And of course that is no surprise considering we were merely a mile away from Disneyland, so who else would it be?

Orange County Fair! We had an absolute BLAST! This isn't just your normal "fair." Here is a picture of Sean eating a gigantic corndog and some pictures in front of a huge sand sculpture with Connor and his glow sword.

Connor and Kade watching a movie together

Eric came to visit! It was so fun seeing Eric and reminiscing about the terrible Grenadian days. Connor LOVED seeing Uncle Eric and enjoyed some much needed ice cream on the beach.

Connor and I riding the elephant at the Orange County Fair!

And just a lovely picture of Kade enjoying his time in Laguna!

Funky blogs

2009-08-16T10:11:00.002-07:00

So, I just realized that if you are viewing our blog from a PC, the text lines up according to each appropriate picture. At least that is how it appears. However, if you are viewing it on a Mac, then it gets all screwed up! So, SORRY if you are viewing some of the posts and the text doesn't seem to match up with coordinating pictures!

Tucson

2009-08-16T08:18:00.028-07:00

Here is a picture of me, my Aunt Teeny, Jeanne, and Jackie. The next one is of the 4 generations. And lastly, there is a picture of Sean and my dad with the boys.

Connor making dessert. He sure looks a lot like his mom when he bakes...half of it all over him and the other half in the tummy!

Pictures from my Grandma's memorial service!

Here is a picture of my dad, Grandpa, me, and Kade. The next picture is of Jeanne and Jackie TOTALLY getting roped into watching an hour of Thomas the Train with Connor! And, the last one is of my dad feeding Kade.

Connor loves his little brother! Here is a picture of him holding Kade's hand as he fell asleep, and one of Kade stoked to be out of the car after a long road trip from Grand Junction!

Of course we had to spend time at the pool to cool off! Here is Sean throwing Connor, and Grandpa Dan, Grandma Jeanne, and Jackie swimming with him.

Canyonlands, UT: Deadhorse Point

2009-08-16T08:04:00.008-07:00

On our drive from Grand Junction to Tucson, we stopped through Canyonlands and stole a few pictures of Deadhorse Point!

Ouray, CO for the 4th of July!

2009-07-15T18:07:00.031-07:00

Steve and Connie have a house up in Ouray and I have never been there for the 4th. I know, I couldn't believe it :) It's kind of one of those traditions for them to go up there over the 4th and it just so happened that we seemed to be out of town during all the 4th's leading up to this year! SO... this was the year to go! We began the weekend by fishing on their lake Friday night...

Then, the next morning, we went to Ouray's infamous 4th of July parade. IT WAS AWESOME! If you look in some of the pictures, you can see that it was basically just ONE HUGE water fight between the onlookers and those that were in the parade. There were HUGE water hoses amongst many of the floats/vehicles and many of the onlookers had buckets, buckets, and yes...buckets of water and super soakers! It was great!

And, then there came FOOD! Later that day we had the traditional 4th of July BBQ and ended with Connor and Joey drawing pictures in the air with sparklers, and then heading into town for the fireworks show. It was so great because the fireworks were up against a mountain side and we had a thunder/lightening storm occurring simultaneously!

Boulder and Casa Bonita!

2009-07-15T17:26:00.022-07:00

About two weeks ago, we went into Boulder and walked through an outdoor mall where Connor found a few fun things to sit on...

After Boulder, we thought we would take Connor to Casa Bonita for dinner! It's a themed Mexican Restaurant with cliff divers, singers, gorillas, real palm trees, a waterfall, magic shows, a mine, etc. The food is...well, not that great, but who cares! It's like sort of being in Disneyland :) Anyway, here are some pictures!

Cliff Divers and fire show!

Old Mine and haunted caves!

The waterfall...

And, just a random boy that was riding on some of the rides with Connor!

