Lewis Family

2011-10-11T12:51:00.000+01:00

Our 1st Trip To London

Jonathon had Monday off work since it was Columbus Day, so we decided to go exploring. It was scary but a lot of fun. We weren't in a rush so even though every tire on our new stroller was flat we didn't care taking a detour in a unknown city to find a bike shop to put air in the tires on foot.

We started our day kind of late but anyone who knows us, knows that's normal for us.

First time on the Tube

We decided to take the tube into London. The kids loved it plus it saved us gas and it only cost at 16 pounds for the entire day of riding buses and trains. Ill be perfectly honest the transportation system is very confusing for a visitors. We got lost so many times. luckily the people here are so very friendly and helpful.

Always wanted to see a real one of these.

I was scared to make this trip at first because we had a couple people on base tell us we were crazy for going into London with 3 children and a large stroller. They compared it to New York city. They told us the people were always in a rush and very rude. honestly that's how Disney World was no one cares about taking turns or being nice. if you stop to tie your shoe you are going to get ran over, but London was not like that at all.

So Beautiful. Big Ben. My Husbands attraction he always wanted to see.

The people were so helpful. we got our stroller fixed for free, people stopped so we could take pictures and would even offered to take pictures of all of us together. Only bad thing is everything is expensive, so we just did some sight seeing. Good enough for us .there was so much to look at. we had such a good time that we are going to head back on Wednesday to go to a History and science Museum which is free, so Yea.

We would love to do the tour bus and some of the other attractions but we have no problem waiting for discount tickets from the base.

We are definitely going on the London eye next time.

London is amazing but sad thing is that it is not wheelchair friendly there are elevators but most of them are out of order and a pain to get to and very narrow. we took the stroller on them a couple times but we still had to fold it up. Lots and lots of stairs to get anywhere.

its hard to take children but they are free so why not take them. 5 and under free for transportation and rides so great. it will be nice when they get older, so we don't have to push them and carry them. But my kids are skinny and eat like birds so there cheap taking them to eat. Cant wait to do it again and again.

Wouldn't you love to spend your day doing this

Your art will be remembered forever.

The Longest week of my Life

2011-10-07T21:26:00.000+01:00

We have been in England for a little over a week and to be honest it feels like forever. Its been a really hard adjustment, but finally we have our feet on the ground.
Our trip started out great and sad. we had great friends and family take us to the airport, so much help. The Airplane ride went great. we met a very friendly woman name Tammy who traveled with us from Little rock all the way to London. She is also military and was so helpful it made life easy.

Jonathon and I didn't sleep much on the plane but our kids did great. no crying fits or anything. The flight attendants where so incredibly helpful.

I Wish I could of stayed on the plane and never got off....

We finally arrived and realized all we had was each other and 3 children. plus 20 pieces of luggage.
I packed way to much, they give you 3 bags a piece for traveling over seas and I packed so much that we could live for months without anything else.

Lesson learn its not always a good thing to over pack.

UP for over 24hours now. Our cell phones didn't work the moment we landed. it took asking several people to figure out how to use their pay phones here. And we had no idea if our dog landed or how we were going to get her and all of us and our things to the base.
so I busted out my laptop thinking its like the united states free wi fi in airports, ya not so much even the Internet in public places cost money.

My husband left to go find a taxi that would fit all of our belongings and dog.

move out Tanner I need that spot

Kids are so exhausted passing out anywhere.
Can I fit in there too.

Another word of advise for our military friends always know what your credit limit is for your gov travel card. Ours was not a whole lot and we were declined.

Good we had a little money in our pocket for a $300 taxi ride.

Another lesson learned always have a sponsor. we did not get one and so we had no hotel room when we showed up to the base.

lost track of time now and very cranky. don't know our left from right out here. no car, no phone, no food and no stroller.
had to get rid of because it wouldn't fit in taxi. doesn't sound like a big deal but being a mom with 3 children a stroller is my lifesaver.

we finally got into a hotel for 1 night and another room the next day. life is really hard right now. only food we can get at this point is whatever jonathon can go get on foot. don't know where anything is and even the phone in the hotel room charges 25 cents a min.

