It's been a long while... quick update!

It's been well over a year since I've made a post.  I would like to say that I'm too busy to take the time to post something, however, that's not the case.  I suppose my day to day life is filled with day to day stuff - to which I have to pick and choose what I do with my time.  So we'll see if I'm able to keep up with it or not.

Jordan is now in 8th grade and doing well.  He's had braces since last November, and he's really growing up (size and maturity).

Trevor is now the big man on campus, so to speak.  He's in 6th grade and finishing his last year at Elementary school.  He's quite the spitfire and very opinionated - but we love him so much!

Rich is now the Vice President of Marketing for UltraVolt.  This is a new promotion as of September 2011.  I'm excited for the recognition of all of his hard work over the past 8 years!

As far as an update for me... I'm still here, still the mom, wife, taxi driver, homemaker, etc...

We are in the middle of the beautiful fall colors here in upstate NY.  It's such a beautiful thing seeing all of God's creations in various colors.  Fall is my favorite season, so I'm happy!!

Trying out a Different Look!

Well, since my hairstyle doesn't change much, I might as well try out the blog backgrounds!

This week I'm getting ready for a trip to Europe! Rich has business in Germany and Italy, so of course I would NEVER pass up an opportunity to travel the world!

We're actually leaving on Monday the 23rd (our 14th wedding anniversary) and will be heading to Dusseldorf, Germany first. Then it's off to Munich, Germany. We'll be in Munich over the weekend, so on Saturday we're going to hop a train to Salzburg, Austria (the hills are alive... with the sound of music) YIPPIE! Finally we'll be flying to Milan, Italy. We'll also be taking one day at the end of the trip to take a day trip to either Lake Como, Italy or Lugano, Switzerland. Both cities are in the Alps with gorgeous lakes.

When we get back, we have just about a week before school starts. Luckily I'm an UBERplanner, so I've pretty much got everything ready for the boys for school.

Jordan will be starting Middle school finally! He's in 7th grade this year. (Their elementary school goes through 6th grade).

Trevor will be in 5th grade and is looking forward to being in the "older" grades!

Why do I have a Blog?

I'm not quite sure why I have a blog!

I suppose it's the idea that I like. Perhaps someday I will get my stuff together.

The summer is coming to an end. And it's amazing how my "take it easy" summer turned into a busy trip after trip and here and there and everywhere summer!

We've got one more trip before school starts for Rich and me. Will hopefully have something to report on later.

Until then... Enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer.

Yikes!!!

I'm NOT in Iowa! My friend Mindy alerted me to the fact that I'm not in Iowa... I've actually been home from Iowa for almost two months!

YIKES!!!

I'm just not good at blogging! There are so many great people out there that keep up with their blogs and I'm not in that crowd.

Sorry to all of the Bailey Family blog readers.

I can't promise that I'll be any better, but I will try!

I'm in Iowa!

I should have plenty of time to blog, but I'm keeping busy tending to my mom and dad!

I came out to the Quad Cities last week, leaving Wednesday, March 10th on the train. My dad was recently diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia called Hairy Cell Leukemia. He opted for the one-week chemo treatment that is a bit harsh, but it gets the job done. When he went in to have his chemo pump removed, he was running a slight fever. Later that day he spiked a high fever, and he was taken to the emergency room. He was admitted to the hospital with what is called a Neutropenic Fever (a fever related to having no immune system). They put him on fluids, antibiotics and a daily shot of a white blood cell booster.

I came out to be here to help my mom. She has MS, and stressful times trigger her episodes. We visited my dad daily, for the 8 days he was in the hospital. He is finally home now. They kept him in the hospital to allow for his white blood cell counts to get high enough to fight little infections. Dad is still a bit fatigued, and taking things easy.

I'm staying until this coming Wednesday, March 24th.

I have to give a HUGE thanks to my sweet hubby that is playing mom and dad for the time I'm away. Also to Haylee Christensen for baby sitting the boys while Rich was in Long Island for work for 3 days.

I'm grateful that my dad is doing well. He will never be completely cured of this particular kind of Leukemia, however it's highly treatable, and if it returns, he can repeat treatment over and over again.

Experiences like this make you remember how precious and short this mortal life can be! I'm grateful for everyday we have to share together our earthly experience.

Next blog... hopefully our Bailey Family Florida re-cap!

I'm SO bad at this!