Scott's Bluff, Chimney Rock, and Cave of the Winds

2009-07-07T18:15:00.018-07:00

Scott's Bluff, Nebraska. Famous landmark along the Oregon and Mormon Trail

Chimney Rock, Nebraska. Another landmark along the Oregon and Mormon Trails

Caving at Cave of the Winds in South Dakota! It's the 4th longest in the world and can get up to 70 mile per hour winds!

Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Ft. Hays, Crazy Horse, and Wall Drug!

2009-07-06T14:40:00.051-07:00

Keystone, SD! What a fun town! The Black Hills were amazing and we loved the board walk through town...

Ft. Hays! This is where they filmed Dances With Wolves. We had a "cowboy breakfast in a barn on tin plates, and then walked around the Ft. There is a picture below of an upside down tree. They cut it down, flipped it over, and well, it's growing :)

Badlands! Well, Sean wasn't too impressed. If anyone has ever been to Western Colorado or Utah, you would probably say the same thing. I'm glad we did it, but it sure didn't compare to the landscapes of Utah and Colorado

These pictures are from WALL DRUG. I know, wired name, huh? Well, after driving out in the middle of nowhere to see the Badlands, we literally saw probably 50 billboards advertising for WALL DRUG along the way. So, we decided to stop and see what it was. Well, this is what it was...a strip of themed stores, a wax museum, fountains for hte kids to play, and many places to take pictures. It was actually AWESOME!

These pictures are from Mt. Rushmore! It was actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but still quite amazing! We had to hike about a mile if we wanted to get up closer to the mountain.

These last three are from Crazy Horse. This Memorial is HUGE! It's the largest sculpture in the world and probably won't be done in our lifetime. It's taken them 50 years to JUST do the face, and they're hoping to carve out his arm, his flowing hair, torso, and his horse! It was amazing!

Tinkerbell?

2009-07-06T14:28:00.003-07:00

Ok, so how many of your sons like Tinkerbell? Anyone? What I mean is... likes her enough to prance around in fairy wings pretending to be one of the fairy's from Pixie Hollow

Yeah, this will definitely be a "blackmail" picture when the time is right. I'm blaming it all on Sean's side of the gene pool

Connor's best friend, bowling, and school

2009-07-03T14:25:00.005-07:00

Well, here are a few pictures of Connor! His best friend is Jade and they were in school together this last year. They will be in the same class this next year, and her dad was even their soccer coach! They go bowling, to the movies, to the park, etc. Anyway, here is a picture of them at the park, one of me helping Connor bowl at a little bowling get together with Jade, and one of us at his school for a Mother's Day Celebration.

Nature and Science Museum

2009-07-03T14:09:00.009-07:00

A few days after Sean's last day of school, we headed downtown to go to the "free day" at the Nature and Science Museum...

Dora LIVE!

2009-07-03T13:58:00.011-07:00

Thanks to Liz and Fer, I was able to take Connor to see Dora LIVE downtown for Joey's birthday! We sure had a blast!

Kickoff to Summer!

2009-07-03T13:36:00.014-07:00

On Sean's last day of classes, we began summer with a BBQ and swim party. A few days later, we got together with some friends and headed down to Colorado Springs to go garage saling and had a picnic on the Air Force Base, while watching the parachuters. The next day, we all hit a Parker parade and the local fair. Here are some pictures from our little parade!

Connor

2009-06-01T16:00:00.006-07:00

Just some fun pictures of Connor!

The Children's Hospital and Mother's Day

2009-05-13T17:47:00.025-07:00

Well, Friday morning began as usual with Connor climbing into bed and wanting to cuddle. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for a few minor complaints about his leg hurting. What's new, right? He kept saying that he fell on one of his trains in the night, but it didn't really seem to be that big of a deal to him. I checked his leg and didn't find anything, so I took him downstairs for a bowl of cereal and went upstairs for my shower. When I returned downstairs, I found that he hadn't eaten his cereal and was asleep on the couch. This was at about 9 am. I left him alone, figured he must be coming down with something, and he ended up napping until 1:45 pm.