I WANT TO GO HOME.... LOTS OF TEARS.

the next day did not get any better we where kicked out of our hotel room at 11am and couldn't check into the next one til 2. so we lived outside the hotel on a picnic bench for 3 hours with all my kids dog and mountain of luggage. can life get any worse oh yes we had to switch hotels and do this all over again 2 days later.

So Sad. No rooms for pets. Sariah has to be in a kennel for 30 days.
We will miss you.
luckily military is paying for it.

positives we borrowed a car Friday from a good friend Derick who just moved here a month ago. But i cant drive here its crazy being on the other side of the road. Ive never seen my husband be so mad and stressed at me while teaching me to drive. I feel like Im 16 years old all over again.

we are into Saturday now got into a hotel room that we will be in til we find a house. Yea. but way to tired to unpack. i packed a one day bag for all of us to share and our friend took our mountain of luggage to his place Friday night. met a member in burger king invited us over for dinner Monday night.

good Julianne is skinny because we ran out of her diapers so she had to wear newborn diapers. no leaks yea.

got our luggage Sunday mist you luggage.

I'm getting exhausted just remember the week we went through. But it has got a lot better I'm not completely unpacked yet but oh well. Were just going to have to pack up again soon

On Tuesday the 4th of Oct we bought a cheap land rover. Jonathon wanted a newer one but its hard when we have a house we are still paying for at home and utility bills plus nothing has sold car wise. so this $2000 car will have to do for right now.

Thursday we started house hunting, not fun, i never realized how small British houses are wow even if we only had 1 child it would be tight.

Friday yea I'm finally current on my blog.
Found a nice house today little back yard but at least it has one with a fence. 4 bdrm 1 bathroom. it will do and its in our budget.

Next on our list is a cellphone, stroller and definitely a GPS. soon to come.

Now we know where to go to church because we know were we are living. lots of members out here. 2 big temples with all day hours.

Cant wait to start traveling soon.

No more tears were doing great and really love the British people out here.

went shopping for the first time just for fun in a little village store. I just wish our dollar was worth more then their pound.

Love it.

Hate It Mommy.

2010-10-13T03:44:00.000+01:00

I Will Not Green Eggs,

but Jacob will and he did.

Jacob would never eat eggs, no matter how we cooked them or what we topped them with. We felt as though we tried everything cheese, ketchup you name it. But then one day when i was helping at Jacob's school, I noticed The classic book we have all read, Green Eggs and Ham. That was the solution, Jacobs favorite color in the world is green and anyone who has been around him lately knows it. His favorute clothes, shoes,and every piece of art work is green. so he came home from school and we read the book together, before i could even finish the story Jacob was jumping up and down saying he would eat green eggs. so we made them as soon as we finished the book. And he loved them... Thank You DR. Seuss

What do I DO?

2010-09-07T23:54:00.000+01:00

I dont know how but Julianne Got into food coloring, I have scrubbed and scrubbed any advise to get this girl clean.

Jacob's First day of School

2010-08-24T16:32:00.001+01:00

Thursday was Jacobs 1st Day going to school and i have never seen a kid so excited about it. I thought to myself maybe he is so excited because he doesn't know what it is. Today is his 3rd day and he still loves getting up early and going, even when i go to pick him up at 2:30 after being there since 7 he still wants to stay. He just loves everything about school. especially nap time, his teacher always tells me he sleeps the hardest and they have to wake him up. I hope he stays this excited his whole life. My favorite part is picking him up and hearing the new adventures he has had with his teachers and friends.

This is our neighbor he was waiting for his bus and Jacob was so happy to see other kids where going to school too.

unfortunately Jonathon was out of town on Jacobs 1st day, but he was able to take him for day 2 so yea.

2010-08-10T18:02:00.000+01:00

Get Out Mom

I Peeked in the bathroom to see why my kids where being so quiet and I got yelled at by Jacob to get out and close the door. I guess he was in the middle of potty training JuliAnne

Went So Quick

2010-07-30T03:02:00.000+01:00

Final Class, 1 month went so quick now its up to me to take this new knowledge i have learned and master it at home.

cake decorating, cake 1

2010-07-15T18:01:00.000+01:00

So I recently signed up for a cake decorating class at michaels. I have always had this hidden passion to be able to make beautiful birthday cakes and maybe one day wedding cakes, Ive done little things here and there but i knew i needed some professional guidance and direction. The first night was just basics; how to make frosting, different thickness, how to level a cake and of course how to frost a cake like a pro. The second night was more hands on for us. we had a lot of practice time making stars which i still need to practice on. stars sound easy, but to get all my stars to match in size was a hard task. then we worked on figure piping, which then the teacher wanted us to draw a cupcake. so here it is. it doesnt look very good to me, but for a first timer at least people can recognize its a cupcake.

