4 Day 3 Night Family Getaway!!!

Together, away, at last!!

YAY!!! We finally were able to be alone as a family and have a mini-vacation! It was so nice to relax and have fun with each other and see Justin for longer than a day or a few hours!! It was a blast, and the girls enjoyed having daddy time!

We went to the coast which is always quite relaxing just listening to and watching the waves crashing down on the shore.

We took over 500 pictures, yes (many of the same thing of course to get a "good one")! So, I'll try to narrow them down for you :) and even spread them out over a few days :)

Our first day:

Justin and Isabella: driving lessons already! Driving through the Wildlife Safari, a very neat place, we went here on our honeymoon almost 8 years ago, so it was fun to bring our girls this time! :-)


Khalia-Ann and I. When she actually spotted an animal, she would get so exited!


Wait for me, I want a ride!


Cool Giraffe.


Justin's favorite, the hippos!




My favorite, the phlaumingos!



Us with our girls.


Going the wrong way for dry land!

Hanging with the monkeys.

These were awaiting our departure for an official "goodbye".

Isabella and her friend Lena

Living an hour away from Isabella's best friend has been a bit hard on them, so whenever they get to see each other they go crazy! It is fun to watch them play together and figure things out.

Here they are with Khalia-Ann, both being her "mommy".

Family in Pictures

Life in the new year.

Our digital camera I think has gone the way of the Dodo...so we are without pictures again. So I will have to describe in words what has been going on in our lives.
Khalia-Ann just turned 5 months and is 15 lbs.!!! She is so physically different then her big sister was. She is so thin compared to Isabella at this age. And she has such light hair that she looks bald. She is also crawling too! Pretty crazy. We really have to keep an eye on her now, just set her down for a minute and she finds something to attract her attention and she is gone.
Isabella will be 5 years old next month. She just got her first loose tooth and is very excited about it. Like any little kid she must play with it and show everyone that she sees. She is very bright and we are looking into some sort of curriculum so she can start some school at home.
Jen is making the house into a home more and more. She finds deals on furniture and such at least every week, so we are slowly populating our house with stuff that makes homes comfortable. She has a busy day with two little ones and taking care of the house!
I took about 5 days off from work to go with the family to California for Christmas but since then I have been back to work full swing. Hours aren't as crazy so that is good! I get to see the family a bit more! I plan on writing again...some missions articles and such so that is getting me excited again.
Well, that is life right now. Kinda consistent for the first time on our marriage!
We are looking for a new camera so when that happens I will post pics again!

Baby Face

She's got the cutest little baby face!!!
We have moved into a house about 5 minutes from my job. We have internet and cell phone coverage. We are planning on being here for at least the next year. What are God's plans...well we'll just have to wait and find out!
Here are some long overdue pictures of the family.

Yes, she is a thumb sucker!!! No matter what position she is in she will find her thumb!

Isabella had her friend over for her first (of many I'm sure) sleep-over!

Baby-girl, fast asleep.

The Phlaum Family.

What is a month among friends?

Well, when I said that I would write back the next day, apparently I meant the next month. Life has been blitzing by so fast that it is hard to find the time to update this blog!
I am sorry, I don't have any pictures of the baby with me. I spent the night at my brothers house somewhat unexpectedly, so while I have access to the internet I didn't bring any pictures with me.
Jennifer is back to almost normal. She has been cleared by the doctors and can get back to "usual" house hold duties. Thank the Lord! She needs to still take it a bit easy, but she is on the mend.
Khalia-Ann is doing great. She was just weighed and measured yesterday so she is 12lbs and 23 inches! A growing little baby. When we put her on her stomach the other day she scrunched her legs up under her and flipped herself over on to her back...and promptly scared herself half to death. It was so cute, but we had to pick her up, she was so frightened!
Isabella is a wonderful big sister. She loves her baby sister and loves taking care of her. We are so thankful that there is no jealousy issues as of yet!
I am still working as manager of my little restaurant. It is a fun yet challenging job. I am always praying for wisdom when I head into work. I could be one of the only Christian lights that these people see and I don't want that light to be dimmed in anyway by bad decisions on my side.
We are still house hunting. It had to get slowed a little with Jen on bed rest and all, but we have looked at a few and Lord willing will move into one the first of November. It will be nice to be able to be home 5-10 minutes after I get off work, an not an hour later!
So that is what is going on here...
Thank you for all your prayers.

