Merry Christmas

Well today was a weird day for the past couple of years we have always had snow on Christmas, but this year, not actually it rained and was quite nice. On Christmas Eve we were at my parents house in Indiana for the annual Bethleham Dinner. We wanted to be home for Christmas morning so we left around 6:30 and got home around 9. Our kids took a power nap in the car so they were ready to go, go, go only for us to say go to bed.. They got some energy out and William and I wrapped wrapped and wrapped. Needless to say we all enjoyed our presents from Santa. Now tomorrow we will be picking up the train reck that happened in our house. ( not the toy one) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Friggin Holidays

Well I think that I broke my brain. I always wondered what my intellectual limit was and I guess that I found it. Sadly it isn't that impressive. I try over and over again, but I can't seem to form a new thought. I only have the same old crap rolling around up there. Not to mention my dreams have been crazy lately which is fun because I like my dreams on the abstract side. Here is a brief update on the Hokansons of Ohio.

We have begun the holiday season. Time for programs, candy, traveling, candy, parties, candy, family, candy and possibly some desserts. This past Thursday we had both Londyn and Jonah's Christmas programs. We were lucky enough that they weren't at the same time, but there was a rush from one event to the other. Londyn's was a preschool program at the Oxford Presbyterian church. They sang a bunch of songs that focused on Christ and one or two on Santa and teeth. The leader kept telling the kids "Sing louder then Londyn". Londyn has a set of pipes on her. Then off to Jonah's school program. They sang about Hanukkah, Quansa, Ramadan and many other seasonal celebrations and they also sang about Santa. We have a really diverse school here. Both programs were good. Michie's parent even came up for the evening and joined in the festivities.

We have our tree up. We had to break tradition and go to a lot instead of cutting one down in the forest. We found a beauty for 35 bucks. Our tree stand wasn't large enough for the 10 ft beauty so I forced it on. I was a little worried because there was a little wobble in the tree but I thought we probably won't have an earthquake here in Ohio so I can let it slip by. Needless to say Jonah was in the tree doing something and it fell over. Yah he was in the tree. We ran to the store purchased a bigger tree stand and resurected the tree. Jonah thought for sure he was kicked out of the family, but Michie and I just thought it was funny.

I have had fun getting presents for the kids and wife. I have found some older toys that I really liked as a kid and have gotten them for Jonah and Brick. I have them in the back seat of the van and Jonah keeps peeking at them but has no idea what they are. I hope the boys like what I got them because I know that I will. My brain is starting to hurt again. I think I blew a seal or something.

Utah utah utah!

On November 11 William, Henry ,and I flew to Utah so that William could defend his thesis for his masters degree. I was beyond excited this was my first time away from all the kids for more than a night in about 7 yrs... It was way past due. The flight went great. Henry did good. We got into SLC around 8 at night and headed to Orem where we stayed with my friend Driel. We met up with Pearl at our old house and then headed to Driels. Word cannot describe how excited I was to see her again. It has been a hard adjustment for me in Ohio so it was nice to see a good friend. Thurs was spent loathing around in jammies till about 3. It was so relaxing. We cooked, laughed, and it was like I was living in Utah again.. Boo Hoo I am not... Friday was the big day for William. Pearl and I went to his defense even though we had no idea what he was talking about. He did a good job and past with qualifications which means he just needs to do corrections. I am so proud of him and what he has accomplished over the past nine years. Yeah it has been bumpy but he has made it this far. After the defense Pearl and I met up with some of my friends for lunch in provo. Friday night we went out and celebrated! Williams parents were supposed to come up saturday, but because of weather and health problems they were not able to come so we decided we should go down there so we packed up sooner then we were supposed to and headed to Rexburg.. It was bittersweet. We went and saw my grandma, got one last Red Mango and headed down. We were able to get together with his parents and 3 of his sisters. It was a good. time . We headed back to SLC sunday and stayed at a hotel Sunday night. Monday we met up with Williams niece and her husband. Then headed to the airport to go home. I really didn't want to leave I needed about another week or two to debrief before being thrown back into life. We arrived home early tuesday morning, kissed the kids and went to bed for a few hours. Woke up said goodbye to my parents who made it possible for me to go to. Thanks for watching our kids. I think they were a little too excited to leave that morning. Why?? Anyone when it is all said and done we had a great time, enjoyed seeing family and friends, but we knew Ohio is where we are to be right now... Boo hOO I also forgot one of the highlights of my trip I got to go running with Driel for old times sake. It was snowing, but memorable!