2010-07-04T23:47:00.001+01:00

JuliAnne's 1st birthday

2010-07-03T03:59:00.000+01:00

So the day is here my baby is 1. Still not walking or standing alone, but quite a talker she is. she loves to say mama, dad, dog, off, and adam. We still are not sure on her eye color some days they look blue and other days they look brown one day they might make up their mind. She has 5 teeth and seems to always be cutting a new one. This year has gone fast sometimes i want her to walk and other days i tell myself not to push she will do it when she is ready. Happy Birthday JuliAnne we Love you.

2010-05-08T19:36:00.001+01:00

2010-05-08T18:11:00.000+01:00

I thought i would post some pics for you Ash. Its been so much fun being in arizona again with family and close friends. Jonathon will be home in less then two weeks and off to arkansas we go. I will miss everyone so much. Love you guys and hope to keep in contact with everyone. I have notice something while i have been here about best friends. Best friends could go days, months, or even years without seeing eachother and when they hang out its like they never were apart. I love it. Im grateful to have such wonderful life long friends in my life.

JuliAnne's 1st time swimming

2010-04-15T04:24:00.000+01:00

I bought this for JuliAnne but jacob I guess thought it was his.

I couldn't pass up this ballerina swimsuit it was just too cute

Its been such nice weather lately so my sister and I decided to take everyone swimming it was a lot of fun. The water was freezing to me but Julianne and jacob didn't seem to care they loved it . It was hard to get them out to leave after 2 hours. my little fish kids. I wish we had a pool but then again i have enough maintenance to do.

2010-01-16T03:06:00.000Z

I Finally Did It!

I know I have been talking about it for a while now about cutting my hair and today when I went in. I decided to be daring and I told my Seth my hair person to chop it off. it feels so weird it is going to take time getting used to. I love it though I feel refreshed, I don't know why getting my hair cut gives me a boost of energy, but it does.

Not goodbye, But see you Later.

2010-01-13T03:36:00.000Z

I know these next couple months will be tough, but we are so blessed to be a eternal family. Stay strong, your family loves you and always will. I pray for you to come back to us safe. Your in our prayers Honey. Thank you for loving us so much and being the great father and husband you are. We are so blessed to be yours. I"ll keep updating pictures constantly.

2010-01-13T03:15:00.001Z

Happy Birthday Jacob

It took me the second time around to get this tigger cake to turn out right, but it turned out amazing. thankyou stephanie for frosting it for me.
Jacob had his 3 favorite things for his birthday. Turkey sandwiches with cheese, sugar and more sugar.

Stephanie and my mother in law sue hard at work. Thankyou for all your hard work, i would of been going crazy if it wasn't for you guys.

The kids had alot of fun pinning the tail on the tigger. Thank you dawn for drawing it up for me.

A nice family in the ward let us borrow their bounce house for the tigger party. It was the hit of the party. thank you melissa.
Its crazy how fast our children grow up, I still look at newborn pictures of jacob and it just seems like the other day he was learning to crawl. I can't believe he goes to school next year. I wanted to tell every one that help me thank you. A wise woman once told me it takes an entire ward to raise a child. I truly believe her, this ward we're in feels like a second family to us. Thank you again everyone, for all your help.

2009-12-21T19:48:00.001Z

2009-12-21T19:05:00.000Z

Wow it's been almost two months since I last wrote. Time really does fly by. I have finally completed this fall semester. It was a hard and crazy 4 months. I have now realized that I can no longer be a full time student. I just can't quit, even if it takes me years, just keep going and ill get there someday. The kids are doing great, we had our first Thanksgiving in our home and it was a lot of fun. The left overs are also great. We let Jacob use a champagne glass and he was so excited about it. It was the only glass he would drink from for days. Happy Holidays.

