Wiltbankfamily

Day 2

2010-10-11T13:58:00.005-07:00

Kennedy Space Center

July 22 we went to KSC. Dwight works for NASA so we had our own personal tour guide. I've always wanted to work for NASA so I was excited to see this place. All of us crowed into Peggy's Xterra. Jeremy and Quinton shared the way back.

There are three areas that we got to visit besides the main entrance. The first one we went to, we got to see the landing pad. There were three but two of them were not is services.

The second place we got to see an actual shuttle (never used), touch a moon rock, see an exhibit of different space suits and equipment, and watch a simulation of what its like to be in the count down room.The final place I though was the most interesting. We got to see the NASA employees actually working on the payload. There was one employee that dressed up in an alien mask and was playing with Quinton. It was real neat. We also got to walk through the space station. We got to see all the different NASA building but that payload building was the only one that we got to go in.

Space Station bathroom and sleeping quarters.

There was a building that we drove by that was huge. This building is where they assemble the shuttle. It is mostly one floor but there is a second floor for office space.

Once back at the main entrance, there is a kids play area and a simulation ride that is what it would be like to go up in the shuttle. We did get to see a couple of alligators while traveling between tour stops. Well, we saw the eyes.

Peggy had to leave before we did to go to play practice. When we got home, Jeremy and Dwight went to get some food for dinner. Jeremy got some fried gater. Gross, he said it was good. While they were gone, The babies were playing in Jonah's room. I was on the computer. I heard the babies laughing so hard and went to see what they were laughing at. Avery and Jonah were just playing on the air mattress together and thought it was so funny. They were laughing so hard it made me laugh too. It was good to see them getting along so good. Quinton joined in with them. Pretty good start to our trip.

Day one

2010-10-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

We decided for Quinton's 5th birthday to take a trip to Florida to see my sister Peggy and her family. While there we thought we would surprise Quinton with a day at Disney World. Quinton has flown before but he was only 15months old and doesn't remember it. That was our trip to Japan. Someday we'll go back. But he'll remember this trip, at least most of it.

The morning of July 21, we woke up (well I did) at 4 to get ready. Misti drove us to the airport at 5:30. We flew out at 7. We had a layover in TX. it was only suppose to be an hour but ended up being 2 1/2 hours. There was a flight attendant that was late. It was about 6pm when we got into Orlando. Peggy was there to pick us up with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. (I guess the airport is one of the only places they sell them.) Both Quinton and Avery did well on the flight. I was more worried about Avery but she did great. She kept busy, like when she found a floor vent to throw Jeremy's Ipod Touch into as well as a bag of skittles. We didn't get either of them back.

We just hung out with Peggy and Dwight the rest of the night. Kinda recoop before the fun starts the next day. It was a long day for the kids. Quinton fell asleep when we got to Peggy's and didn't wake up even to eat.

Summer 2010

2010-10-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

This summer went to fast. At least this year I was able to put Quinton in swim lessons for one session. I would have done a second session but work and vacation just wouldn't permit it. But Quinton had fun and wasn't scared at all. He even dove off the high diving board. I don't think he ment to but he did and it scarred him enough that he told me he's going to wait to go off it again until he is older. I was very impressed that he even did it at all.

We didn't go to often to the swimming pool but when we had time we filled up the little pool in the back yard to Quinton and Avery to play in. Avery wasn't scared of the water either. When I took Quinton to swim lessons, she would crawl to the edge of the pool. She loved it when I would let her put her feet in. She really enjoyed playing in the pool in the back yard with Quinton.

Avery's First Birthday

2010-09-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

WOW, time has gone so fast. Avery is already one and very independent. She took her first steps a few days before she turned one but didn't really get the hang of it until a week or so after. Now she is off and there is no stopping her. So for her birthday, we invited family and a few friends up to a place called Granville fka Cherry Lodge. It was a beautiful day. The weather was wonderful up where we were. Cherry Lodge is about 20 min from Morenci and about 20 degrees cooler.