When he woke up, he had a fever and was complaining about his leg hurting fairly badly. I gave him some Motrin and he seemed to do much better. So much so, that I took him outside to ride his big wheel and he appeared to be just fine. We continued the Motrin the rest of the day, but in the middle of the night, it had progressively gotten worse!

At about 3 am, he CRAWLED down the hall, dragging his leg, crying, saying that his leg hurt. I asked him to climb into bed and he couldn't even stand up. I grabbed him, put him in bed with me, and he was BURNING UP! He was so hot that I had to take the sheets off of me because he was radiating that much heat. I checked his leg and couldn't find any bruising or even a spider bite. I gave him some more Motrin and we went back to sleep.

The next morning, he couldn't walk, sit up, or get out of bed. He was in a lot of pain. I looked at his leg again...looking for bruising, a possible bite, etc., and still found nothing. He couldn't go to the bathroom, he couldn't even lift his head so we could get him dressed. He was completely immobile. We called the doc and ended up taking him to the ER at around 1 pm. After about 5 hours of testing (MRI, x-rays, blood work, etc.), they ultimately decided to admit him. So, for the evening, Sean decided he would be the one to stay the night, and I would have to take Kade home since I was still nursing.

The next day (Mother's Day) I returned to the hospital for the day, while Sean went home to sleep. Throughout the day he began to get worse. His pain was intensifying and he hurt just to lay in his hospital bed. They didn't find anything on his MRI or x-rays, but his inflamation markers were up with 103 temp. We continued to monitor him the rest of the day and were told we would have to stay another night.

On Monday morning, I returned to the hospital and was told that they had to put him on IV morphine in the night and that he had spiked another fever. He was in terrible pain...just grasping the bed rails, crying and wailing. We tested his blood again and found that two of his inflamation markers were down, but his SED rate had risen. Hmmm. So, we decided to do a CT scan to see if we could discover anything new. Still nothing. No one even knew where to begin. It was so frustrating. He was apparently getting worse and we didn't know how to help. So, Fer and Liz stopped in that evening, and Fer and Sean gave him a blessing that we would find an answer.

Tuesday morning I returned to the hospital and the docs suggested a bone scan as our last resort. We were hoping for something to give us a clue as to what was causing this pain and fever. We also decided to fast the whole day for some sort of a lead into this situation. Later that afternoon, the bone scan came back and it was positive!!! Apparently he has a septic SI joint! What this means is there is bacteria festering in his sacral iliac joint and if we don't stop it, Connor could have permanent damage to his joint. This usually occurs, say, in the hip where the doctors are able to extract fluid and therefore able to test it and match the appropriate antibiotics to the bacteria. Unfortunately, we can't do that. So, here we are, experimenting with various antibiotics, hoping we can stop it before there has been damage.

So, here we are! It's been 12 days now and we are currently experimenting with antibiotics, only hoping his pain will decrease enough to pull him off the IV's, in particular the morphine, and hoping we can get him to begin physical therapy to start walking again. It's still going to be quite a few more days before we will know if these are working. If they are, then great...we move forward! If not, then we have to start a new batch of antibiotics and keep trying.

Once we get it under control, and he's off of the IV's and walking, then he'll be able to return home. However he'll still be on oral antibiotics for at least 6 more weeks and have to return to the hospital for blood work each week to make sure his liver is functioning properly due to the extended stay on antibiotics. (The picture of him asleep is what happens after they give him the morphine).