2009-11-03T01:49:00.000Z

4 months today

Four Months has gone by so quick, JuliAnne is now laughing, rolling over, holding her head up, making funny noises and reaching for her toys and mommy's hair. I wish we were closer to family, so you guys could enjoy our precious children growing up. :( hopefully this video will make you guys feel closer to us and part of these wonderful memories.

2009-11-02T15:03:00.000Z

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We thought JuliAnne was small enough to fit in a pumpkin
My Candy!

Our Little group. There is 2 More kids missing, it was impossible to get a group pic
AHHH!
I'M Ready!

Trick Or Treat!

Jacob and his chicken friend Brynlee

Halloween was so much fun this year. We had so many First timers, there was madison who is 4 weeks, JuliAnne 4Months, Shay 7 Months, and Olivia 11Months. Lots of babies! Jacob wasn't to intersted this year in carving pumpkins, but Trick or treating he was a pro this year. Its crazy that this was jacobs 3rd Halloween. where did the time go? Jacob was running from house to house, he was always 1 to 2 houses ahead of the group. Last year he had to look at every piece some one gave him before he proceeded, but not this year he knew there was more candy to get at the next door. The only thing we need to work on is the door bell ringing. He would keep pushing the button until somone came to the door. Jacob was of course Tigger his new favorite thing in the world and he loves to bounce, he did that for a while to, bounce from door to door. Our little JuliAnne was a Ballerina, Jonathon dressed up as a cowboy and i was a devil. I Hope all of you had a wonderful safe Halloween.

2009-10-30T17:20:00.000Z

The dogs enjoyed their time in the house during the storm. I was even brave enough to let them sleep in my house too.

I think I'm going to hold off on buying a trampoline.

This is our highway 67 in between the base and the First Cabot exit. so crazy.

Who's sick of the rain, say I!

It feels like it has been raining forever. I finally let my dogs sleep inside last night, i felt so bad for them. My neighbors trampoline will not see another storm. I've lost count of how many times that expensive toy has flown over the fence. But it is finally bent in half. Early this morning i had a doctors appointment. It usually takes me about 40 min to get there, but today it was an hour and a half of dead stop traffic because of the flooding. Finally i was getting ready to get off the freeway, "yea I'm almost there" And then bam my head hits the steering wheel. Somebody ran into my new beautiful SUV. I looked out the rear view mirror and their car looked so bad, i wish i would of took a picture of it. I first call my husband, because its a weakness of mine to let people go. which i probably would of done this time too, if he didn't show up. Thank you Heavenly Father that no one was injured. My vehicle had a little crack in the bumper that i didn't even notice til Jonathon came and some damage to the hitch. I blame the rain. Now me and this lady are standing outside of our vehicles in the pouring rain. I don't blame her, I was lucky enough to make it into town without wrecking, i could barely see the car in front of me. Rain is good, to a point. then after a week strait. i feel like praying for the man up stairs to turn it off, so my kids can go play outside. These are the times when i miss Arizona, the sun is still shining when the rain is pouring, it's still warm enough to play outside when it rains and it only lasts a couple hours, maybe. I finally found my trash can yea, it was across the highway three houses down. sorry for walking in your front yard, I just need my trash can, thank you. lol. made a new friend.

2009-10-29T21:20:00.000Z

I Love Halloween!

I love dressing up as a kid, now I get to dress up my kids. Circle of life! Heck I still love dressing up.

2009-10-29T20:38:00.000Z

while shopping at Sams Club the other day, Jacob saw this huge Mickey Mouse and he wanted it so much. I thought it was so cool as well but i was aslo thinking what on earth would i do with this huge mickey mouse. Its bigger than his bed. So i decided to look at the price. Wow $80 thats crazy, than another thought came across my mind what if money was no object. Im not saying i want to be rich, but if money where no object where would i be living right now. I honestly don't know where My family would be. I know i am blessed for what we do have, but sometimes i would love to just do something crazy and buy a 5 ft mickey mouse. After pondering the thought Im glad Im on a budget, because when I do get to splurge I appreciate it so much more. But the thought is still pestering me, where are we suppose to raise our family. I hate that we don't have a set plan, for when we get out of the military.

