"Homeless woman"

Two weeks ago, Greg and my sister Ashley conspired to fly her out to Tucson for a visit. I, of course, had absolutely no idea she was coming, Greg did a very good job keeping it a secret from me. The night she was scheduled to fly in, it was extremely windy and her flight was delayed. Greg had planned on doing some "hometeaching" that night so he could pick her up from the airport to surprise us. Since her flight kept getting delayed later and later he had to come up with a story as to why he would be out so late. He called me up and explained that a friend was having a tough time after breaking up with his girlfriend and the friend wanted Greg to come over so they could talk. I bought the story because this is not the first time this has happened with this friend.
I expected him home late so I went to bed. In the meantime, Greg went to In-N-Out and then a movie while he waited for Ashley.

Around 12:45 in the morning, Greg comes in our room and wakes me up.

"Erin, you have to hear this!" exclaims Greg.

"What?" I groggily mumble.

"I was driving home and I almost hit a homeless women. I didn't know what to do so I brought her home with me. Can she stay the night?" he asked.

"What?!" I exclaim, completely confused. "No, she cannot stay here." "We do not know her."

"Well, I didn't know what to do. Can you come out and talk to her?" asks Greg.

As I throw on some pajama bottoms and shuffle down the hallway in a daze, all I can think is:

She cannot stay in the house. What about the girls? What if she has mental problems? There is a serial stabber on the loose and Greg is bringing home a homeless person, is he crazy?

I blurt out, "She can stay in the office." (It is in the backyard, separate from our home.)

"She is not dirty, she's clean" assures Greg.

At this point I peek into the living room and there is Ashley, standing next to her suitcase, with a huge smile on her face.

"Here is the homeless women!" jokes Greg.

It takes my sluggish mind a few seconds to comprehend what is going on. Finally, I am able to laugh and breath a sigh of relief. My husband is not crazy.

We had a wonderful time visiting with Ashley and we were able to hang out with Courtney as well. The girls had a blast playing with Aunt Ashley (Taylor called her Courtney the whole time, even when Courtney was around), and by the time she left they were ready to go home with her. We miss her and hope that she comes back soon!

It's a boy!!!

Prenatal Yoga

I recently bought a yoga DVD for pregnant women and I really like it. I had only done yoga a few times before and I was not that impressed. Maybe I like it so much because my pregnant body tends to get tense and sore. The breathing and stretching help immensely with increasing my energy and mobility. I also seem a little bit more calm on the days I do yoga. I think I may have found a new interest.

On Saturday our family drove up to Mt. Lemmon to go sledding. We all had a ton of fun and Taylor even convinced me to go on one run (truth be told, it was her incessant whining). I was nervous because I did not want us to flip, but we came through safely. Enjoy the action shots!

Happy Birthday Morgan!

Yesterday was Morgan's 5th birthday. On Saturday she had an "all girls" party (with the exception of Dad and Grandpa) at the zoo. It was great because the zoo provided food for the kids, gave them a treat bag and cleaned up afterward. Morgan invited a friend who's family has "connections" at the zoo and all the girls were able to go into the giraffe area and feed them. The girls were a little intimidated because the giraffes were much taller when they stood level with them. On Sunday we had a family celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Gorby's house. Thank you to all who helped make Morgan's birthday fun and memorable.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Saturday was Taylor's 3rd birthday. We all went out to dinner Friday night to celebrate and I will have to say that we took some pretty funny pictures of her. She cannot be serious in pictures. She either smiles super cheesy, or she makes a goofy face. Hmmm, I wonder where she got that from.

Thomas Channell

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you.

I'm back!

I know it has been forever since my last post. Here is a quick update:

Morgan and Taylor have birthdays coming up in the next couple of weeks. Morgan is turning 5, which I consider to be a milestone birthday. This is the year she will start kindergarten and she is officially a child now, no longer a toddler. Strangely enough, I remember my first day of kindergarten. My mom put me in a dress with knee-high socks and insisted on taking my picture before we left the house. My teacher was a stern looking older woman, with orange-dyed hair pulled in a tight bun, horned rimmed glasses and a pinched face. I do not remember her name.

Taylor turns 3 next week. The 3rd year is a tough year for toddlers. They are conflicted because they want to do everything on their own, yet get frustrated because they cannot. Taylor is already experiencing this and often resorts to hitting me, like it is my fault. All I know is that she is in for a rude awakening in July. For those who do not already know, I am expecting baby number three. I hope Taylor does some growing up in the next six months, because sometimes she still thinks she is a baby.

Greg is still working For Olssen Assoc., but he and a friend are currently working on a new business venture. You can check out CARGO MODERN by clicking on the link from my page.

Well, that's it for now. I will post pics of the b-day parties soon.