So, this has been the last 12 days thus far, and we still have a few days left in here. We're taking him for strolls in the wheelchair and trying to get him out of bed and walking a little. Sean has been pulling the night shifts and going through finals in school, and I've been doing the day shifts with the kiddos and taking Kade at night. We've been pretty lucky that there is a Children's Hospital only a mile from our house, however they did consider transporting him downtown at one point to the main Children's Hospital campus. So, we're fortunate we are close to the house and we've had soooo sooo sooo many people help with bringing food and treats, and coming to visit! In fact, there is one picture of Connor with his little "girlfriend" Jade. We are sooooo grateful to everyone that has been bringing us food and praying for an answer! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Connor's Easter Program

2009-04-20T17:16:00.011-07:00

These are just a few pictures from Connor's Easter Program at his school. I actually have some videos of him singing, but I have yet to figure out how to upload the video feeds to blogger. The first picture is of Connor sitting next to Jade, his "girlfriend."

Kade's Blessing

2009-04-20T17:05:00.008-07:00

While in Grand Junction for Easter weekend, we blessed Kade. He actually wore Sean's blessing outfit that Sean wore more than 30 years ago! It's also what Connor wore when he was blessed and hopefully it will remain in good enough condition to continue the trend in the future.
As soon as the blessing was over, we looked out the window and saw the amazing rainbow in the picture at the end!

Easter in Grand Junction!

2009-04-20T16:23:00.014-07:00

Here is Sean with his brothers and Connor with all of his cousins!

Hilarious!

2009-04-15T07:17:00.004-07:00

I just thought these were hilarious! He's only a month old and is already making faces! Ok...but how do we explain THAT hair??

I know this is a little late, BUT.....

2009-04-15T06:33:00.011-07:00

I know this is a little late, BUT.....here are some pictures from my baby shower here in Denver. Lacey threw it at our place just 2 days before Kade was born and made both cakes...the regular cake and diaper one. I was so anxious to post pictures of Kade that I forgot to post these pictures before his birth! THANKS EVERYONE!

Kade's first 2 weeks!

2009-03-30T16:36:00.013-07:00

Grandpa Dan and Grandma Jeanne visit Denver

2009-03-30T16:08:00.013-07:00

Grandpa Dan and Grandma Jeanne came to Denver to meet Baby Kade and they were a great help! Grandpa was on "Connor duty" and kept him busy by taking him to the park every day and Grandma took care of meals and many chores. They were a great help and we had so much fun showing them around the Denver area. It's just too bad that the blizzard blew through the night they were supposed to fly out, so they had to stay an extra day until they could catch a flight home. Thanks for coming!!

Grammy comes to town!

2009-03-30T11:11:00.009-07:00

Grammy came to visit the week that Kade was born. She was such a huge help. She watched Connor while we were in the hospital and I know that wasn't easy, considering he was REALLY sick. She was great. She did all the chores that I couldn't and didn't want to do, and spoiled us by taking us out. We had a blast going to the Children's Museum, the Outlets, Park Meadows, getting her hair done, and the 16th Street Mall. THANKS Grammy!

Kade Thomas Kelly is here!

2009-03-11T18:45:00.018-07:00

Kade was born at 3:55pm on Sat, the 7th...6lbs 8oz! This birth was WAY easier than with Connor! I went in at 5:30 am for the antibiotics and they broke my water at around 10 am. I walked the halls for a few hours to get my contractions to start, but they just weren't taking off! So, at around noon, I told Sean that I was super hungry and wanted to eat dinner that night....so that meant that we needed to get the show on the road! I knew that if we waited to let the contractions start naturally, that I may not eat until tomorrow. So, I told the nurse to start the pitocin and get the epidural going ASAP. I was really craving a burger. So, they began the epidural and pitocin around noon and just a few hours later I was dilated to 10cm! It went really fast! The only glitch was that they had to put a tube up into the uterus to add fluid because the cord was wrapped around his neck. So...the nurse had me push twice and we saw that the head was right there. We called for the doc to come in and and we got everything ready...including Sean. My doc actually let Sean deliver him!!!!! Sean got to do EVERYTHING! I pushed two more times and he literally slid right out! Unfortunately they made me wait another hour to eat, but hey...I still got to eat by dinner time! He looks just like Connor did, but smaller and with hair. Take a look at the pictures below and you'll see Sean delivering him!