Lifes hard lessons

Well lets just say after running my first half marathon I am not exactly eager to get back on the horse again.. Lets recap one day I was running and I remember someone saying it is good when you run long distances to run each mile for someone, so that got me thinking I was definately doing a couple of those miles for my mom who has MS. That was a given then my brain started thinking why don't you push you mom in a half marathon.... One thing led to another, I asked Austin my brother if he wanted to push half and I would do half. He said yes. I found an organization that loans out adult strollers for this purpose. Everthing was set. I got sick, not just sick but really sick. A week before the half I took Henry to the doctor to get checked for ear aches then the doctor listened to me and said that I was weezing. I didn't realize that. He gave me a steroid shot, a penicillin shot, and an inhaler. I was adament that I would be able to pull off the half let alone push my mom 6 miles. I prayed hard. By the time the race came around I was feeling better, my cough was gone, but my strength wasn't up to par. Plus I was really sleep deprived. The night before the race I have never experienced so much anxiety as I did that night. My chest was tight, I was almost panicking but I survived. The next morning was blah, I started to get excited telling myself you can do this you have been training for this. Don't give up. Austin, my mom, and I preceded to the very back so we could do the passing of people. The first 8 miles went by so fast. We alternated pushing her, but I finally gave out and was only able to push her about 3 miles. Austin pushed her about 8 miles and some random guy did 2. It was hard I wanted to give up. It was probably one of the hardest things i have ever done phsically next to child birth. But with child birth you at least have an epidural to dull the pain. I will be forever gratful to my wonderful brother who only planned on running a little bit covered my SLACK and helped me finish the race. I need to start running more again. I need to remember how free i feel when I am running, I need to get over the fact that ideally it was hard but worth it to see the happiness on my moms face as she did her first half marathon and finished...!!! we love you mom! Thanks for all you do...

Happy Birthday Londyn!

Well I keep telling myself I need to blog more so I am going to try and do better next week. On November 6 we celebrated Londyn's Birthday she turned 5 years old. I can't believe she is that old it just seems unreal. We started the day out with pancakes, presents, headed to Indianapolis where I was going to run a half the next day. We went to Red Lobster for lunch she loves crab legs.. checked into our hotel, went swimming, met up with Oma, Opa, August, Heather, and Lincoln at the Old Spagetti factory in down town Indy. At the beginning of the week I ordered Londyn some cinderalla high heels that look like glass slippers. She didn't know I got them so I asked the waiter to bring them out on a tray and say that a prince dropped them off for her. She was excited.. They are still a little big, but what little girl doesnn't like to try on their moms high heels and since there aren't many in my closet at least she has some of her own. I threw Londyn a suprise party at the local pottery place because I didn't want to deal with a bunch of kids running around for hours, so they came, suprised her, painted,ate pizza, and went home. Best party little crammed but worth the money and my sanity..These past years we have seen Londyns personality blossom. She is funny, cute, sensitive,strong willed, sassy, manipulative, great big sister, great imagination, hard to keep up with. Who loves Londyn? MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

2 more days

Well it has been awhile and I really don't know why but I guess you could say I am living day by day and telling myself make it till wed or thurs then you can relax. they the stress starts back up again and I say to myself make it to this day. I guess that is how life is. I have 2 days till my half and I feel excited but I think I am a little anxious too. I haven't been able to run as much as I have wanted the last couple of weeks because I have still been sick. I finally went in again and I was given a shot of steroids, a shot of penicillian and an inhaler for my weezing. great huh I have to say all the priesthood blessing I was given over the course of this illness told me that I would be able to basically accomplish the tasks at hand so that has given me peace of mind. I know i didn't end my training for the half as strong as I wanted to but I had to do what was best and listen to my body. So ready or not here I come... Enjoy some pictures taken recent pictures...

