The Haumpson Family Reunion

Every year we go on what we now refer to as the Haumpson Family Reunion. The Haub Family and the Thompson Family go to California and have a whole bunch of fun. This year was a little bit more interesting...since we had these two cute things to worry about. This is how the trip went. First, I packed up a whole bunch of milk and took the babies up to Granny Smith's house. Thanks again mom for watching them. Next, I picked up Darren, Kelli, and their 1 year old Damon and we were on our way.

The following story involves breast milk. If that makes you uncomfortable, please skip. On our way back through Cedar City, I decided to pump since we were waiting for Curtis anyways. I really wasn't used to the idea of throwing away liquid gold yet. 10 oz later we were on the road. We stopped at a super scary burger place in Vegas and then went on to Primm where we stayed at Buffalo Bills for $16. Yay! As we were unpacking our things, I realized that I had left my pump attachments at home. Out of habit, I kept them out to dry. It didn't take me long to wonder if the 10 oz. I got were worth it. I decided it would just have to wait until the morning.

I got up really early because I couldn't sleep, but since Damon wasn't tired...no one else was asleep either. We just got on the road. We went to or called 3 Wal-Marts and 2 Targets. None of them sold the attachments separately from the pump. It was on to Babies-R-Us. By this point, I am really worried that I might explode and Babies-R-Us doesn't open for another hour though, so we decided to buy the full pump and sell it later (anyone need a breast pump?)

I ended up pumping for the next hour and got 26 oz. By the end of the trip I threw out 190 oz. Pretty crazy.

After pump accessories, our first stop was 6 Flags! I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS! For the first half of the day we didn't have to wait in lines at all. We were worried about having Damon with us, but he was a champ. He took his naps in his stroller and was pretty happy all day long.

Day 2 was LA. We did some shopping, walked down to the pier, ate yummy food, and just had fun. Everyone told me I was going to miss my babies way too much to enjoy myself. I feel a little bit guilty, but I didn't. I love my babies and I was so excited to kiss their little faces, but I really did enjoy sleeping at night, being able to eat at meal times instead of feeding, and only having to buckle one seat belt when getting in and out of the car.

Day 3 was Saturday. In my half-marathon training schedule I was supposed to run 9 miles so I took off with my GPS watch and found out that we were only 2.5 miles away from the beach. I got to run 4 miles along the beach. It was wonderful. Running at sea level is awesome too. I felt like I could have gone another 10 miles after I got back to the hotel. After I got back, the plan was to spend the day on the beach. The first thing I did when we got there was take a nap (it was great), then we met up with one of Kelli's friends from high school. It was really cold so we didn't really get in the water, but had the beach experience none the less.

Day 4 we went to church and then went to take family pictures on the beach. We got some REALLY good ones of the Haub family. We sortof wished we had brought our babies for that hour. Oh well, guess we'll have to take some mountain pictures with them. This was really the last thing we wanted to do before leaving town. The car was all packed up and ready to go. On our way back we had a small accident though. I tried to avoid a trench that some kids must have dug in the sand, but the sand gave way. I stepped out to catch my balance and jammed my foot into Kelli's leg. It hurt and when I looked down my toe was no longer pointing forward. My response: "I broke my toe." I really would have just come home, but my toe was pointing the wrong direction. Darren volunteered to put it back where it was supposed to be. He pulled really hard and we both felt a pop, but it was still pointing in the wrong direction. So we went to instacare, they took x-rays, it was broken, the doctor put it back, and we were on our way yet again. We made it back to Primm in pretty good time, ate breakfast for dinner, and then went to bed. It had been a long day. The most upsetting part...now I have a broken toe and don't know if I should run the half in 3 weeks. Grrrr!

From Primm it was back home. I went back to Grandma Jojo's and Grandpa Genie Bugs to get the little ones this time. Thanks for everyone who helped out so that we could go enjoy ourselves, eat too much food, and spend too much money. Thanks Kelli and Darren for planning such a fun trip and letting us come with you.