Basketball

2009-03-02T15:02:00.007-07:00

Well, Connor's last day of basketball ended with an awards ceremony and a pizza party with basketball shaped cupcakes! After Connor had eaten his pizza, he went up to the coaches wife and asked for a cupcake. She handed it to him and with a smile, told him not to be too messy. He then said..."no, this isn't for me, this is for my momma. She needs it more." He had fun this year, except it was a team of 4-6 year olds and he JUST turned 4! So, needless to say, he had NO clue what he was doing!It was pretty funny, but the coach was patient with him!!

Museum of Natural Science

2009-02-23T21:35:00.005-07:00

Well, at the beginning of the new year, I decided that it was time to get out and see more of Denver...even if that meant trekking outside during one of Denver's -15 degree days. SO, a few weeks ago the Museum of Natural Science was having a free day. Yay! Well, we tried it out, and here are some pics from the day! There were walking dinosaurs that happened to eat Connor a few times and an 80 piece puzzle that Connor got to put together (the pic shows how happy he is that he completed it).

Valentine's Fun

2009-02-16T10:35:00.005-07:00

This is how we spend Valentine's Day: Making as many sweets as possible! And eating them as fast as we can! We also went to Free Zoo Day. You know, there is a reason all the free days are in the winter...it snowed while we were there! It sure was fun though!

Senior Year 1998 Baby!

2009-02-13T22:43:00.004-07:00

Senior Year
This is about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!!

IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU...
1. Did you date someone from your school? A few actually.

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? No

3. Did you play sports? Well, I was a cheerleader. Some people might say thats not a sport, but we took it VERY seriously. Then, tennis and track as well

4. What kind of car did you have? I had a 1998 Honda Civic

5. What kind of car do you have now? A 2002 Ford Explorer Limited. It's the only thing I feel safe in driving over these Rockies

6. It is a Saturday night...where are you now? Eating out somewhere. I hate being cooped up at home.

7. It is Saturday night...where were you then? Probably at some type of school event...dance, game, etc. and then studying late into the night after getting home from the event

8. What kind of job did you have in high school? I was a painter for the school district, so I painted all the schools/classrooms

9. What kind of job do you do now? Well, up until a few months ago when I got pregnant, I worked for my father-in-law who is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. But, with the baby due in a few weeks...I'm staying home:)

10. Were you a party animal? As a highschool kid, no.

11. Were you considered a flirt? I don't think I was, BUT I am told otherwise.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Nope

13. Were you a nerd? I think only at heart, but I keep that quiet.

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? no way

15. Can you sing the fight song? Well, I can hum it and do the dance to it

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? Mr. McManus. He was so patient with me in Calculus!

17. What was your GPA? 3.9...Thanks to Calculus and AP History for those 2 B's

18. What was your school's full name? West Albany High School

19. When did you graduate? 1998

20. What was your school mascot? The Bulldogs

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? I loved Highschool and would go back in a heartbeat

22. Did you have fun at Prom? yes!

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Nope.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? yes, especially since I couldn't make it to this last one

25. Do you still talk to people from school? yes, a few, but only through facebook

26. School Colors? Blue and Gold, but according to our cheer uniforms, lots of white too

27. What celebrities came from your high school? HMMMM, I don't know that we have any famous alumni

28. What was your favorite memory of high school? I know this sounds cheesy, but probably winning the State Cheerleading Championships my juinior and senior years. That was great!