Country Running or Running from the country

Well the countdown is getting closer to my half marathon which means my miles are getting bigger. This morning was a 10 mile run and to cover that much terriotory I either have to do a couple circles around the town or go and run in the country. Country running has many benefits the one I was excited about was flat pavement! Since being sick I haven't had very much energy so I was excited for that. But if you are to run in the country you need to remember a few things...

1. Speed limits don't apply

2. you are at the mercy of the oncoming cars if they want to be nice and move over to the other lane. or you could always go in the ditch.. Luckily I had really nice people today.

3. People in the country don't have invisible fences for their animals( I only ran into one dog today and he was nice) I did see a sign that said Attack Cow but all I saw behind the fence were sheep.

4. Enjoy the scenery!! It was beautiful out today with all the changing colors it was nice...

On one part of my run I was singing this is the road that never ends eventually it ended but it was loooong

As I was running I was thinking I like being a runner. Sometimes it is horrible and miserable, But today I realized I was actually enjoying my run. ( it was done without my ipod) It might be because this is one of the only times I am not holding, changing a diaper, getting someone something, breaking up fights or my endless chores. I was just Michie not mom, or wife but Just Michie and it was nice... I have to say maybe I will sign up for a marathon. That means longer runs, more time away. Hey even for a tired, burnout Mom running for hours doesn't seem so bad to be just Me....

Hello Hello!

Well it has been a while. Starting school, preschool, and everyday mayham! But I am finally able to update everyone on life in ohio.
Jonah started 2nd grade at Kramer Elementary where is making friends quickly and enjoying a new school. He enjoys riding the bus and I enjoy having him ride the bus. The bus picks him up just outside our front door so that is nice. He has a longer day here than in Utah he starts at 9 and goes to 3:45. He is adjusting well. After being put on many waiting lists I decided that I would enroll Londyn in a local church preschool. It was way our of our price range, but since we have so many kids we were able to get a scholarship for half of the tuition. Which is really nice because she goes 4 days a week for 3 hours and the class is small and the teacher lives for those kids. I got to co op in there today and that was a lot of fun. She is enjoying it a lot. Brick is talking more and more in complete sentences and he seems to think everything is his so it cause some fights with a girl named Londyn. He is also getting fair and square with Londyn for all the times she beat him up. He chases her and she runs to me for help. It is actually kind of cute. Still getting up the nerve to take away the pacie soon... Henry is henry smiling lots, still not sleeping through the night, but still as cute as ever. He gets excited when he knows you are going to pick him up. He is getting close to crawling. Then we will have to deal with the stairs... William has officially started school for a PhD but unofficially he has his masters. He is hoping to be done with everything by 2 nd week in November so he can graduate in December. He is now experiencing being a TA and I think he enjoys it. The first of Sept. we celebrated 9 years of marriage. We really didn't do much.. As for me I signed up for my first half marathon November 7 in Indianapolis. I am excited and scared. I miss my flat runs because it is hilly in Ohio and so it makes running more of a challenge. And many times I come home and wonder why am I doing this?? Other than that we are content in ohio and slowly unpacking our boxes...

6434 Contreras

We are in our new home. I don't know how it happened exactly but we have been blessed with a big beautiful home to live in for the next three years. Here are a few pictures of the house. Keep in mind that we are still unpacking. The kids don't know what to do with all the space. I could go on and on about how great our new home is, but who wants to hear that. Cheers from Ohio.

