Is it true?

Looks like we might actually be closing tomorrow on the house!

Guess who else has a Wii?

On Saturday we thought we'd be in the new house working on things. Nope. Instead, though, we had a wonderful time at Kenny and Kathy's house! The kids played Wii for hours on end, it seemed, and it was so nice to see them and get out of the hotel!


Anna was a pretty good bowler!

Jack gets into it and Addie likes the flash.

Even Leah played a pretty mean round of bowling.

Our last Sunday at Church

Some pictures of the kids in their classes. We went to church and left after Sunday School and saying goodbye to all.


Aliyeah, Emma, Elise, Anna, Hannah, front row
Leah, Jack, Noah, back row
It actually ended up that some friends from church were able to buy our Arizona house. Hannah and Noah (pictured above) are part of that family.

Luke in the front, Miss Debbie, Alicia and her kiddos.

Jack, Leah and Anna with Mrs. Geiger. She helped make church a wonderful place for our kids!

Loading the Truck

On Friday, our driver showed up early because he wanted to try to beat some of the Arizona heat (like that's going to happen). He got there around 5:30 in the morning with a big, empty truck. He left again at about 5:00 that night with a very, very full truck. It's like tetris when they load those things... everything has a space and you don't leave an opening! The picture of the kids is before I took them over to the Geiger's in the morning. The last picture is right before he shut the back door. That is one full truck!

Day at the Pati's

On one of our packing days during our last week in Arizona, the kids went to one of their favorite Arizona places... the Pati house!

And we're still in the hotel...

No pictures but I thought I'd let you all know that we are still waiting for our house to close escrow. We thought it would be last Thursday or Friday and it was supposed to be no later than Monday, but we'll be fortunate if it can close on Tuesday. We've had some nice trips to see my sisters and families, but I think I'm ready to be out of the hotel! We'll let you know when we're in...

The Kids Have Their Own Camera

They've actually had one since Christmas... a great gift from Uncle Alex and Aunt Deanna. Very fun and very useful, too. I don't have any new pictures to post and it might be awhile until I get to that so I thought I'd throw some up of the stuff the kids have taken. These range from around Christmas time until a few weeks ago. The quality isn't top notch, but you get the idea.

We're in the hotel in CA waiting to close on our home. Hoping for the end of the week!

A Week of 'Lasts'

This Sunday night was our last Sunday night at church. We plan to drive over to CA after church next Sunday. This is a week of 'lasts' for us as we prepare to move. It is a bittersweet time for us. The kids and I are going to dearly miss our friends and it will be hard and sad to say goodbye even though we are grateful for the job in California and being closer to my sisters and their families. This was the first full night of their summer Vacation Bible School (they do it every Sunday night for the summer). Can you tell the theme is Dinosaurs?


Anna and Leah in the front. Jack in the way back row.

Jack between the two Michaels. He has loved hanging out with the big boys.

Jack in his class.

Anna in her class.

What? Culvers?

Read more to see where I enjoyed this Culver's beverage!

For all of those Culver's Fans out there....

When we were in Wisconsin, Derek tried to make sure he squeezed in a Culver's fix even though he wasnt' feeling so well. It's like Taco Pizza at Pizza Hut... we only get it in Wisconsin. Well, imagine our shock when we took the exit right before the one we normally take of the nearby freeway and passed a Culvers! Probably about 5 miles from our house here in Arizona! That was on Friday. It is now Monday. Derek has eaten at Culvers TWICE since then. I guess they opened two of them in Arizona in the last couple of months. We also went to see Derek's Grandma Watkins on Saturday and the other Culvers was a few miles from her place... so guess where we went for lunch? Yup. These pictures are from last Saturday. We all mostly enjoyed Culver's. Luke wasn't feeling too hot but had escaped throwing up like the rest of the kids... until the nearly hour-long ride home from Grandma's. He managed to throw up in the car the precious little he had eaten at Culvers. Chocolate milkshakes are much more appealing the first time around (as is most food!).


