Vermont Trip Episode #2

Adrianne and Mike don't really have a back yard-their house was built on a hill. So they have a deck behind their house that the boys play on. Sometimes the boys leave the deck and play behind the garage (BIG NO NO) or in the street (another BIG NO NO). So Adrianne asked Mike to install a gate between the mud room outer wall and the garage. The placement of the gate is perfect! Now Oliver can play on the deck with the older boys without Adrianne worrying he will get into something he shouldn't! Mike did a great job constructing the gate! It looks and works great!

Here's some pictures of the process! Oliver even helped put blocks under the gate to keep it level while Mike finished the joints.
Above: Adrianne's baby bump! Lizzie is getting ready to come! This was Saturday afternoon and Lizzie was born Monday morning. (more on that later in the post)



Below: Mike next to his gate! Awesome job! I know who to call when I have a wood working project to complete!
Adrianne is so cute. One of the reasons is because every time we pulled into the drive way after the gate was built she would say, "Aww, there's a gate. I love my gate." It made me smile very time!

As Mike was finishing the clean-up process, the rest of us went to the pond. Oliver is carrying his rock pail and Jacob has on his hiking back pack. Adrianne has her knitting tucked securely into her camelbak. Parley was taking a nap at this point. Mike woke him up when he was done cleaning and they came to the lake as well. Mike also brought his fishing stuff-what fun for the boys! Jacob is learning how to cast and how to properly carry his fishing pole so the lines don't get tangled up or in anyone's way!
Oliver was being very photogenic during the trip to the pond. His little personality is really starting to shine through! He's going to be the biggest ham of them all! These pictures are the proof.
"Oh what do you do in the summer time when all the world is green? Do you fish in a stream or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?" I think the people who wrote this song lived in the New England area. We certainly don't do these things during the summer in AZ, nor is the world around me green...




Above: See Mom, I put water in it from the pond.
Below: See Mom, tastes good, even with the rust from the inside of the can!!
It seems like our hats did not fit...hhmmm...any thoughts? ;)



I love his pitching style!

On our way back home.

At home we tried to make homemade macaroni! No, not macaroni. That's just what we told the boys we were having when they asked. They don't like home macaroni, so it was a little teasing that kept them happy we weren't having home macaroni. Anyway, we tried to make french fries from potatoes...the first few tries Mike did just a few strings, but then he tried a few too many and the oil boiled over and a small fire consumed the stove. Adrianne and Mike were very quick to add flour to the fire. No water! Grease and water don't mix and so the grease fire would only spread if water was added to it. Anyway, here's a video of Mike frying after the clean up of the mess left behind by the flour.





Monday morning at 5:30am I awakened by a repeated knock on the door. I got up and there was Mike.
Mike:"We had the baby."
Shari: You're lying.
Mike: Really. We had the baby. It's a girl.
Shari: You're lying!!
Mike: No. We had the baby. The midwives are downstairs.
Shari: What? I'll get dressed and come down.

So even after I accused Mike of lying to me, he still likes me...whew!
I went downstairs and the midwives already had the birthing tub cleaned up and put away! Crazy! Adrianne told me that she felt back pain at 1am, called the midwife at 2am and had the baby at 4:35am. An hour later when they woke me up they were already getting ready to transfer Adrianne upstairs to her bed! These women were awesome!

I love the baby Mary Jane booties that Adrianne knitted!

A happy Aunt Shari! I love infants! Her temperature was a little cool when she was born, so the human incubator (me) got hold and warm the baby up as often as she wanted! I loved it!



Once the baby was born and it was girl, they had to come up with a name. I took the boys to the dining room which also serves as the school room. There we practiced writing by creating a list of names for Adrianne and Mike to consider. After 3 days, they chose Eliza Anne Burklund, which wasn't really on the list, but Liza and Elizabeth both were, so the boys were close! They usually call her Lizzie. Or should it be Lizzy? As she gets older, Eliza will change the nick name many times, so don't get too attached to a certain spelling!

We kind of fell into a routine and I got my baby time every night after boys went to bed. I would call Ammon and hold Lizzie. Occasionally she would make noises at Ammon while he was on speaker phone. I don't think Ammon enjoyed it as much as I did!