crazy life

Well all I can say about these last couple of weeks are crazy! We finished packing up our belongings and picked up our truck on june 22. That night the Elders quorum and some of my friends came over and we loaded up the truck and finished up some loose ends and say bye bye house around 10:00 p.m a lot earlier than we expected which was nice. We stayed at my friends house and we wanted to leave around 3 in the morning but that did not happen we left around 9 which was nice. We got to laramie around 4 and met up with some friends and immediately Brick threw up. we thought maybe it was car sickness but it proved otherwise. We stayed in laramie and we were once again going to leave early in the morning but something on our car broke and needed fixing so we set off to find someone. everyone told William it would take a day or so, I kept telling william call this guy. His ad says Honest and fair price. needless to say the guy was a member of the church and he was able to get the part and fix it right away. We got on our way around noon, Brick was still feeling pretty weak. I really don't remember too much about our trip it just felt like it went on and on and on. Some highlights were
1. Going under the same bridge 3 times ( williams fault)
2. second night Jonah, Londyn, and myself now have the pukes
3. Finally finding Phineas and Ferb DVD after looking everywhere
4. making it to parents around 1:00 sunday morning( not part of our plan)
5. William threw up once...
6. Going to Oxford ohio and getting lost 3 times!
7. Attended a meeting for section 8 housing and basically was told good luck finding a place in your price range. 759.00.
8. Finding a nice home but lady wanted 14,000 a semester( Little bit out of our range)
9. Finding another nice place but it was 50 feet out of ohio which was a no go for section 8
ba10. Finding an amazing place with 5 bedrooms, huge backyard, sunroom, basement, back deck , wood floors etc. Amazing even more amazing the lady is willing to rent it to us for 759.00 a month for 3 yeard which is how long she will be in the middle east
10. spending 5 nights at Austins and Erins Thanks guys they helped us stay sane through this crazy move
11. finding out the house passed inspection and we sign the lease on Monday
12. Knowing that in about a week we will finally not be homeless anymore!!!! Yeah I am sure I missed a ton but most importantly we have been blessed by this experience in many ways.. We were supposed to come to Oxford so I knew without a doubt that the Lord would provide and sure enough he has... we are soooooo grateful for many of the tender mercies we have recieved during this journey! Thanks to all who have prayed and helped us along the way! We love you all

pecan pie cheesecake

So every year for Williams Birthday i make pecan pie cheesecake. So I started on it tonight for his birthday tomorrow. Everthing was going great i enjoy the cheesecake too so I was looking forward to it because I am going to deprive myself of the sweet stuff once again. Anyway I was getting ready to put it in the oven and it dumped out everywhere up and down my stove, my floor, my foot and all I managed to say was OH MAN!!!! go ahead and laugh i did I guess we will settle for betty crocker this year since it was hard enough finding a stinking pecan pie in orem. good night

Out of the mouth of Londyn

The other day we were in the car and the kids were playing the the quiet game and for some reason has always thought that you have pauses in the game. She and Jonah were arguing about it jonah saying that you can't pause the quiet game so Londyn then said fine we have commericals then.. we had a great laugh. Last night she had a bad dream and she came and told me she is never going to shut her eyes again needless to say within 5 minutes her's were shut.. It has been a crazy couple of weeks filled with lots of fun from traveling to Washington to having ShaRee and her kids here helping me pack up a lot of our stuff. ShaRee and I had memories that will last a lifetime like late night dumpster diving, glitter toes, more packing, we all enjoyed watching a movie on a balcony at a movie theatre. I finally beat Flamin Finger at Chuckie Cheese with Jens and ShaRee to cheer me on. Overall we have had a busy fun filled adventure that will keep going till we are finally setteled in Ohio.. So if you don't hear from us we will be back!

I'm back

The pictures are as follows (top-bottom)

First two famly trip to Zions Canyon

Snow Canyon sand dunes

Brick in the mud hole

Dain, Bella, Jonah, Londyn, Brick extend stop in Rupert on the way home from Washington

Jonah's first time paintballing (Ask him where he got hit)

