La Jolla Trip

A couple years ago, I was able to go to the CO River with my best friend, Beth, & her family. They had some friends (Tom & Sue) that were going to meet us there with their son & his wife (Chris & Joanne). Anyway, we bonded so strongly during that trip that they've become great friends! Beth & I were able to visit Chris & Sue on our cross-country trip from Calvin back to CA on our stop in Chicago. It's been fun seeing them here & there since the amazing trip to the river, & can only hope to be able to organize another trip like that in the near future.

Anyway, now that there is background.... Sue, Joanne, Beth, & myself were blessed to be able to spend the day together today. Joanne is here from Chicago visiting Tom & Sue, so we thought we'd get together & catch up yet again. We had a BLAST!!! We drove down to La Jolla & had some lunch. Here are a couple pictures from lunch:

From L-R: Beth, Sue, Me, Joanne

After some shopping & a lot of walking, we decided to drive back down to see the sea lions. It was fun to just see such a large group of these animals together. While we were taking some of the pictures, we even got to see some dolphins off the coast. They were too far to catch a good picture, but fun to see them, nonetheless.

Here are a few pictures of our time out by the sea lions:

The next few are all of the sea lions & the views from the look-out points:

Massive amount of sea lions...

Mommy & baby

My favorite clump of sea lions... check out the white one!

This one was posing for me

All in all... a WONDERFUL day with great friends!

Update on Dakota & Quinn

Dakota is FINALLY feeling better! I talked with Kate a couple days ago & she said things are pretty much back to normal. I could tell she was feeling better because Kate sounded more upbeat. So glad the little one is back to her normal self! :) LOVE YOU, KODY-BEAR!

Little Miss Quinn.... unfortunately, she had to be under lights to help decrease her yellow color (jaundice). The level they draw (bilirubin) was high on Monday, so Andy & Jess had to get lights brought to their house so they could treat it at home rather than in the hospital. She also had to eat strictly formula, which has been a big bummer for Jess (& Quinn too, I'm sure), but we're just glad it's all helping. Her level to day was down significantly from Monday, so we'll just keep waiting to see if she can stay off the lights, now. I'll try to keep everyone posted. Here are a few more pictures of the sweet one & her big brother.

Miss Quinn out from her bili lights for her feeding

Papa got to feed her a bottle

BIG YAAAAAWN!!!!!!

Sweet pea

I just <3 baby feet!!

"I'm a big brother!"

Giggles from a sweet boy...

"Trey.... where are your muscles?"

Trey: ...

Kody bear is sick :(

Poor girl....

I got an email today & have been talking with Kate the last few days getting updates on little Miss Dakota. She has been throwing up most of the last week & they had to take her into the ER tonight. She got an IV (after 2 pokes) & had some other tests run & was given IV antibiotics. after keeping some apple juice down, she was able to be sent home. If anything happens tonight or tomorrow, they were told she'd need to be admitted. Please pray for both Kate & Ryan as they both take care of their sweet heart, but also pray for Kody-bear! It's not too often she's super cozy with people, & Kate said she's been extremely cuddly the last few days.

Please...

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!!

~Auntie Em

Blessed Beyond Belief!

There's absolutely NOTHING like being an Auntie!!! Here's why...

This precious guy:

♥Trey Andrew Hugen♥

He's been so much fun having around the last 21 months!! I just love having play dates with the little man.

Then came this sweet pea:

♥ Dakota Ryan Koeman ♥

Her smiles will brighten just about ANYONE's day! I love being able to visit her out in MI & absolutely adore the time I get to spend with her & her family when they visit CA!

& now announcing........

♥♥♥ Quinn Everly Hugen ♥♥♥

Born March 22, 2010 at 4:40pm

7lb 15oz, 20in

Welcome to the world, sweet heart!

Mom, Dad & the little princess are both doing wonderfully well! Big brother Trey is adjusting to the whole "having a baby sister" idea.

Auntie Em loves you all!!!!!!

New baby on the way...

So it's taken me more than a few days to write again. Oops!! I must admit, it's just not my top priority to write about myself & what's going on in my life. I think the thing is, I don't feel like I have much to write about!

Well, I have SOMETHING to write about today. I got to take a few pictures of my nephew, Trey, & my sister-in-law, Jess. She's 37, almost 38 weeks pregnant with their second baby & she wanted a few pictures of her & T before the new baby arrived. I love playing with my new camera, so she allows me to have them as my models from time to time. :) Here are a few from Wednesday morning at Seal Beach...

Kisses for baby

Jess asked Trey, "Is there a girl or boy in mommy's belly?" He responded... "A GIRL!!!!!!!!" We'll see, buddy!

Trey looking at the water

Kisses for Mommy

My little man :)

Looking forward to welcoming a new little one to our family soon!! :)

Congested

So, I've been working the last couple nights & all of a sudden, I was completely congested. Which, by the way, is never a good feeling while working in a closed unit that has little to no air circulation! To help a sister out, someone called maintenance to clean a light fixture that was COVERED in dust. So, to add to the congestion, dust filled the room after it was cleaned. I was sneezing ALL NIGHT last night. I went to ask if I could get any meds for myself at the pharmacy, & the pharmacist did me a favor & gave me Sudafed. WHOA did that help! This morning I got home & was yet again, congested. I took Advil Cold & Sinus, but it didn't do much good. Any other suggestions for me?!

I'll try posting later tonight or tomorrow to help update everyone what's been going on in my life over the last year. Off to work I go from 3-7pm! :)

Bad Blogger

So.... I apologize for failing miserably at blogging regularly. I just looked back at my blog & saw it's been over a YEAR since I've blogged last. Bad. VERY bad. I am so very sorry to those of you that were following (not too many, but still...). I will do my best to do better. I have had a ton of things happen in the last year, so I will do my best to catch up in the next few weeks. How does that sound?

For now, I just redecorated the blog to give me a little more motivation. I will try to write after I get some sleep. Until then, goodnight!

~Emily