Splash Universe

For our Hendricks' family vacation, since the lake was a bust with the weather AND we didn't get to go since we just had Zeb, we went to Splash Universe. The rest of the family had been there before, but we hadn't. They told us Eli would have a blast and boy were they right. We stayed at the hotel connected to the water park. Here are the 3 kids riding the rocking horses in the lobby. Then it was on to the water park. This is where Eli spent most of his time. He LOVED this little slide. He would CONTINUOUSLY slide down it. As soon as he was down it was right back up the stairs to go back down again. It was hilarious!!

Paw Paw was on Zeb patrol for the first day... and LOVED IT!!

Then we went to check out the big slides. Since his cousins were going down it, Eli wanted to too!! He was tall enough, so we thought we'd try it. As you can see... Eli wasn't a fan!! :)

He was more at home in this little pool...

Zeb even got in a few times. It was nice that the kid's pool was so warm!! Here he is warming up with Grandma.

It was a GREAT trip together!! Thanks mom and dad for taking us all!!

Zeb's Big Day

Today, we were so blessed to bring Zeb into the household of faith. It was so great to have so many of our family and friends there. My brother had to work, but found someone to cover for him for a half and hr so he could be there... boy does Uncle Kenny love Zeb or what!! :)

Pastor Greg did the honors and we were so excited he did. We LOVE Pastor Greg!! To be fair we have loved all our Pastors, but they each were so different. Pastor Greg is emotional and down to earth.We love that he ALWAYS includes Eli in all things Zeb... like Zeb's blessing at the hospital and his blessing after being baptized.

As I reflect on what we did today, it continues to make me smile. Today, we brought our 2 month old into a new family, a family that will help raise him up to be a Jesus follower. I loved that Pastor Greg reminded us that it will not be easy, but God is asking us to do our best in raising these 2 boys that he has blessed us with. It's a HUGE challenge, but one that Nico and I are so glad God has given to us!! God is good... All the Time!! All the Time... God is Good!!

After the service, we had friends and family over to our house to celebrate!! It was a wonderful time with good food, good cake, and even better company. It was a GREAT day, but by the end Zeb was wiped out!!

God has blessed us with such a great support system in our friends and family. I just cannot say Thank You enough to them AND to our Lord for putting them in our lives!!

Passing Along a Prayer Request

When Andy and Andrea got married, we met TONS of cool people... one of these is Abbi E. When we met, she had just had a son too and was a teacher. We hit it off right away!! We don't get to see each other much, but we stay in contact through e-mail and blogs.

She has an ADORABLE blog called http://ourlaughterandnoise.blogspot.com (It's along the side of this blog as one I follow).

While reading her blog I "met" her friend Lindsey and read about her pregnancy with Evie Jayne. After the first ultrasound they found out that Evie Jayne is facing some tough problems. Lindsey has set up a blog to track Evie's life. Here's the site: http://eviejayne.blogspot.com Please read the first post, I will let her explain the full story. Lindsay is a wonderful writer and while I've never met her, she's got an AMAZING faith... one that I believe we can all learn from.

So as a friend of a friend, I'm asking for some prayers for Lindsey, Evie Jayne and the entire family. God hears our prayers!!

Tin Caps Game

On Wednesday, Keenan, Cora, Kenny, Eli, Zeb, and Mom and I went to the Tin Caps game. While it was kind of rainy, the kids still had a GREAT time!!

We got to see Johnny...

It was Firefighter Appreciation Day, so SADAR the mascot dog was there too!

Visit with the Helsoms

Even thought I don't coach at the High School anymore, they do a GREAT job of always including me and keeping me in the loop. High School Volleyball is getting ready to start next week, so this is their last week of "freedom!!" We decided to meet Doug, Nicole, Gabby and Riley at a park out Southwest. Then about 10 minutes before we were to leave, Doug called to say it looked like rain, so we went to their house instead.

We had a YUMMY dinner!! Then the kids took to the toys. Eli loved all of Gabby's toys. His favorite was a Diego bus that sang songs that him and Gabby danced to.

It was HILARIOUS!!!

Doug then pulled out a set of drums and then that added to the fun.

The kids had a good time and the adults did too. It was so nice to have time to just sit, chat and catch up. Thanks Doug and Nicole for a WONDERFUL evening!! We are so lucky to have you guys as friends!!