Grandma Watkins and Grandma Hileski on their first trip to Culvers.

Us with Grandma Watkins and the sign... proof that we're in Arizona.

Four generations from Grandma Watkins to Grandma Hileski to Derek to our kids.

"Hey, cousins, wish you were here!"

He's FIVE!

I usually try to take their picture on their birthday, but this year was a little hectic. Here are Jack's five year old pictures a few weeks late and back home in Arizona.

Tail Gate Party at the Brewers Game

The girls went shopping for doll stuff. The boys went to a Brewers game. Dad, Derek and Jack packed up on Thursday and headed out to tail gate first and then enjoy the game. I'll save you from the 10 or so pictures that Derek took of the roof of Miller Park closing, these are much more interesting!

Jack got Cheetos... and a Pepsi! WOW!

Dad preparing the food.

Inside the ballpark. Jack really seemed interested in most of it Derek said.

Derek and Jack chowing down. Notice the Pepsi can by Jack. This is the first time that boy had a can of soda. He's tasted it before, but we've never actually given one to him with his meal. What a treat!

The American Girl Place

Mom treated Anna and Emilie (and Laura and Me) to a day at the Amercian Girl Doll Place in Chicago. What a deal that place is! It was a fun drive and fun for the girls to be in the middle of down town Chicago and see the tall buildings. The store itself is just off Michigan Avenue and is three levels of American Girl Mania. We had a very cute lunch at the American Girl Cafe, did some shopping and took a few of Laura's dolls (from when she was a kid) to the Salon to get a bath and a new hairdo. Derek rolls his eyes at all of this, but the girls loved it! Grandma treated them to a new outfit for their dolls on top of all of it. (Thank-you, grandma!) Both the girls crashed out on the ride home in the car but it was a lot of fun. Anna learned that there are only 3 American Girl Doll stores in the country-- New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. What?? Los Angeles?? She realized quickly that we were moving back there soon. Guess where she (and now of course Leah) want to go for their birthdays?


Emilie and Anna with their dolls at lunch. The dolls each go their own chairs, a plate and a cup.

Amid the seemingly endless collection of outfits and accessories.

Girls-in-practice. Shopping on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

This is the salon. There were at least a half dozen of these chairs where the salon workers would put the dolls to clean them up and do their hair. This doll is one of Laura's (now Emilie's) that is over 15 years old. She needed some serious work but she looks marvelous now!

The Memorial Day Parade

There is little else like the Clinton, Wisonsin Memorial Day Parade. I marched in it myself for 4 years of high school band, three years of middle school band and who knows how many times I decorated my bike to ride it in. I remember it being a bigger deal than I think it really is.

We got there about 10 minutes before the parade started. After walking nearly a block (we had to park sooo far away since we were there so late) we managed to snag some front row seats. As you can tell, it was very tight there, people shoulder to shoulder squeezing in everywhere. :)

The parade included the usual fire/rescue items, the high school and middle school band, lots of tractors, local veterans and celebrities and even a couple of horses and a vehicle with people whipping out more tootsie rolls than the town of Clinton eats in five years. It took all of 15 minutes. Seriously, Jack turned around and looked at me when it was done and said, "Is that is, Mom??", as if that really actually qualified as a parade. I was thinking the same thing but I didn't think my newly-turned five-year-old would notice.

Good ol' Clinton.


Waiting for The Event.

Looks like they got some fancy new fire equipment.

Luke was so excited to see the tractors. As you can see in the bottom of this picture, he is waving. This is not a casual wave, this is a very excited, bold wave that can't believe there is actually a real tractor 15 feet away!

The band I marched in. I dare say these are the same uniforms they had over 15 years ago when I wore one. In fact, the band director (who was elderly when I was there) is STILL the band director, only nowadays she doesn't march with the band, she rides in a vintage car behind the band. I swear she's almost 90.

An Accident Waiting To Happen

I think he's too young to be multi-tasking while he drives.