The girls started swimming lessons this week. I haven't been brave enough to get out there to take pictures between the boys and the unbearable heat index. Maybe this week. Ben has been going because Tansy is in a parent/tot class and one of us has to be with her at all times. We decided that since I won't even put my face in the water, I would not be the best choice.

We have also been packing in preparation for our big move. Our new house on base is finally finished. We do the final walk-through tomorrow morning and get the keys. We are going to move ourselves and let the Air Force pay us, so moving day isn't until Saturday. I'll probably drop off the radar for a bit since the people already living there have been told that the area is unserviceable for the internet. Ah, the joys of new housing. I'm really hoping they get that worked out quickly since there is only one internet service provider. We are totally at their mercy. Wish us luck!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you hard-working taxpayers who pay for my family's healthcare. This in the latest installment of how the Abshire family is attempting to suck the government dry through Tricare.

On July 6, Sydney got her tonsils out. She was actually fine with the whole idea even up to the time she had to go with the nurse and leave me behind. This is a picture of her pre-surgery. Don't be concerned by her dramatic, serious face. That's just Sydney. Of course, post-surgery it was all screaming and hysterics followed by ten days of pain medication every two to three hours day and night with short periods of sleep on the living room couch. I had to sleep on the floor. Yesterday was the first day she started acting more like herself. She even slept through the night in her own bed, which means I did too.

Since we have been stuck inside with the patient, there isn't much else to report so here are a few pictures of some of my favorite people. Zachary asked to have those put on, just so you know. Time to get some manly dress-up clothes, I guess.

I am also trying to come to terms with the fact that Tyler is mobile. He has become the rolling master. He can navigate the room through a lot of trial and error to get where he wants to go. I found him under the swing sucking on the living room curtains this morning. Gross.

Ben has been working LONG hours and has to work this weekend as well. It gets a little lonely when I don't get my couple of days.

We were informed that our new house is complete and plan to do the big move on July 31, which is also Zack's birthday. Sorry, buddy. We'll have to reschedule this year.

Happy Independence Day! We have been enjoying our four-day weekend with Ben. The base did fireworks on Friday night. We got together with friends for dinner beforehand. The kids loved the fireworks, including Tyler. He just sat quietly in his car seat watching the sky. Here are a few fun pictures from Friday night:

We actually get Ben home for most of this week as well. Since Sydney is having her tonsils out on Tuesday, he took some time off so he could help out. Yep, he's a keeper.

So, on our way home from vacation, Zack got pinkeye. I took him in the day after we got home and started him on eye drops. However, some damage was already done, and Sydney ended up with pinkeye as well. Fortunately, one bottle tends to take care of two kids. Lucky me! No one else got it, but everyone did get a cold.

Two days later, everyone was doing better except for Zack. He was coughing pretty hard so I took him in Friday morning so we could get this under control over the weekend. The doctor thought he might have pneumonia again so she started him on an antibiotic as well as breathing treatments and steroids. Although I stayed on top of all of his medicine, it wasn't enough, and I had to take him to the ER Sunday night. They finally got him loosened up and sent us home with instructions to follow up with his doctor the next day.

Monday morning I took him in. The doctor said he should have been admitted the night before. She upped all of his meds and gave us one more day for him to start breathing better. He would cough so hard and then stop breathing and shake. After several seconds he would start coughing again and then do it all over again.

Although he was a little better on Tuesday, his oxygen levels were just not high enough. We gave him breathing treatments and got them up enough that she let me drive him to the hospital instead of going by ambulance, which was the original plan.

Once there, they agreed with me that he most likely has asthma and had a respiratory therapist consult with me to make a plan. However, when the doctor initally examined him, she found that he had an enlarged liver. They did a bunch of tests while we were there to try to diagnose the problem, but all the tests came back normal. They suggested regularly monitoring his liver function through his pediatrician. They kept the breathing treatments going through the night as well and we were able to come home on Wednesday. He is back to being the ornery, mischievous one-year-old we know and love.

We had so much fun on our vacation that I forgot to take pictures most of the places we went. Dang it.

After a big Sunday dinner with the family, the kids decided to do an improptu concert for us with this toy they found. Sydney favored us with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" several times, and cousins sang songs they had learned in school. Everyone wanted a turn whether they could sing or not. We then went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Olsen. Tyler started fussing soon after we got there and my grandma offered to hold him. He stayed in her lap all night and was happy as could be until he fell asleep in her arms. It was a lot of fun to watch my kids play with toys that I played with as a kid at my grandparents' house. This is my grandma, my parents, my kids, and me.

We had an action packed week after that. Monday morning, we went to do some shopping since there are a LOT more stores near my parents' house than mine. In the afternoon, Ben played Axis and Allies with my Dad while the kids and I headed to Springville to hang out with my sister-in-law Emily and her four boys. My brother had built them a playroom since we had last visited, and the kids had a blast.

Tuesday we went to Bridal Veil Falls and played in the water. Sydney decided to climb the falls herself, and I didn't notice until she was too far to hear me. When I finally caught her eye and waved to her to come down, she just happily waved back and kept climbing. I had to chase her up the falls to get her to come down. I was worried she wouldn't be able to climb down herself since she tends to freak out at the wrong times, but she did great. Zack just threw rocks the entire time. Little boy bliss.

Wednesday was zoo day! Almost everybody came, which made it really fun and really crazy. We saw the baby elephant and also got to see an older elephant do some tricks. Right before lunch was the bird show, which Zack screamed through because he didn't want to sit down. The weather was beautiful so the animals were all active. The kids got to pick something up at the gift shop, which they thought was awesome.