Sleeping Arrangements

2009-02-10T16:26:00.003-07:00

Ok, so when did my son grow up so fast?
This morning Connor was laying in bed with me, cuddling, and he was rubbing my belly. He actually rubs it a lot, now that he knows baby Kade is in there. Anyway, he was rubbing it, talking to baby Kade, and asking him to come out soon so they could play. While he was rubbing my belly, I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk a little about the hospital stay and what was going to happen here in a few weeks. So, I told him how Mommy would be gone for a few days, that he would have to take care of Daddy at home, and continue to clean his room, be a good boy, and of course bring me treats at the hospital. Then, I mentioned that when the baby comes home, that Mommy may be really tired a lot. I explained that the baby will probably cry a lot at night and Mommy might need to take a few naps during the day. Then he kind of looked a little puzzled and asked where the baby was going to sleep. I told him that Kade would probably sleep in a little bed in our room for a few weeks until he didn't cry as much at night, and then he would sleep in his crib in Connor's room, with him. Connor got kind of quiet for a second and then went over to Daddy and said the following...

"Daddy?"
He taps him on the arm.
"I want Baby Kade to sleep in my room, so Mommy doesn't get tired at night. I can be tired, but Mommy need to sleep."

Seriously, did my 4-YEAR OLD just say that? Awwww!

7 years ago....

2009-02-08T21:31:00.003-07:00

OK....So I thought I would post these for fun! Just some pictures from our 2002 wedding!

The 25 Random Things sure gets around!

2009-02-04T20:03:00.003-07:00

25 Random Things! I've been tagged! Now let's see if I can get Sean to fill this out one of these days! ENJOY!

1. I hitchhiked along the Oregon coast in high school, and yes, I’ve even picked hitchhikers up as well

2. I modeled in middle school and high school and got invited to do Miss Oregon 3 years in a row, but chose not to compete

3. Although I hate trains, I still “jumped” one just for the heck of it

4. I’ve sang numerous solos in front of large audiences, but if you listened to me sing now, you’d totally laugh

5. I once went skinny dipping at a friend’s pool party and I was dared to run inside, run around the kitchen island, and run back out. Well, I slipped and fell, and ended up laying there like a flailing fish out of water in front of TONS of people, NAKED!

6. I don’t like to be around kids that aren’t mine. I always end up with a headache and boogers on my clothes

7. I snort when I laugh. It’s got to be hereditary. My mom does it, my uncle, etc. But, that doesn’t explain why I toot when I laugh too

8. I’ve had a stress-related ulcer for 5 years now

9. When I had Connor I had to have 4 epidurals, and one migrated to a blood vessel causing temporary paralysis. Only moments later, it would have pushed us into cardiac arrest. I’ll keep my fingers crossed this next time around

10. I hate reading. I’ll just wait for the movie to come out. I mean, seriously, if it’s a nice day, I’m not going to be sitting in a chair inside reading….I’ll be outside doing something way more fun

11. When we lived in the West Indies, Sean and I jumped a 50ft waterfall that gave him a bloody nose and knocked the wind out of me. We jumped more the next day

12. I get along WAY better with males than females

13. The only 2 B’s I ever got in school were in Calculus my senior year in high school and AP History. So, what that means is, I don’t want anyone quizzing me on historical facts, or else I will just “pass”

14. If I had lots of cash to play with, I would get boobs, Botox, and travel the world, and yes probably in that order

15. I taught myself how to play the piano when I was 8

16. I LOVE volunteering! In fact, when we lived in Grenada, Sean and I volunteered with the local AIDS orphans, and organized after school youth programs downtown.

17. I like to go fishing, but will not eat fish. I even hate the smell of the ocean

18. I once had a pencil embedded in my temple (brain) and the docs had to drill it out without numbing me

19. I HATE chick flicks! They are the same old story, and really, we all know the couple will get together in the end!

20. I trained for a figure competition when we lived in St. Louis and Gold’s Gym ended up sponsoring my friend and I to train. I think the fact that I gained 96lbs with my pregnancy, motivated me to train

21. A friend and I drove from Oregon to Mexico for the “heck of it” and ended up being led to a warehouse where a guy attempted to drug us. Fortunately, I pretended to take it, my friend actually took it, and when the guy wasn’t looking, we slipped out the back door and headed back to the US!

