Happy Anniversary

Thanks for the best 6 YEARS ever!

Dear landlord, you struggle!

WE MADE IT TO DALLAS! *To any blogstalking burglers we have a a really strong man staying in our house so stay away! We really do.
WHY DALLAS? Dave is doing his anesthesia "audition rotation" here for a month. I debated on coming or staying in AZ with Luke alone for the whole month. We decided it would be a good adventure and nice to be together.
THE DRIVE- Luke was heaven sent the whole 16 hour car ride. He was so sweet. He flew Buzz Lightyear around in his carseat, read books to himself, and watched movies. He also took some pretty good naps and in the middle of one nap Dave and I were talking and obviously annoying Luke, so he pulled a blanket over his head and slept another hour! I love that boy. Seriously, I complained way more than him. I had to make a rule that I could only complain once an hour. I am the most worthless passenger in the world! I was carsick before we even pulled out of the garage. I can't look at maps, text, turn around for even a second because I get too sick. So I just sat in the back with Luke and slept. Dave the great just drove the whole time without a complaint.
The Arrival- On day two of driving we finally pulled up late Saturday night searching for the condo. We thought we had the wrong address because when we peeked in there was stuff everywhere and some man hanging out! Oh, nope don't worry just the guy we are renting from. He is Mathew McConaughy meets Crush the turtle from "Finding Nemo." Total hippie surfer. He has his stuff everywhere and the place is so disgust! Mental image-Frat house with no countertops (waiting for the "new granite"), no cabinets doors, PURE black tub, dirt on walls, door handles, etc. My other favorites, floor covered with dead bugs and some old shedded brown rug. He has never owned a vacuum and when Dave left the room he thought it was fun to tell me about the cockroach infestation as he wipes them off the counters and touches Luke's head! I didn't crack a smile and I think I almost punched him but then I realized there is no way this is real. I was TOTALLY waiting for Dave to walk back with a camera crew! Nope it was and is real. Cry me an ocean!! Long story short our gnarly, righteous frenemy finally exited around midnight and I slept with my eyes open waiting for the cockroaches to eat us alive.
Latest update- Sunday morning we were depressed! We were seriously playing hot lava, where you can't touch the floor. We were jumping from napkin to rag to anything other than the frightening floor. So Dave called up my tormentor and asked him how we were going to get this place cleaned up because Luke was playing with the dead bugs. (sidenote-renter dude had a nasty dead butterfly on display on top of the tv...so weird) Obviously I am not Mary Poppins and couldn't fit our vacuum, mop and other cleaning devices so he was really nice and apologized. He said probably should have had it cleaned before (um, yes) and was thinking about Luke taking a bath in that tub. So he showed up with a rag and spray bottle. We bought many more hard core chemicals and casually mentioned that we were at Target and there was a sale on a good vacuum. He was actually excited about that one and will hopefully pay us back. Long story short we left and went exploring while he was cleaning. I have since cleaned the tub four more times in one day and we have vacuumed many more times as well. It is actually a nice place but it is still tainted in my mind. The cockroaches are down to under ten a day. Sweeet!
Lesson learned- The pics of the place on craigslist looked nice and it wasn' t some steal or anything so that is not our fault, but I am proud to announce that my illness is starting to fade. I am becoming less of a germ-a-phobe. Today at the park, I actually only used the hand sanitizer on Luke at the very end of the park trip. Even Dave noted my progress! This will be quite the adventure to remember and I think I am still glad that we came! Hopefully it will only get better?! And might I add that it feels so good to get that off of my chest!

Ahhh, the beach!

We went to good old California with Dave's family. We have been back for a few weeks now and I don't know why it has taken so long to post but here they are anyway. Everyone did so much work with the planning and arrangements and we just kind of showed up! Luke had the best time with his cousins, although the other seven boy cousins were very much missed. We just played and relaxed the whole week.
The brothers. Um, no more flexing please!
The girls

Uh oh, Ava thought the sand looked yummy!

Look at this cute sea creature that got washed up on shore! Luke, really liked napping on the beach. Who doesn't with that breeze and the waves. He was the last one out at the beach and it looked like he was deserted out there! Barbara took this picture of him.

Padres game. It wouldn't be very Owen-esque to not involve sports on a vacation!

We went to a fun aquarium in San Diego. We were not really up for a big Disneyland or Sea World ordeal, so this aquarium was great for the kids. We have a million pics of Luke holding hands with his big boy cousins. They are all so cute!
This was one of our favorite morning rituals. We would walk right out the door every morn at 6 and hunt for some fun sea finds. We found some pretty good ones too... shells, squids, sand dollars and more.

Parker, Luke, Taylor and Will cozying up for a movie in bed.


I thought this picture was kind of funny of Will and Luke in their twin shirts playing with their feet. This is Luke's all time favorite shirt and he was thrilled when Will showed up wearing it!




Pizza at last! We finally figured out that we can order cheeseless pizza for Luke (thanks to the food allergies). He loves this new meal and ate the whole personal pizza.

The train ride through the 'hood! Luke fell in love with trains on this trip and Dave thought it would be fun to take a quick ride on one. It was fun but definately not the scenic coastal ride we were hoping for! We got a nice tour of the ghetto's of CA though.

(Sidenote for Danny and the Snow boys): Luke talks about all of you since we have been back at least twice every single day. Anything he does (playing, cleaning up, going to bed) he asks if the boys do those thing too. He shrugs his shoulders and arms and asks Pa? Tay? Dill? I think it started when I asked him if he wanted to sit on the potty like Parker, Taylor and Will. He also LOVES the pics that Taylor choreographed of himself dressed as Woody with Buzz. Anyway, I can tell that he misses them all lots. As for Danny, you are a rockstar at our house. Out of the blue, seriously every second Luke says "Nana" (Danny) and runs and says "choo choo." I wasn't there but I guess when you put the coins on the railroad tracks and ran as the train was coming. That might be his very favorite memory of his life! Way to go!

Happy Red, White and Blue!

We decided to drive up to Prescott for the 4th, so that we could actually be outside for the day. It turned out to be a lot more fun and a lot cooler than we thought. It was only about an hour and a half drive and it is a small, old western town in the mountains. I drove, Dave studied and Luke slept. There was a fun street market and a big 4th of July carnival. Best of all there was a huge rainstorm which was so nice after being in this awful desert heat!

Taking pictures with Buzz and Woody! Who needs Disneyland? Luke was super excited when Dave told him that "Woody" and "Jessie" were going to take a pic with him!
Once again you would never know it but Luke loved this train. He screamed and signed "ma" (more) every time it stopped so, he went on it a few times.
Loves animals from a distance only! I knew this would happen but we still waited in line for 20 minutes for the pony ride and as they approached the pony he screamed like never before. Oh, well.Hiding under the blanket during the really long rainstorm.Yah! Another celebration... Dave finished another set of boards. One more 8 hour test down and about 10 months left of school! Good job Dave. Ahhh, to not have a husband in any more school seems like a dream! Too bad residency is already giving us nightmares!! (Poor Dave looks so tired).

I came home one night after an enrichment activity and found this sitting in the living room. Dave made Luke a homemade oven! I thought it was so cute and quite creative. It has been a hit and Dave is especially proud of the knobs that turn.

Happy FATHER"S DayHere is an updated picture of baby Max. He is almost 2 months old and so cute.
Dave is so proud our hibiscus flowers are finally blooming.
Jamie and Luke playing outside after dinner sharing pop pop's (popsicle's)

This picture of Jamie is my favorite! We thought it was so funny that Jamie looked like this after her popsicle and Luke didn't even have one drop on him!