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!!

Cousins

Just have a quick post with 2 GREAT pictures!!

This is a typical picture of Keenan and Eli.

I am SO THANKFUL for the WONDERFUL relationship these 2 have. Keenan is AWESOME with Eli... He puts up with Eli saying his name 47 times in a row... how many other 5 year olds can do that. He often lets Eli beat up on him, go first in line, and give up the toy he's playing with so Eli can play with it... how many other 5 year olds do that either?

I look forward to watching these 2 get older AND throw Zeb in the mix... WOW, what fun!! Carroll High School is going to be lucky to get these cousins!! :)

Visit with our Upland Friends

It was a busy Wednesday for us!! After we came home from 3 Rivers and took a nap, we were off again... to Upland. Once a year, we head to the Slater's house for some play time for the kids and catching up for the parents. And of course... Ivanhoes!!
Aeyden and Eli are about a year and a 1/2 apart. Braelyn and Zeb are about 4 months apart...needless to say, perfect ages for them to play together (Not that Zeb and Braelyn did a lot of playing, mostly just laying by each other :)

While we are there, we always have to take a few of the same pictures each year...
Here are the boys:
Don't ask me what's up with Nico and the pirate hat.


The moms and kids:

I love how Braelyn is just staring a Zeb in this picture... cracks me up!!

We laughed about the past... the first time I met Abe and Gwyn...on their wedding day... the same day I met all the "Ball State Friends."

We laughed about the future...Nico and Abe honestly believing Eli and Aeyden will both go to Ball State and live in houses close to each other. AND that the dad's will come visit often to show them how to have a good time!! :)


Every time we drive home Nico and I always say, "Why do we only do this once a year?" So Slater family, our goal this year is to do again... before next July!! :)

Love you guys!!

3 Rivers Festival

I know I've shared it before, but when Kenny and I were little, we always went downtown for lunch with my Dad during the 3 Rivers Festival. Even though we now have kids, it's still a tradition. So we met Kenny and his crew and my dad down there for food and fun. We went down a bit early, so we had some time to visit the Old Fort. Nico and I swapped stories of being little and spending the night in the Fort while Eli explored.

Nico also took some GREAT pictures of Eli climbing a tree. Here's two:

Zeb pretty much slept the whole time, but Nico felt bad that Zeb couldn't be in any of the pics, so he took a few of him in the stroller.

Then we headed to the rides. Grandma had given each of the kids money to go on the rides. (No way mom and dad were paying that much for those rides...leave it to Grandma)

They had a blast... once the generators kicked on and the rides started working :(

Food time was next. While I'm sure we all spent a fortune on lunch, it was worth it. Fried foods galore!! We all left with grease filled tummies...and loved being together just as much!!

Catching Up

So while I was on a blog sabbatical, we had TONS of events happen in our lives!! But I did want to share 2 of the major ones... One couldn't have happened without the other!! :)

EVENT #1:

Nico and Abby's 5 Year Anniversary

On July 3rd, Nico and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. Thought you might enjoy a quick look back at us...

Look at how young we look!! (This is when I first met Nico's mom and dad and extended family... which was like at date 3. Don't worry, met the brothers on date 1. :) :)

Who's that HOT couple...When we ask Eli who's in this picture he always says "Mommy" but then the other person changes, sometimes it's "Uncle Andy" and sometimes "Uncle Jason" He doesn't remember what Nico looks like with hair :)

We had a WONDERFUL anniversary at home... the FOUR of us. (see event #2. Also see event #2 for why we are looking a little warn-out :)We ordered in food and then watched our wedding video (that was the first time I had ever seen it) It was GREAT to watch it with Eli because he picked out all the people he knew. Only problem was he couldn't figure out where HE was. He finally decided he was sitting with everyone else in the pews. It was too cute!!

I know I said this would be quick, but I do have to give my husband some love... As I told him on our anniversary (I probably should tell him more than just on our anniversary :) I am a BLESSED woman to have him as my husband. He's the one who balances me out, calms me down, picks me up, and levels me out. Not only does he do all of that for me, he's a PHENOMENAL dad. He loves our 2 boys like no other. He's fiercely protective, over the top silly, and super loving to them and me. Plus... isn't he a hottie!! Boy oh boy did God know what He was doing when He put us together. THANK YOU LORD!! :)

EVENT #2

Birth of Zeb Joseph

See what I mean about event #1 had to happen so event #2 could? :)

Like Eli (when he was a baby :), Zeb did a great job of listening to directions. My instructions for him were NOT to come until after school got out. (sound familiar, same thing with Eli... boy do I know how to plan my babies :) Well, 2 days after school ended, we went to the hospital and a day later... WELCOME ZEB!!

He's a GREAT baby... he eats and sleeps well and at this age, that's about it!!

Eli loves him like no other. He constantly wants to kiss and hug him.

We are so blessed to have both boys in our lives. We look forward to seeing them continue to grow and to watch their own relationship grow. THANK YOU LORD!!