The big dipper at the Father and Sons

So I haven't written on our blog (Michie's blog)for some time. I have done this as a courtesy to you. Many know that I am currently finishing my thesis and am preparing to defend soon. Originally I was to defend tomorrow (June 29th) but one of my committee members is out of the country. Now it will be some time later, but before too long. Why may you ask does my lack of writing help you at this time? I am glad you asked. I am studying geology and when I explain to people about what I am doing there eyes glaze over and they begin to fall into a coma. So since I have had a serious case of rocks on the brain and knowing that this would overflow into my blogging I ceased for a short time. Enough with the boring because as of late my life has been nothing but boring. We have traveled afar and experienced many new and exciting experiences. Currently Michie's sister ShaRee is up helping us pack since we are moving July23-24 to Ohio. I have had the chance to see what being a father of eight would be like. It is much louder. I have been lucky because it seems that the kids are better behaved when there are others to observe. I also went on the Father and Sons camp out with Jens, Dain, Jonah, and Brick. I have been looking forward to this for some time and with the recent delay in my thesis defense felt no guilt in attending. We loaded up and followed the vague directions up the mountain. We noticed that what was suppose to be brown was still green. We found the campsite and were welcomed by rain. This washed our spirits and we then waited until about 8:30 for dinner. Jonah showed me a caterpillar he had caught and pointed out that it was bleeding. I corrected him and told him it wasn't blood but the caterpillar was pooping on his hand. He must have liked this because he caught several dozen the rest of the night. We went to bed and listened to the wails of the younger boys and woke up the next morning to see voids were sleepless father threw in the towel. I must note that this was my four father and son as a father and to date we are two for four on staying the whole night. Earlier this month we drove up to Washington for my family reunion. We first stayed at ShaRee's house which was a blast. The kids played in the mud hole in the back yard. This is something I think all yards should have. I had one as a kid and had more fun with it than a swimming pool. In fact it is like a swimming pool that changes shape. We then went to my brother Mike's house for a three day reunion extravaganza. I love to do nothing with somethings thrown in and this reunion was just that. My physical endurance was tested as I jockeyed for the perfect seat in the Main lounging room. The conversations were stimulating in a good way and there were only three families that broke down on the way home. The hot tube had a greener ting then last year. It was absolutely enjoyable. I can still smell the smells. Hope all is well with all and hopefully we survive the upcoming events.

A much needed vacation!

As i write this post my kids are up to no good. They have been sent to their room for the night and I hear crashing which I am sure are toys falling from the closet because there is no crying afterwards. I am trying to remind myself to breathe in and out. Tomorrow will be better.. Last week we took a much needed vacation to St. George we rented a nice condo that had two pools and two hot tubs. It was a really dead time in that area so we had the pools pretty much to ourselves. On the first day there we met up with Julia and her family. She and Jonah were in K and first grade together. We went to In and Out and then we went swimming at our condo. The kids had a ball. day two we went to zions and we just got there and I rolled my ankle and popped a blood vessel on the top of my foot so we took it slow that day. But the sights were beautiful and the kids loved looking for animals. We saw turkeys, lizards, squirrels, and two fuzzy caterpillars. We then went to Springdale to have lunch at a little diner named Blondies which was next to a elk farm, which incidently served elk burgers.. ( Brick thought the Elk were camels) Henry got pooped on by a bird while walking to the car. We learned that Henry tends to hold his breath like Brick when he gets hurt. ( Brick chucked a toy at him and hit him in the head poor kid didn't even see it coming) That Brick and his throwing arm. We went back to the condo and swam. It was nice not having the stress of day to day activites that I encounter. Henry became a thumb sucker which is really cute. On friday we were able to meet up with my aunt and uncle and have lunch at their house. We had some awesome sandwiches from a place called Capriottis which was sooooo good. Saturday we went to Snow canyon. It was pretty the kids had fun on the sand dunes. I am at a loss of words it must be the all night feeding I have been giving henry!! He is w whopping 18 lbs! Pictures to follow

Baby Henry

Well it has been a long time since we have posted anything on our blog, so here is a breakdown of our lives. School is drawing to a close for Jonah and I am looking forward to not getting up and hauling kids to drop him off. Londyn is doing great the other day we were talking about not taking the Lords name in vain and Londyn said that instead we should say OH my CRap!. We thought that was pretty good. She is our little talker she is like the energizer bunny she keeps talking and talking which isn't always that bad. Brick is our ball player today I bargained with him to give up his paci for a basquetball hoop . So as we were leaving walmart he went over and threw his paci away. He only asked a few times today and I told him that the garbage man took it away. Hopefully this goes well. Henry is a chunk! William and I have to keep reminding ourselves that he is only 2 months old since he is the size our kids usually are when they are about 5 months old give or take! I love it all his fat rolls.! We had a great time this past weekend Sweet henry was blessed and it was really nice. Williams parents, my parents,my sister, Pearl, and our niece and her husband were there. It was a great weekend and I was sad it had to end. Other than that life is going to be busy the next couple of weeks, so if you don't hear anything now news is good news right!