Thursday morning, Ben and I got to go to the temple. Our temple is three hours away so it was nice to be able to go to one so close. We grabbed KFC for everyone on the way home then headed to Chuck E. Cheese. Ours is an hour away and Sydney had been dying to go. We loaded up with tokens and played until they were gone. The kids enjoyed cashing in their tickets as much as the games.

I got to go shopping with my sister-in-law Emily on Friday morning. We went to DI in Provo where I found a good-sized wall decoration I just had to have. Yes, we managed to pack it in the van to get it home. We both found some books for our families and then hit the clothing racks. As of that week, Emily had lost 50 pounds and was still planning to lose more. None of her clothes fit, so we found some cute pants that really showed off her amazing accomplishment.

Then it was off to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. This was a Sydney request as well. She is crazy about dinosaurs. We ended the day with a birthday dinner for my brother Stephen. His wife Kathleen did an awesome job feeding so many people.

Saturday was our last day in Orem. We took some family pictures in the morning since it is so rare that we can get all of us together. I hadn't seen my sister Stephanie for three years, so I was really glad she took the time to drive up with her kids from Arizona.

We grabbed some fast food and all went to see Toy Story 3. Yes, I am one of those people who cried at the end. Who didn't?

We quickly packed up the van and headed to Logan. We atteneded church with Ben's mom and our nieces and nephews then enjoyed some much needed down time snoozing on the couch. Monday morning we packed up again and headed to Ben's brother's wedding. Because it was a new park, it wasn't in my GPS, and we got lost. Whoops. We had to call Lorne, Ben's brother, to get directions. After the ceremony, we ate lunch with the family and hit the road. We had to reach Cheyenne that night. Quick visit, I know. We hope to have more time next year.

It was so great to see our families and have a much needed family vacation. Next year, might need to be a little less hectic though.

This past week started off with a trip to the doctor for Tyler's four month well child visit. He weighed 16 lbs. 6 oz. and was 26 inches long. Sydney weighed that much, but was an inch and a half longer, when she was 13 months old! I feel more justified about complaining that he is getting heavy.

I showed the doctor how Tyler's left ear is a lot further forward than his right and his left cheek is larger than his right. She went to consult with the other pediatrician, and they decided that we need to do a CT scan to see what is going on. That is scheduled for the 23rd.

On Wednesday, I had my first experience with calling poison control. I had been working on the laundry to get ready for our trip to Utah and thought all of the kids were watching TV. Zack kept complaining about wanting a snack, and I kept putting him off. When I had finished with the laundry, I went to the kitchen to get them a snack. Our jug of water from the fridge had been left out and was tinted pink. I picked it up and noticed something red at the bottom of it and couldn't figure out what it was. Then I saw one of my Zyrtec pills on the counter. Then I saw another one and a Sudafed. I started to panic so the girls came into the kitchen to see what was wrong. We only recovered 14 out of 85 Zyrtec and 2 out of 30 Sudafed. I started to panic as I realized that there was a chair pushed up to the counter and Zack had gotten into my meds. Then I remembered the water and realized that all of the stuff at the bottom was the pills. However, I had no way of counting them since they were turning to mush.

I call poison control, and she told me to watch him for any usual behavior or irritability and that she would call back in an hour. After 45 minutes, Zack fell asleep in my arms and wouldn't wake up. The best I could get from him was an eyelid flutter then he went back to sleep. I called the pharmacist at poison control again, and she said to take him to the ER. He woke up in the waiting room, but was just dead weight in my arms. He didn't even seem to notice as they hooked up monitors and the blood pressure cuff. A couple of times he just slumped over sideways and went to sleep.

After watching him for a while, they determined that he had probably taken some Zyrtec, but not enough to cause any real problems. They sent him home to sleep it off, and I pushed plenty of water into him. By the next day he was fine, but I would not let him out of my sight.

Thursday was the crazy day of packing, and Friday morning at 7:30, we hit the road on our way to Utah. We stayed the night at F. E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, and were on the road again at 7:15 on Saturday. Apparently June in Wyoming is AWFUL. It was 32 degrees and we got caught in a snow storm. The wind was blowing hard and bitterly cold. And here we were in our shorts and sandals. Brrr.

However, we made it safely at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon and were able to see most of the family. The kids actually did really well in the car, thanks for the DVD player we purchased for these road trips. Seventeen hours of driving is a lot. We actually only had 21 hours of travel time with meal and bathroom breaks. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Tansy decided that she wanted to help out with some chores. She actually did a pretty good job.Here is the best Mother's Day present: all of my kids facing the same direction for a picture. I took nine to get this one.

We also celebrated Ben's birthday. The big 3-0. Since this is Ben we're talking about, it was really low-key. All the kids cared about was that there was cake. Ben was on 12-hour shifts every day, which is why he is in uniform for the party.

Tansy and Zack decided to get creative one day by dumping all of the contents of the salt and pepper shakers on the table and making art. We were sweeping it up for days.

And who knows what was going on here before he fell asleep. He seemed just as puzzled when he got up.

In other exciting news, Ben took the girls to a bike rodeo here on base a couple of weeks ago. They pulled Sydney's name in the drawing and she won a new bike. It was fantastic timing since she really is too big for her old bike. She even got her picture in the base paper.

We are also going to Utah on Friday, the 11th. We will only be there for just over a week since Ben has stuff to get back for, but we look forward to spending time with family that we haven't seen for a while.