Going to the doctor

Not a whole lot new going on in our life. I am still working, Jen is still on bed rest and the two little ones are growing up!
We are going to the doctors today so Jen can see if there has been any progress with all the rest she has been having. We will be heading there in about 15 minutes, so if there is anything big to report, (either good or bad) I will get back on here tonight or tomorrow morning. Thank you for your prayers!

Why, hello there...

Only about a month later do I finally get to a computer with Internet and free time on my hands. We are back in S. Oregon so the only time I can check e-mail or update this thing is when I am at work...off the clock of course.
Life is moving right along.
Khalia-Ann is now 5 weeks old, pretty crazy.
Isabella still loves her to death. I was wondering if the "baby thing" would get old after a while, but that is not the case. She hugs and kisses her all the time, to the point that we have to let her know that she should take a break!
Jennifer is still on bed-rest with her prolapsed uterus and in one more week she is supposed to be able to start exercising a bit in order to get things back into shape. It will be a long slow road for her so please keep her in your prayers. She is home with a newborn and a 4yr old and she is on bed-rest...not a fun time for her.
I have been getting back into the groove of the restaurant. Alot of mental work as well as physical. I pray for wisdom all the time! Trying to balance 20 different personalities into a smooth working environment!
We are looking for a house closer to town right now. We have been house-sitting for Jen's parents, but it is an hour away from work, and they are now talking about charging us rent... so if we are going to pay rent we are going to move closer to work so we don't have to pay that as well as gas!
So life as most people know it. Very different from what our life has been for the past 7 years, and a bit of an adjustment for us, but God is in control!
I will try to get pictures as soon as I can on here.

Have to either laugh or cry...

Jen and I got all packed up ready to leave Thursday morning. Jen was feeding the baby for the last time and we were going to hop in the car and head to Portland. I was checking the "vitals" of the truck before we left... Such things like oil and water and all that good stuff. I noticed that the water in the radiator was down so I filled up a gallon jug, and it ALL went into the radiator.
Not a good sign.
I looked under the truck and saw my gallon of water pouring out onto the ground.
An even worse sign.
It ended up being the water pump and the shop couldn't get it in until the next morning.
Friday 11 AM and the shop calls and says that the water pump is fixed, but the radiator is leaking as well.
It takes to 6 PM to figure out what to do, and we then leave Baker City knowing that we need to keep an eye on the temperature gauge and the water level.
We make it an 1 1/2 hours and the right side tire of our trailer blows. It takes me an hour to get it replaced with our spare. I drive a mile down the road to a gas station to check the air in the tire only to find out that it has blown already too!
It is now 9 PM and we can go no farther!
We spent the night in a hotel and first thing this morning I went to a tire shop for two new tires. We left Pendleton at noon today and made it to Portland without any more mishaps.
Thankfully.
We are heading down to S Oregon tomorrow so we are praying for nothing else to happen!
On the positive side everything that happened, happened at a place where we were still home or within a very close distance of a town. So while it seemed like a pain, it was a pain in the best possible place!
That is something to be thankful for!

Life happens while you are busy planning.

After Khalia-Ann was born Jen, Isabella and I all got the stomach flu! It was pretty crazy. I was trying to take care of the house, the ladies and get packed for our move...Again pretty crazy. I was talking to my mom on the phone and with-in a day her, my dad and my lil' bro came up to help. It was such a relief to see them! We packed a lot today with more planned for tomorrow and Jen and I are planning on being in S. Oregon Saturday. It will be a bitter sweet time. Nice because we will get back to a somewhat "normal" life again, but also our time here with friends will be ending.

My dad...

...and my mom's first time seeing Khalia-Ann.

If life is what happens to you while you are busy planning, then your quality of life is dependent on how you respond to the life that you are given.
Jen and I have planned so much in our life, and it is amazing how often our well thought-out and prayed over plans go awry!! Khalia-Ann's due date was July 11th and we were going to be back in S. Oregon by then end of the month, only to have her at the end of the month! We were going to find a house closer to where I work so I could spend more time with the family and start writing classes in September. But it looks like those plans are going to change as well.
Jen was feeling so good after the birth that on Tuesday she decided to do some house work. She overdid it and ended up with a prolapsed cervix. We are told that she needs to be on bed rest for several weeks. So the idea of getting home, me starting work, Jen on bed-rest and us trying to find a house and me get signed up for classes in less then two months...seems a bit much.
I'm sure that God has it all figured out, we'll just have to see what His plan is.