Quotes:

Andi: "Oh crap! Will you steer"

Curtis: "JACK IN THE BOX!"

Kelli: "We could call you BK for broken foot."

Curtis: "They're just going to have to wait...while...I...do...this."

Curtis: "There's so much crime in LA, they don't care about me. Really, they don't."

Andi: "Look, a plane is taking off and a helicopter is taking down"

Date Ball Recipe

1 C cut up dates
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 C nuts
1 t vanilla
2 C rice krispies
flaked coconut or powdered sugar

Mix together dates, sugar, butter, and egg on the stove over med-high heat. Cook 5 minutes after it starts to boil. Remove from heat. Let cool 1-2 minutes. Add nuts, vanilla, and rice krispies. Form into balls and roll in coconut or powdered sugar. Eat. Yummm!

Date Balls

When I was a little girl, my grandma used to make date balls. I LOVED them. I remember one time I was at her house and she had a kitchen full of date balls. She the proceded to put them in boxes and send to all of her grandkids who were on missions. When I was a missionary I never got one of those boxeds, but I wished many times that I were one of the earlier missionaries in the family when my grandma was healthy and able to cook.

I hadn't had them in ages and decided to make them a few weeks ago. I was so excited to share them with my husband and the conversation we had went something like this. Silly husband.

Me: Want a date ball?
Curtis: No.
Me: Why not?
Curtis: I don't like dates?
Me: I bet you've never even tried a date before?
Curtis: No, I haven't.
Me: Then how do you know you don't like them?
Curtis: I just know.

A Few Cute Pictures...

Cooper is so chubby he makes his dad look skinny!

Happy Birthday Addison!

I guess it's tradition now that we let balloons go at Addie's grave on her birthday. We thought Cooper and Kennedy would enjoy the experience as well.

After leaving flours, we had pink and purple cupcakes and icecream. I love birthday parties!

It is so hard to believe that we would have a 2 year old running around if we hadn't lost Addie so early. I can't believe it's been that long. In the same breath, so much has happened since that day. Nothing will ever replace what we lost, but I am so glad we felt emotionally and physically healthy enough to continue growing our family. Our arms were empty and now they are full. We are grateful for eternal families.

Dad was out of town, so the babies told me they wanted to visit their cousin Damon. We did lots of fun stuff. We even went to a splash park and showed off our swimming suits.

When dad flew in, we went on to see our other cousins. These are all the babies born in 2010. We kinda like being the big kids.

Pioneer Day

We went to the Pioneer Day Parade on the 24th. The babies didn't like the fire trucks, but they love being outside. They even fell asleep while we were watching the parade and ended up sleeping on the blanket for a while after the parade was over. We were okay with letting them sleep.

6 Months Old

Granny Smith came to visit and here we are celebrating the babies' half birthday.
I'm not sure why this picture flipped, but it's cute enough that I'm going to keep it here.

I didn't realize that 6 months was such a magical age. In the weeks surrounding the babies' 6 month birthday they just seemed to explode. All of the sudden they have so much more personality. They started rolling over (Cooper first and more proficiently). I used to put them on a blanket and that's where they'd be when I came back. Now, I usually come to the rescue. Either because Kennedy is being attacked by Cooper or because Cooper has rolled up against the couch and can't figure out how to keep moving. They learned how to put their own binkies in their mouths (Kennedy mastered that one first). Cooper laughs like crazy. Kennedy love to grab your face. They've gotten super possessive of their toys. Kennedy has this favorite Lion. When she sees that Cooper has it she dives for it. Both of them LOVE my water bottle. They start kicking with excitement every time I even lift it up. They also thing that anything on my plate should go in their mouth. I don't know why because I don't like to share, but I guess I've done it enough that they think that what's mine is theirs. And they LOVE water mellon.

These are the kind of situations I rescue my babies from.