Autumn Faith Hess

So our little Autumn hasn't been feeling well for the past few days - a little RSV, the stomach flu and a fever. So her and Jen have been spending days together while she is trying to get better. For those of you who know Autumn - you know how unusual it is to get a moment like this with her. Jen said that this was her all day yesterday. She was miserable.

On my way home from work I stopped and grabbed something that I thought would make her smile - hard to believe but Dad is still the hero!!

Here is also a picture of Jayna doing a school project - she had to take 100 things to school for the 100th day of school. She asked me if she could take some wirenuts, so I brought some home and here she is counting out 100 of them.






Lastly, Autumn is feeling much better today - after 2 days her fever broke last night (I think that it was the rocking horse - Jen doesn't necessarily agree) so today she was much more herself. Jen decided to go to church tonight so Autumn and I hung out. When she is ready to go to bed Jen usually carries her to her room whereas I let her walk. Tonight she was a few steps in front of me and I walked in her room to this: (of course this is reenacted for video sake)

Dead End Roads

I have had the joy of living on a dead end road basically my whole life. I grew up on a dead end dirt road that was only a few hundred yards long, when Jen & I bought our first house in Midland it was on a dead end road and then we moved to our current location on the end of a dead end. One of the many joys of living on a dead end road is the lack of traffic which basically allows you to play in the road. Here are a couple of pictures of us this winter including some of us playing in the road here and some of us playing in the road at Mom's.

Beautiful Girls

Christmas Videos

Here are a couple of videos of Christmas Day at Mom's house. Enjoy!!

Happy Birthday

When we got back from Las Vegas we celebrated Jen's birthday. Here are a couple of pictures of our little party. Both of the girls love love love birthdays. They get very excited about anyone's birthday. Enjoy!!

Finally Pictures

I thought that I better show Jen how to put up pictures again - so here you are. I am just putting up a few pictures from our long weekend in Vegas a couple of weeks ago!!




Here is our hotel - it was huge and even had two Starbucks in the lobby. Crazy!! The 'House of Blues' was also located in our hotel - we enjoyed the World Famous Gospel Brunch on Sunday morning at the House of Blues and saw an incredible children's choir.







We spent the last day there at the Hoover Dam. Quite an incredible site.

We had rented a car for the day to drive to the Hoover Dam and were amazed when we looked back through the desert and could see the whole city. Definitely a little different than Michigan (it was so nice to come back home to trees for sure)

Just a Little Update

Sorry, I still haven't had time to figure out our picture thing. So for now, I will just give you a little update on our lives:

Jayna's Arm: Her surgery was a success, for the most part. The nails were removed, but it took a lot of time and hard work on Dr. Goethe's part. Also, he accidentally cut the tendon that controls her thumb, so she is in a soft cast for a bit longer to heal that properly. We think she will be cast free Feb. 12th.

Aaron and Jen's Vacation: Yes, we managed to sneak away for a few days and went to Las Vegas baby! Aaron hadn't been there before, and we got a really good deal. We had a super time! We stayed at the Mandalay Bay resort, which was very nice and a bit quieter than the middle of the strip. We were able to visit the Shark Reef Aquarium, House of Blues (gospel brunch), Hoover Dam, Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden, Antique Car Show, the mall and a wonderful show, "LOVE Cirque du Soleil." We really enjoyed being together. The girls stayed at home with Amber. They were super happy each time we called, which made our time away that much better. Of course, it was really nice to come home and be a family again.

Other: There is not much else to report, other than we are all healthy (praise God!) and living our day to day lives. We are thankful for so many things: each other, a loving/forgiving Father, health, "the necessities" and then much more, wonderful family/friends/church family, etc. We do have our ultrasound with the specialist on Thursday. We are trusting God that all is well, and He has a perfect plan for this baby within our family and beyond.

May you be encouraged today: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13