Who's ready for some wrastling?

Eli's first official match was supposed to be yesterday, but was cancelled due to the snow.

These pictures are from their "practice" match earlier in the week. He won the first round 10-0, and lost the second 0-10, but you'd never know the difference by the huge grin on his face the whole time.

Texas, here we come...

Jon just got his duty station... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bliss
Wish us luck.

Happy Birthdays!!

Here's a special shout out to Andi and Chris- Happy Birthday to you both!! Hope you both have fun and enjoy your special day!!

Alisa

To Grace From Ivy

We have a due date now: June 30th.

Staring contest!!

Pittsburgh, Fall 2009.

Are you ready to play...

WHO


BLINKS


FIRST?!?!?!

There goes another one...

Hope you all have heard the latest update, but just in case........

Sorry I haven't called each one of you each day with an update on Dad! Let's review the week:

Sunday morning- Dad's heart was "fluttery" & out of rhythm (A-fib). We left Church right after the Sacrament.

Monday morning- heart still wonky. Dad gets blessing. Call's cardio Dr's office- sent to ER at Mt Carmel West
Monday- 12:30- admitted to hospital
Monday night- no food for Dad- test taking on Tuesday

Tuesday- echo-cardiogram (no blocked arteries! YAY!!)
chemical stress test- inject you with chemical that tells your body you've been on a treadmill a long time so you get out of breath and sweaty, then they measure the results to your heart!

Tuesday PM- cardio Dr. tells Dad his heart finally has rhythm and he'll go home Wed. AM

Wed AM- cardio Dr. tells Dad his heart is in rhythm- but REALLY SLOW. Got to stay longer and get a pacemaker. Maybe that same day- no food for Dad. :(

Wed. afternoon- surgery scheduled for Thursday AM. More waiting. :(

Thursday AM- surgery- 20 minutes prep, 10 minutes actual surgery- feeling great. Going home Friday (probably by lunch time!!) YAY!!

Reagan lost her first tooth today! But we think she swallowed it during snack at school cause she didn't even realize it came out...oh well, I'm sure she's not the first kid to swallow a tooth.

Happy Birthday Brandon!

Good times, good times

Eli and Reagan made some new best friends this weekend...

This was at Greta Rice's parents house in Hartford OH (close to Youngstown), we were visting for the annual Apple Festival there. Reagan even got to ride on a float and throw candy.

Oddly enough, we didn't eat anything with apples...guess we'll have to go back next year!

Brandon's 30th Birthday Party

We're having a birthday party for me on Saturday September 26th at 3p.m. @ our house.
Our address is 4747 Glendon Rd Columbus , OH

If anyone wants to celebrate the big "NUMBER 5" with Ian and Josh, we will be having ice cream and cup cakes at Tisha's house this Saturday at 3:00. Hope to see you there.

First Days

Harrison and Gillian on their first day of 5th and 6th grade. We were running just a little late, so I had to take their picture in the parking lot of the school.

Rachael on her first day of 2nd grade. She was being a goof ball, as usual, and was claiming that her backpack was crushing her. (The two biggest items were tissues and her lunch box.)

School started this week (yay for mommy). Rachael started Monday then Harrison and Gillian started on Tuesday. They were all excited in the different ways and things are going good so far, they all like the teachers and recognize some kids they knew before we moved.

James's first Word

On Monday James said his first word. He said dada. He also his first tooth yesterday.

Planning Ahead...WAY ahead...

Christmas is just around the bend, it seems, in all its craziness. With the economy taking an unfortunate turn, I have a proposition to make for our Large family. Would a Christmas PARTY be better than gift exchanging?? I know what a black hole our financial world seems like most days, and hope that everyone else is doing okay.

This party would be held at a place yet to be determined. The main activities would be children with icing of sugar cookies and reading of christmas stories, while the adults sit back and enjoy a hot chocolate and hot cider buffet and perhaps (yes I KNOW it seems cheesy, but what do you expect from me?) singing of christmas carols.

Each family would have certain parts to prepare, ie. one family might bring the hot chocolate mix, another sugar cookies and icing, etc.

Please give me some feedback. I know our Christmas is going to be scaled down quite a bit this year in our home, and thought this might be a no-pressure-enjoy-being-with-family time.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy birthday to Aaron (tomorrow) and Erica (last friday)!!!

Save the Date

Ahnna's baptism will be Saturday, October 17th at 1pm. We'd love to see you there.

A Day at the Museum

Jon's job at the bank ended Friday but was able to get a decent offer with the Army which he took. He will leave early November for training in South Carolina for three months to be a Paralegal Specialist. After he finishes his training we will be moved to a post. In the months until then he still has to go to trainings and drills with the Guard. The first one is this Friday and it's for two weeks, so we decided to take a day and go to the Museum and the Main Library today.