22. My little sister died when I was a toddler, thus I grew up an only child

23. I learned that if you want to get free popcorn at the movies, go and get a popcorn bucket out of the garbage and go up to the counter and ask for a refill. But, be sure to ask them to change the tub because yours is just too dang greasy from the first time around

24. I’ve lived in 3 states, 2 countries, and moved 19 times.

25. I didn’t learn to cook until we moved to the Caribbean. I still hate to cook and if I could, I would order in, order take out, or just have it done for me

Too Mean, it's scary

2009-02-01T09:09:00.011-07:00

So, this last Friday, we went to a DU hockey game with Fer and Liz and the kiddos. We thought Connor would be stoked because he has been begging me to sign him up for hockey for the past few months. Every time we stop by the Fieldhouse for his soccer practice or to watch one of Sean's games, he runs over to the hockey rink to catch a glimpse. I'll ask him if he'd rather play soccer, basketball, baseball, or hockey, and it never fails...he always chooses hockey! Well, we haven't signed him up quite yet because he'll need to master skating first, and not to mention, it's super expensive! So, with that said, we decided to take him to a hockey game, assuming he would LOVE it!

It probably didn't help that we sat right in front of the band and it's probably WAY too loud for little ears, but Connor seemed pretty quiet. So, we leaned over and asked him if he was having fun and he said no. We asked him why, and he said it was too loud. So, after a while, the band wasn't playing as much and Connor still wasn't really stirring over there in his seat. So, Sean leaned over again and asked him if he still wanted to play hockey and he shook his head no. Sean and I kind of looked at each other, wondering if we heard that right. Then Sean asked him again, and he surprisingly said the same thing. So, we asked him why, and guess what he said...he said "it's too mean, it's scary."
So, with that said, I guess those hockey fights deterred him back into playing basketball and I can tell you, Sean is stoked he has his little basketball player back!

Way Da Day Mon!

2009-01-24T18:30:00.016-07:00

Yes, I actually miss Grenada. I never thought I would say it, but I really do. It's funny...we've been living back in the states for about a year and a half now and there are real "moments" when I actually reminisce of the slow-paced lifestyle on that tiny, clausterphobic island!

When we first moved there, I cried for nearly months, saddened by the luxuries we left behind and surprised at how genuinely rude the natives were to the "white folk." I questioned our transition down there so many times, only to be reminded that we were led there for a reason and that I would eventually adjust. Well, after some time, I became accustomed to the brown drinking water, the cold showers, the stove we had to lite with a match, and even the frequent power outages.
We eventually made friends and became quite involved with the local community and our church. We explored the island through cliff jumping, rainforest hikes, and many boating/snorkeling/diving trips in the ocean. We experienced a hurricane, Sean caught Dengue Fever, and we jumped a 50ft waterfall.

We even had a monkey named Lu Lu, along with many other pets that made their way into our little abode, such as gigantic lizards, mice, crabs, cockroaches, ants, etc. But, what made me continually long for home, was the rudeness of the natives, the drunk and "high" bus drivers, the inconsistency in food shipments to the local grocery store, and the lack of things to do on that island! So, needless to say, despite our exotic experiences and adventures, I absolutely could NOT wait to move back home!

So, here were are...in Denver and proceding with life as if it never slowed for a whole year, and it's actually funny to me, that I would miss such a place. I miss the stress free lifestyle of "going with the flow" and taking things one day at a time. When you slow down, you begin to appreciate the little things that occur along the way, instead of flipping off the driver in front of you for going the speed limit, rather than 5 miles over (I haven't done that, really).
Until Grenada, I absolutely took for granted the amazing luxuries we have in this country and how those luxuries aid us in getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. But, what I have come to accept, is that the most memorable times in your life can be spent enjoying the process and the journey, and doing it all without the "necessary" luxuries we have been taught to expect in this country.

As a typical Grenadian would say..."Way Da Day Mon," which means "Enjoy the day, man!" And, that is exactly what I will strive to do each day that I live in this fast paced world we have become so accustomed to.