2009-09-24T21:20:00.000+01:00

I know some may think I'm silly. But im so excited, I didn't think the tummy time was paying off cause all she did was sleep. Until today when i put her down and pop the head came up. i couldn't run fast enough to get my camera, video camera, and cell phone. luckily she kept her head up long enough to get the moment documented. I am so blessed to be a stay at home mom, i would of hate to miss this moment.

2009-09-22T20:08:00.001+01:00

Look What I can do!!

I asked my friend Katie when she put her baby in the bimbo and she said 3 months. so then i decided to see if Julianne was big enough, not thinking she was. to my surprise she is. she still looks to small to be in it. ill just keep telling myself that.
of course Jacob has to do it too. they are so funny together.

2009-09-22T19:34:00.000+01:00

We got another dog!!!

Ill take you back 7 months ago. Sariah was so small. its sad how fast she grew.
And now shes huge and we felt she needed a friend that she could rough house with.

A lady in Cabot was giving away pixie, she is so sweet. Jacob was showing her around the house

Its weird having two dogs. I never thought sariah was spoiled, but now i know she was. she wants all the bones and she wasn't to happy about having to share her dad. I hope they become friends.

2009-09-16T04:13:00.000+01:00

Two Months Has Flown By

Ever since I've started school I have been slacking on all kinds of things like updating my blog. The kids are asleep tons of homework could be done, but it will be there tomorrow. My babies are growing up so fast. Jacob is trying to be a good big brother and he is. Life goes by to quick, So my advise to everyone and myself keep up on your journal writing. reading old journal entries is so much fun and I can remember a memory so much more. Even when i read back to a normal day 5 years ago.

JuliAnne's 2 Month shots.

Her first ones since the hospital.
Can you feel her pain.

2009-09-16T03:44:00.001+01:00

Military Ball

It was so much fun to get dressed up, it almost felt like the Prom in High school except 100 times better since it was with my eternal companion. The night was perfect thank you sarah longeway for watching my kids. It felt so good to be young again, dancing and laughing with friends all night and coming home to a quiet home with kids all tucked into their beds. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends here in arkansas.

2009-08-13T16:51:00.000+01:00

Going to Arizona!

I am so excited about going home to Arizona to visit. we are leaving very early tomorrow morning and we have decided to make it a family road trip. I know were crazy driving,especially with a newborn and a 2year old, but hopefully Jonathon and I can make it a fun trip for them. I think what is so exciting about this trip is that it is going to be the first time my family is going to meet the newest member of the family. She has grown so much in one month, I wish sometimes that i could go back and enjoy those days when Jacob was small. It's funny how much of a rush I was in with my first to see him crawl, then walk, talk more. I have now learned to just enjoy them while their young and when their parents are everything to them.

To be honest sometimes I go back and forth about going to school, because i don't won't to be away from them at all. I Know a education is important and its harder to go back once you stop. But it breaks my heart that i can't give all my time to them and be the fun mom i always imagined me being. I tell myself i only have a year left, but they grow so fast in a year. But my kids are my motivation, I want to give them every opportunity in the world and set an example that an education is very important and it can be done while raising a family. There are so many things in this world I have a passion to learn about. I would love to learn more about photography. I took all of these pictures myself and it was fun. I would love to be able to learn to play the piano and it would be so much fun to take swing dance lessons with my husband. But I know the time will come when are children won't be small anymore and they won't care about hanging out with mom and dad every minute of the day. I know parents think its a pain when their kids cry when you try to leave them with a babysitter, but my new look on life is enjoy your kids wanting you to always be with them.

2009-08-07T17:33:00.000+01:00

Count Your Blessings

We recently had a pretty bad storm hit my area, our little family was very blessed this time with are saftey and no damage to our home. Last time we had a section of our fence ripped off. This time it seem the damage was all around us. Our neighbors trampoiline flew over there fence and wrapped around an electric pole. What is really shocking to me is when i drive down the road and see trees that have been around for longer than me and they are ripped out of the ground and thrown like a paper airplane.

This house is my other neighbors house, their fence is connected to mine and three 6 foot sections are gone. For any of you that have had to replace fence, its not the cheapest thing in the world. I am so thankful for my heavenly father keeping my family,home, and our dog safe during these storms, when they were right outside our door.