Collin's birthday!

I think he had a good birthday. I made special arrangements for the kids in primary to sing the "regular" happy birthday song, since he's not familiar with the primary birthday songs. He was getting antsy afterwards, so I tried taking him to nursery for a little bit(he always seems to end up there 3rd hour), and he told me he wanted to go to primary. With a couple trips out(bathroom, water fountain & getting snacks), Collin did end up sitting thru most of primary sharing/singing time in the primary. He has not sat thru most of the 3rd hour in primary for almost 2 years now!!! Couldn't have asked for anything more. Here's a video of his opening presents. You'll probably hear, some little girl wanted to help too.

Happy Birthday Alisa!

All She Wants For Christmas Is Her Two Front Teeth

(She'll probably say otherwise once it's closer to Christmas) About a week ago, Ivy lost her first front tooth. Well, today(of course right as we were trying to get out the door to church), Ivy lost her other front tooth--with a little help.

Tom

Just an update. Tom got in okay. They left during a pretty bad sandstorm, and we are grateful the pilot decided to not delay the 30 hour plane trip home. The past 2 days I've had two songs stuck in my head: "I'm so glad when daddy comes home", and "Something's Coming"(from West Side Story).

Other than that, happy birthday Bryan and happy early 4th everyone!

Oh, and Andi the kids LOVED the music video of that Clean It Up song.

Almost Done!

We're down to single digits of days till Tom's back *knock on wood*.

Happy Father's Day

To all the fathers in our family:

By the way, hope you all know I'm just kidding about it being a contest. ;) Happy Father's day.

WE GRADUATED !!! Here are a few pics.

We're Back

We got to Reynoldsburg late Thursday. Unloaded the first truck full on Friday, and are going to Tisha and Abe's to pick up whats left this morning (Saturday) around 10. If you feel well enough to come help, you know where they live and then follow us to the new/old place in Reynoldsburg or just drive down the same street we used to live on and look for the HUGE yellow moving truck.

Any New Emails From Jared ?

Hey just wondering if there was an email this week or last week from Jared ? If so please forward them.

A Little Trip

So we went to Pittsburgh last weekend for a little road trip, and had an amazing time! Thanks, Eli and Reagan, for a great weekend!!! oh, and thanks, Deanna and Jeremiah, for driving us around ;)



Seriously, it was a great time. Thanks Sharpes!

Today is Dad's 60th Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday!!!! Hopefully all of the kids will remember to call or stop over to wish Dad a happy one!! We're going to have a party on Saturday,August 15th, 2009 to celebrate Dad's 60th & my 40th birthdays! So PLEASE put that date on your calenders now so you don't schedule something else!!


mom

Our house projects

I got a picture taken today of our faucet that I installed in my bathroom, and the paint color for the walls.

Here is the ceiling fan I had Elder's Quorum put in mine & Tom's room on Saturday when they came for a couple hours of service(ie. grunt work).

I'll take a picture in the morning of the job that EQ also did on the rose bushes(weeded & put down a liner under some mulch)

Spring school pics

Here are Ammon & Ahnna's school pictures from last month. They have each lost 2 teeth since then.

Happy birthday to you, Tisha!!!

Within 16 hours, it will be Tisha's birthday!! (Monday- May 17th). Happy birthday, Tisha!!

And happy birthday to Abe on Wednesday (May 20th)!!


This is definitely the birthday month!!


mom

Alright, here's the scoop. Kristen and I are both graduating in 4 weeks. Y'all are invited to the graduation at the Horse Shoe on Sunday the 14th of June, Kristen tells me it's at 1 pm. Also, the Wednesday before I am having my senior thesis presented along with all the other graduating seniors. The info for that is below.




Department of Industrial, Interior, and Visual Communication Design
Colleges of the Arts + Humanities
The Ohio State University

2009 Spring Exhibition

June 9th - 13th, OSU Urban Arts Space
50 W. Town Street, Downtown Columbus

Professionals Night: Tuesday, June 9th, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Opening Reception: Wednesday, June 10th, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Parking is available near the OSU Urban Arts Space in the City Center Garage, just southeast of the corner of Town and High Streets.

another home repair question

i'm not going to be doing this job--elders' quorum is coming over a week from this saturday. is it possible to take out a ceiling light(ivy's room--she has the 2nd hottest room in the house) & put in a new ceiling fan that has a light? or is that a lot more involved than say swapping one ceiling fan for another(ie. do new wires need to be run thru for that)?

You're invited!