Nothing like a good frosting mask to make you look and feel younger.
She didn't like her hat to much.

Avery had fun opening her presents but so did everyone else. She had a great 1st birthday and everyone there had a good time too.

Family Pictures

2009-11-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would post the pictures we took this past week.

Preschool

2009-10-28T16:02:00.001-07:00

We were lucky to get Quinton into Preschool this year. He loves it. He has made a lot of friends but unfortuanatly he is still as wild as ever. But he likes it and it is good for him. One of the things his class did was learn about plants and they planted pinto beans. Well they put beans in between two wet paper towels. One of the beans sprouted. He was so proud of it that when we got home he wanted to plant them in soil and see if theycontinue to grow. The one that sprouted grew a little more but never got leaves so we planted more beans. We planted 5 beans and only one grew but it is still alive today.

His class even took pictures.

Funny Things Quinton Has Said

2009-10-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

-This past Sunday, while Quinton was practicing for the primary program, he turned to his teacher and said "Let's talk about your boobs."
-Jeremy's mom is making my mom's wedding bouquet. I was getting ready to take the flowers over to her. I got the kids in the car and realized that I forgot the flowers. So I told Quinton "I'm going to run in and get the flowers for Grandma." Quinton asks "Did she die?" With a little laugh I answered "No". Quinton says "then why are we taking the flowers to her?"

-Quinton told me that Chips Ahoy is how you say Chocolate chip cookie in Spanish.

-Laughing like a Vampire is is one of his talents.

Chuck Wicks

2009-09-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Safford is becoming quite the entertainment town. The other night (Sept 22) Chuck Wicks was performing. For anyone who hasn't heard of his music he is a country singer. He has a few hit songs like "Stealing Cinderella" and "All I Ever Wanted" and "Man of the House". He has some other good songs too. Jeremy took me too see him. It was a great concert. He really gets into his music. He was opened by a singer named Nick Nicholson. He was real good too. Not yet known but he has one song out called "Somethin' Somethin" that he said is on the charts. Oddly enough he reminded both me and Jeremy of Jeremy's cousin. Weird. The pictures I got were on my cell phone. I didn't think I would need my camera. I'm kinda sad that I didn't take it. I almost got to shake Chuck Wicks' hand. I went up to take a picture with my phone just as one of the "security" guys was having everyone go sit down. So I got my picture and turn to go sit down just as he came to the stage and was shaking hands with those that stayed. He continued to shake hand throughout the concert but I didn't try to shake it. It was a nice night. I was worried about Avery who we left with my niece. I know that she would be fine. I was worried about my niece having to deal with a cranky baby. But everything worked out nice. Quinton played and Avery fell asleep early. No problem at all. It has been a long time since I went on a date with Jeremy. At first I didn't want to go and kinda made Jeremy fell bad but I'm glad we went. We had a good time.

Temple in the Gila Valley

2009-09-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

Months ago it was announced that there will be a temple built in the Gila Valley. The plans were drawn up and the site was dedicated and the work began. The temple is being built in Central. I have driven by the site many times and each time I say I want to stop and take pictures. But each time I drive by I either miss it or forget or don't have time. The temple is getting close to being finished. I think it is suppose to be done by January. The other day a co-worker in another office said they were putting up the Angel Moroni on the temple and went down to watch. He had one of his friends that was there taking pictures send him what he took. He was nice enough to send them to my boss who sent them to me. They are pretty nice pictures. I think this is real neat to see a temple being built. I've never seen one in all the stages from being planned all the way to being operational. This is an opportunity that I doubt that I will ever happen again. History in the making. And it's even neater that this one is so close. No more having to drive hours to go to the temple. Well I guess I will have to drive at least an hour since I moved to Morenci. I can only imagine how busy it will be.