Zeb's Exciting Friday Night

Many of you already hear about our fun Friday night, but for those that haven't...
In this picture of Zeb you'll notice the nice band-aid on his forehead, leg, and you might even be able to see the one on his hand... all courtesy of the ER. :(

Here's the story: He'd been cranky for a few days and threw up Wed and Friday, but we thought it was just reflux and/or gas. Friday afternoon though he started burning up. Took his temp... 101. So called the dr who had us do a rectal temp (first time for that and it wasn't fun for any of us... had to call Kenny to get the 411 on how to do it) and told us if it was over 100.4 go the ER. It was 100.7... so off we went to the ER.

THANK HEAVENS for my sister-in-laws!! Nico had a DJ gig and I didn't want to have to entertain my hyper 2 year old at the ER, so off Eli went to Aunt Sahsha's. Then Aunt Amanda and Uncle Kenny picked him up and took him to the fair, where he had a GREAT time... just ask him.

At the ER they:

-Started an IV line, just in case, but the never needed it... hence the band aid on his hand

-Did a Chest X-Ray -Drew blood... hence the band aid on his head... the took his blood thru a scalp vein

-Took a urine sample

ALL to not be able to find anything wrong... but at least they didn't find anything horrible. So we went home with Tylenol (which I'm sure when I’m billed for it will be like $75.00) and told to check in with our Dr. on Saturday. He was fine over night and the temp came down.

Saw the dr on Saturday and they gave him an antibiotic... hence the band aid on his leg... actually 2 shots, but one band aid already came off :) They are still running tests on all the blood and urine we'll know more on Monday.

Keep Zeb in your prayers... but he's already feeling better!! :)
We laugh... in the 7 weeks Zeb's been born he's cause us more medical bills and scares than Eli his entire 2 and a half year of life... but each time he gets better, so we are thankful!! :)

Visit with the Davis'

This week, while we were down in Indy to hang out with Andy and Andrea (see previous post for more details) we thought this was a GREAT time to catch up with the Davis Family. Nico went to college with both Brad and Sarah AND their son Luke and Eli were born on the same day... again perfect play partners.

The boys had a good time together...both big boys and little boys :)

Thanks Davis' for coming over and hanging out... next time we'll have to do it in Fort Wayne!!

Our Trip to Indy

Andy and Andrea ALWAYS make the trips (yes, multiple) up here to see us, so we decided we'd take a few days and go see them!! Andy was on shut down and Andrea took a few days off, so we had 3 full days to spend together!! HOW FUN!!! (We hope Andy and Andrea think so and don't regret spending their days off with our CRAZY kids!! :)

On Monday, we went swimming...

On Tuesday, we went to the Children's Museum...

Uncle Andy and Zeb bonded at the Museum!! :)While both of those were fun, probably the most fun was just hanging out with them. Eli got to play cars with Uncle Andy and gymnastics with Aunt Andrea. Zeb got spoiled lots by being held by his doating Aunt and Uncle. Daddy and Mommy got spoiled by not having to cook and having 2 other adults help with the kiddos... it was GREAT for all of us!!

Thanks you 2 for a WONDERFUL mini-vacation. We are SO THANKFUL to have you in our lives!! LOVE YOU!!

Fireworks

Another tradition in the Hendricks' household resurrected itself this year. When we were little and my dad worked full time for Mercy (the old ambulance company that covered all of Fort Wayne), they always had a cook out for the families on the last day of 3 Rivers to watch the fireworks. I remember looking forward to that cookout every year.

Well, fast forward about 25 years and this time my dad AND my brother work for Paramedics Plus (the NEW ambulance company that covers all of Fort Wayne) and they decided to have a cook out for the families to watch the fireworks. Families included adult kids and grandkids, so sign the Tigulis family up!!

We had to wait a bit on the fireworks, so of course PawPaw found something for the boys to do:

Then it was firework time!!

This picture shows one of the only times Eli's mouth was shut... Luckily the people around us didn't care, but Eli talked the ENTIRE firework show... about anything and everything!! :)

Another good time was had by all and a tradition was brought back to life!!

Last Week's Friday Photo

So last Friday, I forgot to send the Friday Photo... yes just send it. I remembered to take it but then got distracted and forgot to send it out. So here's the Friday Photo for last week.


Since I have a whole blog page, here's a few more from that photo session :)

Typical Eli here...

Plus, I had to add a few pictures of Eli outside helping Nico with the landscaping.

I LOVE the outfit he picked out to wear... classic!!