I didn't have everyone's email addresses, so I'll post this here.

We'll be back in town for Eli and Reagan's birthdays, so we're having a party in Ohio. It's going to be at The Jungle Gym which is designed for the younger crowd, but grown-ups are welcome too (even if you don't have a child) and can hang out in the party room and chat while the kids play.

Here's the invitation with directions and a waiver. Please let me know via comment, email, phone, telegram, smoke signal, etc. as soon as possible so I can give them a head count by this Sat. (5/16).

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to you all. Hope you have an enjoyable day.

Rachael's dance recital

Gillian's dance recital

Happy birthday, Kristen (Saturday)

Happy birthday to Kristen! Hope Aaron made it to PA safely to spend the weekend! We are looking forward to seeing you back in Ohio soon!

quick favor

i heard from mom that dad's lost 50 lbs! yay! can someone take a picture?

Photos & letter from Jared in the MTC

Hi everyone,
Here's Jared's snail mail letter from April 30th-

"Dear Mom & Dad,
I included 4 pictures with this letter: 1.Provo Temple, 2-3. first day in the MTC, 4. A group picture last Wednesday (just before some missionaries in my zone left.)

I forgot to mention an interesting story concerning prayers being answered:
My branch had been, prior to my arrival, praying for a pianist. During introductions on the first day, I mentioned that I play the piano. So, I've been my branch's pianist for priesthood and sacrament meetings. (I think Alisa will get a laugh out of that.)

I know now how much He listens to our prayers, as a result. Anyways, hope to hear from you soon.

Jared S. Lewis"

I am posting his 2 photos of arrival at the MTC and also his group photo after a week there. Do you notice the "deer in the headlights" look in his arrival photos vs. his looking straight at the camera in the group one a week later? Dad & I did.

BTW- Jared called home this morning from the airport. I was gone but Dad was here and said he sounded SO happy!!

Home repair

For Dad or anyone else who knows: I want to swap out the broken & beat up faucet knobs in my bathroom sink w/some new ones. Is it very hard? Can it be a 1 person job? Anything I need to know first?

School pictures

One of the advantages of shorter children is that they are almost always in the front row! Rachael's in the first picture sitting next to her teacher, Gillian is the only girl in the front row of the second picture, and Harrison is in the middle in the blue striped shirt of the last one.

Happy Birthday Mindy!

Hope you're having a good one.

Jared is in the MTC!

Hi everyone,

As you know, Jared is in the MTC in Provo. He will be there until May 4th. Then on to the Spokane Washington mission. Here is his MTC address:

Elder Jared Scott Lewis
MTC Mailbox #142
WA-SPO 0504
2005 N 900 E
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

After May 4th, you can write to him at:

Elder Jared Scott Lewis
Washington Spokane Mission
820 S. Pines Road- Suite 101
Spokane, WA 99206-5420

He will be able to e-mail at some point and we'll give you that address when we get it. But he would love letters, cards,etc!

Easter Pictures

So Josh was sick again, so he and I stayed home from church (that's way her is dressed up SO nicely) It was an okay day, all things considered.

Happy Easter...

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day....

Helper signaaaaallll !!!

Any help between now and Jared's open house on Saturday afternoon would be greatly appreciated. Mostly we need to do some clutter 'hiding' and general cleaning. TIA - Dad

All he wants for Christmas

Well, Collin won't be getting it for Christmas this year or probably not even next year. He had his major dental work done a week and a half ago, while being sedated, and had to have a front top tooth pulled among other things. Poor kid, he is a trooper though. He was almost back to his normal self, just a little less than 24 hours later.

The funniest part was that Ivy's jealous Collin lost a front top tooth before her. She has had both top front teeth loose for awhile, but still intact. Luckily, we don't have to do the Tooth Fairy bit with Collin--we don't have the tooth, and he doesn't understand what money is. He probably wouldn't understand the whole Tooth Fairy concept either. :)

Happy Days...

Happy anniversary to Erica & Bryan!

Happy B-day (late)

See Jenn, if I was your friend I would have remembered to post on your birthday! j/k, hope you got all your birthday wishes and spanks...

pennsylvania externship

We're in PA for Kristen's externship. It was a loooong drive. We are in Chambersburg, PA (in case you want to look at it on google maps or something). I'll be here until the first week of April and Kristen will be here until June (with a couple trips back and forth for both of us). I'm sure I'll take lots of pics.

EFY in Taiwan (50yrs of the Church in Taiwan)

Lewis Family History

Here's an interesting web site I found : http://www.surnames.com/documented_websites/arminta/lewis_family_stories.htm

Photos of James

Here are photos of James