Another Blessing Weekend

2009-09-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

Jeremy's sister Jennifer had a baby 10 days after Avery was born. She had a little boy named Grant. We went up to Coolidge for his blessing. While we were there we did a few other things. One thing was we pierced Avery's ears. She was mad but it didn't last long. She looks so cute with them. I got the smallest diamond they had but they still look so big in her ears. But that's ok. We had to stay in a hotel because there wasn't room in Jennifer's house for so many house guest. Quinton loved staying at the hotel and playing with his cousins. While at the hotel we took Avery for her first swim. She loved the water and didn't fuss until it was time to get out. It didn't bother her that we had to take her out of the pool after she pooped in her diaper and it was leaking out the sides. Such is life. Quinton had so much fun swimming. He wasn't afraid of the water at all. He was even jumping in where there wasn't anyone to catch him. I wasn't very Happy about that and he scarred us all, but he had so much fun. The blessing was nice. After church I put very back in her blessing dress so that her and Grant could get pictures together. She was so mad. She doesn't like being in her dress. I sat her up and she would slip right down. So I got the best pictures as possible. The earings never bothered her at all. We had to go home Sunday because I had to go back to work. My first day back was the Friday before. I'm only part time so I guess its not that bad.

Labor Day weekend 2009

2009-09-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

Every year on Labor Day weekend, Jeremy's family has their annual Wiltbank Family Reunion. This year it would be Avery's first camp out. For the most part she did pretty good. It was cold and rainy and she took it all in very well. Quinton had a lot of fun too. He played with cousins. Matter of fact, within 5 minutes of getting to the camp site, he found some kids to play with. And as usually, found some way to get into trouble. Funny story... I let Quinton and one of his cousins play with our old camera. I told them to go take picture of plants and trees. When they brought back the camera I looked to see what they took pictures of. As I'm looking through the pictures, I notice picture of Quinton climbing the ladder that led to the roof of our camp trailer. As I continue to flip through the pictures, the continues to climb the ladder then get on top of the trailer. He was caught on film (so to speak) doing something that he wasn't suppose to do. It was so funny that I couldn't get mad at him. He's lucky he didn't fall. The last time he climbed the ladder he did fall but I was right there and caught him. He was luck. So back to the camp out. It rained a lot. We had a dutch oven dessert cook off. And guess who tied for first? Yup my dump cake tied. It is one of my family's favorite desserts. I wasn't sure if it would turn out. I was more surprised that it won. We played one hand of chicken foot dominoes Sunday afternoon before we had to pack up and leave. Jeremy had to work Monday so we actually spent Labor Day at home. But it was a good first camp out for Avery.

Avery's blessing

2009-09-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Avery was blessed August 16 by her father. As any other time you want everything to go smooth and perfect, things are stressful and rushed. With such a big family that I have we had to make sure we were at the church early enough to get lots of seating. I think even as early as we were and as many rows we saved, we still didn't have enough. I guess that is how it goes. The blessing was beautiful. We had a big circle and even though Jeremy was nervous, he did great. Then pictures after the meeting. Lunch was at my mom's house and that was crazy. My mom has a big house but there were a lot of people and things weren't ready. So that was stressful. But it all turned out good. Avery looked so beautiful. My mom made the dress, my sister-in-law made the bonnet and my sister made her a bracelet. It was a good day. Not to mention the dress was saved from the traditional blessing day diaper explosion. Thank goodness. We had four generations there from both side. it was nice to have so many grandma's around. Unfortunately there was only one grandpa at the time.
We had a little lunch after at my mom's house and man was it crowded. She has a good size house but there were a lot of people. It turned out to be a nice day.