2009-07-24T16:54:00.000+01:00

My Life Has Changed

Being a mother is not easy, being a mother of 2 is even harder. I take my hat off to the mothers out there with two babies in diapers. No matter How hectic the day is, I love my Life. and when i step back and look at pictures, The day doesn't seem bad at all.
Learning experience this week: don't try to take family pictures when a child is sick with an ear infection. we went to the old mill in arkansas to take family pictures. my sis steph took over 200 pics and these are the best ones i could post. lol jacob was sick and didn't want to participate at all. but up side stephanie and andrews pictures turned out perfectwhenever jacob is sick all he wants is to be held and sleep in mom and dads bed every night.

Jonathon is a pro at taking care of two kids already.

our little family

2009-07-06T17:50:00.000+01:00

Sad story i was going to upload my photos from my camera onto my page, Jonathon's birthday and new baby pics, 4th of July and so on. but i have been a slacker and waited. so back to the point of my sad story, i was messing with my new camera and i accidentally clicked on format and for any of you that understand that concept which i didn't and it deleted all my pictures. I started balling immediately and Jonathon couldn't get me to stop for hours. so i am sorry but these are the pics from my cell phone. Good news though there is hope for my lost pictures, the geek squad said they could recover my photos but it would take weeks for them to have it done for me. So yea but still sad. i hope everyone enjoys the pics.

This is JuliAnne Sue Lewis, 6.5 lbs, 19 3/4 in long and a 13 1/4in head
Born July 2 @ 2 :39pm Jacob was attached at first sight. He wanted to hold her right away
Jacob calls her sister

we just love to stare at her and try to figure out who she looks like.

Already a daddy's girl

Sometimes ill pump just so Jacob can feel like my big helper. He loves to feed her even if she is not hungry sometimes.

2009-06-17T21:27:00.000+01:00

So today i was cleaning off the computer desk and there was all these Cd's that i had no idea what was on them. Anyways i popped one in and came across these pic's. my husband never showing them to me before, i thought they were so adorable. I know he would probably be embarrassed that i posted them, but i wanted to show of my hansom husband in his uniform. The first one is hard to see but if you click on it, you will see why i think it is so cute. Til now Ive never seen my husband try to pose so serious before. i couldn't help but smile

2009-06-15T15:26:00.000+01:00

Sunday started off so crazy busy, I'm over the 4 year olds in primary and with me only having less than 3 weeks left til my due date and 7 crazy four year olds that were all having tons of wiggles that day. I was definitely ready to get home and take a nap. On the plus side it was my last Sunday as a teacher sad but at the same time very excited for my new calling as Secretary in the primary. Of course the day was not over when we got home Jonathon had to leave right away to help fix a members truck. doesn't sound to hectic but maybe because I'm emotional and want attention. I started having a break down, so i called my sister for some comfort and advise. Jonathon got a ride home from the members house since he loaned our car to them for the day and we took the rest of the night off being together as a family.

we went and worked in the garden together,

Jacob is the one with the green thumb, he planted all the seeds in the garden

The rest of the night was perfect, we finished it off with homemade strawberry shakes and some haircuts then hit the hay for the night.

2009-06-09T16:15:00.000+01:00

Last night was too cute. i just got done giving jacob a bath and dressed for bed and we went to tell daddy to come in the house. But of course jonathon wasn't ready to come in and so jacob decided to be daddys little helper and climb under the car with him. Both of them were so dirty when they finally decided to call it quits. oh well at least were not in a drought here in arkansas. Lets hose both of you down.

2009-06-08T17:45:00.000+01:00

On sunday Jonathon and I had a baby blessing to go to for our friends katie and trent. But of course jonathon and I have a curse of always being late. This time ill take the blame or i can blame it on my car having to much power. I punched the gas after a stop and i can't help it my car hit 80 faster than i thought. Just my luck a police car was passing and turned his lights on. scared that i was going to get a ticket and ruin my perfect ticketless driving record the kind officer took pitty on me and let me go with a warning. yea but we ended up being late by minutes.

The rest of the day went perfect though Jacob was excited to see his best friend Brynlee our friends little 2 year old. These two are so adorable together, everytime we mention her name jacob gets so excited. I admit my son is a ladies man, but he saves his i love you's and kisses for mommy and daddy only. so im ok with him sharing his hugs.