Another day in the life of Michie

Well it has been a while since I have been able to blog or at least collect my thoughts long enough to write something down! It has been a fast couple of weeks with fun moments. These past weeks I caught Brick brushing Henry's teeth or lips with toothpaste. starting him out young. I often have nights where I don't even remember getting henry out of bed to feed him but some how when I finally come to he is laying next to me. Thank goodness for sleep walking I assume is the culprit! I have managed to get a nap in almost every day and someh0w I am functioning. Probably because of prayers being said. On friday we were able to go to Jonahs school and listen to something called Poets Parlor where the kids recite poems they have learned well when it was Jonah's turn he went up and instead of facing everyone he faced the wall and recited his poem. For those of you who know Jonah know he is easily embarrassed and very shy. It was really cute. I relish in these moments when he was done to make matters I cheered for him which made him more embarrassed. I am going to love the teenage years with him we will know when he has a crush on someone and especially when he is lying! Londyn is enjoying preschool and is almost done with her dance recital. She is learning a lot every day and loves laying by Henry at night in her bed! She has stopped screaming thanks to a lovely cold shower that convinced her that screaming wasn't worth the trouble anymore. Brick what can I say he is suprising us everyday. Right now he carries around a chucky cheese cup with 4 tokens in it. He goes to bed with it and wakes up with it and i think his hand permanelty might smell like coins. Henry is a good baby what can I say! We are hoping for sleeping through the night soon. Either by choice or a little convincing from his parents! William is plugging along on his thesis and doing well. I am still running I did my first 5 k on saturday it was 34 degrees and there were flurries. Burr! I finished and thats what matters! I look forward to running season and preparing for a half!

Life has just been grand. I have wanted to share some more of my wonderful insight with the world but have been busy lately. Michie might not agree with me, but I really have. I have this rare talent of appearing lazy no matter how hard I am working. This is sometimes quite annoying because it seems that everyone thinks they need to motivate me and help me on my way. This isn't so bad most of the time, but when I am busy working through some problem or another it can be a real hindrance. We are getting are ducks in line for our big move to Ohio. The kids are real excited. Jonah wanted a picture of the Columbus Ohio temple for his wall (With some prompting from his Oma). I have been to Oxford both in the summer and winter so we know somewhat what to expect weather wise. It is going to take a lot of work to get my thesis written and defended before our move this August. I have started the writing, but is incredible how hard it is to write about something you know inside and out. The ultimate goal is to have a product that can be publish in a significant scientific journal. That gets my name out there and if my ideas and work are accepted then some credibility. Which is what I want because eventually when we are done with school I would like to do research and possible teach. On a lighter note I have a new joke. This yankee marries a southern belle. She sends him to the store for some necessities. When he gets back she is going through the bags and holds up some preperation h and says hunny I said ICE CREAM (needs be said with a southern accent). It is with some hesitation that Michie allows me to post this joke so I take full blame for any offense. I served my mission in Louisiana so I can relate. Here is the latest family picture minus myself. It was taken today in a friends yard. A huge windstorm blew through this morning and this pine tree was blown over. It managed to do absoultly no damage. In fact they wanted to get rid of the tree. The roots were even pulled from the ground.

My goals!

As i was contemplating my mom leaving this next week I was thinking of my goals of what I want to accomplish this next week. They are as follows

1. Go grocery shopping

2. Cook dinner every night this next week and in return I will celebrate by going out to dinner on Saturday

3. Shower before 8

4. Get kids out of their jammies before it is time to get back in jammies

5. Have a run 3 times next week

6. clean my bathroom it is scary!!! especially the shower! Yikes

7. Try and stay sane

Now here are some things I am going to miss
1. My nap

2. My mom relieving me at 6 every morning so I can get some hard zzz without a baby next to me( thanks mom and dad) My dad came out at 5 to relieve me!

3. Having a in house sitter so William and I could take the kids to the park and help them feel

loved.

It has been great having help from my parents the last month. It is hard getting used to having a new baby and trying to juggle to keep everyone else on their regular schedule!

Here are a few pictures me 39 wks( my last run) 3 weeks after having henry( my first run)some random ones of the kids!