So, I'm not sure who convinced me to start blogging, but apparently I'm REALLY bad at it! The only reason I have a chance to post today is because it's a snow day, and I'm not out running around.

Life has been kind of crazy since October. Let's see... here's a re-cap!

November - went to Texas to visit my brother's and sister's. Had a great time!

December - Christmas, and celebrated my 35th birthday in Toronto with my honey, two boys, and Oma & Opa

January - back to the grind... oh and got a new calling - I'm now the Activity day leader, and a Primary teacher for the Valiant 10/11.

February - went to Iowa for winter break (not quite a break from winter, but a fun time visiting Oma & Opa)

not a very exciting life... but we are up to date now!

I hope that my next blog won't be 4 months from now... we'll see!

Pictures Have Arrived!!!

It's taken me a while, but I finally have the pictures from Seattle downloaded from the camera and then uploaded to the blog! We hope you enjoy a small glimpse of our trip!

------------ Day 1 ------------
Flying to Seattle, getting settled.
-------------------------------

-------------- Day 2 --------------
Olympic Peninsula, Crescent Lake, Hoh Rainforest, Forks, La Push
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The drive around the Olympic Peninsula is INCREDIBLY beautiful!
This is the view of coming down along Crescent Lake.

Crescent lake with the mountains right up to the lake. We drove
with the mountains up to the one side and the lake on the other side.
SO beautiful!

Crescent Lake

Rich and Angie at the Hoh Rainforest,
in the Olympic National Park.

Fallen arched tree...

Rich in the rainforest lushness...it's the dry season
and it's still SO green!

Angie framed by some tree branches...

Rich with the HUGE trunk of a fallen tree... 200+ feet tall

It's a beautiful drive in and out of the Hoh Rainforest...
18 miles into the Olympic National Park

We made it to Forks! We love the Twilight books! We took
the one way 145 mile trip from Seattle to Forks!

Treaty line between Forks and Quileute Indian Reservation...

Vampire Baseball anyone?

Baseball game scenes filmed here for Twilight.

Howling wolf driftwood on La Push Beach

Off shore rock formations at La Push Beach.

Surfing at La Push beach in 45 degree rainy yuck... still beautiful!

Quileute Alphabet (posted at the post office in La Push, WA)

------------- Day 3 -------------
Seattle
---------------------------------

Space Needle

Space Needle from below

Downtown Seattle view from Space Needle

Pike Place Market

Masses at the market

------------- Day 4 -------------
Taking a lazy day in Mukilteo at the shore
---------------------------------

Ivar's - the BEST clam chowder I've EVER had!

Surf board driftwood...

Angie getting her toes wet in the water!

-------------- Day 5 --------------
Happy 13th Anniversary - Whidbey Island, Deception Pass, Anacortes
-----------------------------------

Wild blackberries... YUM YUM YUM!

Useless Bay on Whidbey Island... why is it useless?

Oh deer... we came across 6-7 deer at this cottage hotel... they totally
were not afraid of us... this was a beautiful view!

Deception Pass Park

Rich on the huge rock by the shore...

Water crashing on the rocks...

Deception Pass bridge

Deception Pass bridge from the middle island just off the bridge.

Views from the bridge.

Anacortes... we just came across this shore stone gazebo in a neighborhood park.

View of the San Juan Islands
where some Orca Whales live.

I think this boat is out of service! Too cool!

------------------- Day 6 ------------------
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
--------------------------------------------
"Gastown" in downtown Vancouver, B.C.
We ate inside the trolley car - fun!

View of downtown Vancouver from Stanley Park.

Video of the Vancouver waterway - with jumping fish - funny!

Flower gardens at Stanley Park, Vancouver B.C.


Countryside view of the mountains - Beautiful!

---------------- Day 7 ------------------
Seattle Temple, Snoqualmie Falls, Olympia, Tacoma
-----------------------------------------

Seattle Washington Temple

Did you know the temple has a bunny...

Snoqualmie Falls Observation stand (a bit on the ...
"are we going to fall off the edge" for me).

Snoqualmie Falls

Love this... for sale in the visitor's center!

Olympia, State Capital Building

Olympia State Capital gardens
(nice use of corn in the garden)

Inside the capital building... it's ALL marble!

Tacoma Downtown

"Is that man really stealing the statues bag..."

Loved this bridge!

It was a fantastic trip!