Puerto Rico photos

Sorry for the long absence. It's been busy here since Mark got back from Puerto Rico. Lots to catch up on, especially with the boys. They missed Daddy so much. Unfortunately we were all sick when he was gone. Everyone is feeling better now and things have slowed down a bit.
I wanted to share a few photos of Mark's trip. Most of them are scenery shots, but there are a few that are really great.

As you can see, he worked VERY hard while on this business trip:



He stayed in a little shack on the beach:



And he was cooped up in the conference room the whole time:



OK, not all of that is true. He did present his reasearch paper and attend many seminars and presentations. They also got to spend some time at the beach, go ocean kyaking, snorkeling near a smaller island, and to top it off, swimming and kyaking on a bioluminescent bay. Now, it you don't know what that is, just google "bioluminescent bay" and you'll see some amazing photos. Unfortunately, none of them are of Mark.

We on the other hand spend the weekend in freezing cold (literally) Fresno. Meanwhile, the day after we left Colton, it snowed here. Really! David missed a day of school and wouldn't you know it, it was the first day it snowed at school in at least 20 years. The kids were literally throwing snow balls during recess; in their pajamas no less (it was pajama day). I didn't have the heart to tell him about it. He would have been crushed.

One last note. I am heading to the Craft and Hobby Association's Winter trade show in Anaheim next week. I am planning on being there for 2 half days, partly to make the rounds with Coordinates Collections and partly as an independent designer. This will be the second show I get to attend. This time though, I will be toting Hannah around with me. I know I will have a sore back after carrying her in the Baby Bjorn carrier the whole time! I am looking forward to seeing freinds I rarely get to see (love the internet!) and checking out all the latest and greatest scrapbooking products first hand!

Things never seem to slow down

We always just seem to go, go, go these days. Getting used to this 5 days a week school thing is hard. I drive David to school every morning (20 minutes each way) and pick him up at 11:30 each day. It seems like I am always in the car. Today was his first day back since vacation. He had a great day and his school is wonderful so it's all worth it. I just wish it were closer!

Mark left this morning for Puerto Rico for a week. He is presenting his research paper at a conference. They are staying at a really nice beach resort and they will have this coming weekend to relax and have some fun. I wish we were going with him to enjoy the sunshine and beaches, but the plane tickets would have cost way too much. Not to mention the fact that traveling all day with 3 kids is not fun. We are going to drive up to my sisters house on Thursday and stay for the weekend. My mom is coming to stay as well so we should have lots of fun with the kids. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive so wish us luck!

I started working on Hannah's baby book this week. I have completed 2 2-page layouts so far that chronicle her birth story. I have made a vow to work on mostly just this project for a while so I will not fall behind. I still feel guilty that Luke's book is not done yet. I just got sidetracked with other things and I never finished it. I am going to try to finish his book after I get the most important things done in Hannah's book. I don't want Luke to look back at his book and ask me why it is so small!

I was able to get some great shots of Hannah the other day. The floor in front of our bedroom window is a great place for a morning photo shoot. I love these photos!

Happy New Year

We're back! We just spent a week in the cold (but not too cold) midwest. We went back to Indiana to spend the week with Mark's family. There are 13 grandkids this year and we all spent 3 days together in a big meeting hall not too far from Mom and Dad Schramm's house. Despite the runny noses and occasional toddler fight, we had a great time. The kids had lots of toys to play with, cousins to run around with and much needed family time. The rest of the week it was just us at the house. Our boys had a blast watching videos, reading books, playing cars and going to the park. They love having Grammy and Granddaddy all to themselves. Hannah of course was the star baby. She didn't escape anyone's arms. She charmed everyone with her smiles and cooing.

Back to reality here. Mark luckily had the day off more or less and he was able to get some important paperwork done. We had a good day together. Today, I am drowning in laudry. David still has a lingering caugh, but other than that we are doing well. He starts up with school next week. Wishing everyone a happy new year!