Avery's birth

2009-09-15T13:37:00.001-07:00

Where does the time go??? It has been four months since my last blog. So I'll just start with July. July 1st we signed papers on our house. It's not really our house, just a rental. Jeremy's work has company housing that they rent to the employees real cheap. We've been on the list for probably a year and finally we got one. So that was a Wednesday. Before leaving Safford we went looking for new living room furniture since we didn't have any. Then on to Coolidge. At the time I was 38 weeks along. On Thursday (July 2nd) I had a doctor's appointment. We were also going to get stuff from storage and take it back to Morenci. However, the doctor said that I was 4cm and about 50% effaced and that the baby would probably come that night or that weekend. Jeremy was not going to let me go back to Safford let alone Morenci. So we still went out to the storage unit and loaded up the truck. Jeremy dropped me and Quinton off at my sister's house and left for Morenci. The doctor was right again. While he was gone, I started having contractions. Not bad ones. Just little ones here and there. About 10:30 they were stronger and coming more often. Jeremy was going to drop the stuff off in Morenci and come straight back. Around midnight (July3rd) I had timed the contractions for the past hour. They were different then when I was pregnant with Quinton. The contractions were coming every 5 min. unless I changed position. Then it would be 7 min and then back to 5. The contractions hurt but not like with Quinton. Quinton started out strong and literally brought be to my knees. Jeremy got back a little after 12. I called the hospital and talked to a nurse to see what I should do. She said to come in. So we did. Jeremy barely had time to sit before we were off. I was admitted to the triage. When they checked me, I was just about 6cm. With Quinton I was 3cm when I went into the hospital. So I figured it would go fast. Once they had a room for me, I was taken to the L&D room. I didn't get the epidural right away. I thought maybe it won't be so bad and could go without it. I was wrong. Eventually the contractions got worst and got the epidural. I stayed at 6cm for about 6-7 hours. When I got to a 7 my doctor broke my water. Even then I didn't progress any faster. Finally I made it to 8cm. I felt a couple of gushed and next thing I knew it was time to push. I went from and 8 to 10cm in a matter of minutes. I pushed for probably 10 min and then my beautiful Avery was born. 7lbs 5 oz and 19 1/2 inches. Some may think its gross but I got to watch Avery be born. The nurse brought in a mirror and I watched her come out. It was the neatest thing I have ever witnessed. She looked so much like Quinton only with beautiful little girl fingers. She had lots of hair and cutest round face. Quinton was happy to see her. Both Quinton and Avery were born 11 days early, both 7 lbs babies, I was in labor 10 hours and only pushes for 10 min with both. Both are very beautiful (even though Quinton says he's not beautiful, he's handsome).

What a smart boy

2009-05-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

I called into Quinton to see what he was doing and guess what he said?? Writing his name. So I walked in the room to make sure he wasn't using a permanent marker again. Not this time. He was using Jenga blocks. I helped him change the direction of a few letters but he did wrote it out himself. He usually writes his "Q" upside-down.

Jeremy's Graduation

2009-05-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Here's my Graduate. I'm soooo proud of him. He finished his school and did pretty good. He would have graduated with honor if it wasn't for a few classes he signed up for 15 years ago and never went. Who new that those grades would be added into these grades. But that over and he is done. Here's Jeremy with a few of his class mates. Jeremy made a lot of friends at school that helped him pass his classes.

May 8, 2009es.

Halloween 2008

2009-04-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

Looking over my pictures, there is a lot that we did last year that I could have blogged about. I'm just so bad at it. One of the fun things last year was that we took Quinton to the Pumpkin Patch in Willcox. It's the first time I had been there too. It was a warm day in October. We went with my mom and two of my sisters and their kids. There was a hay ride around the place. We didn't get to take the ride but maybe next year. Quinton enjoyed running from one pumpkin to the next asking if that one was a good one. Then we took the pumpkins home and closer to Halloween we carved the pumpkins. Quinton thought it was pretty cool pulling out the insides. The morning before we went to the pumpkin patch, there was a fall festival down town. Quinton got to dress up in his costume.

I made this. This is the only kind of pumpkin carving I like to do.

Quinton's 3rd B-day

2009-04-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

Quinton's birthday was in 2 parts. The first was on his actual birthday. We went up to the valley. I had my first doctor appointment. I was hoping that Quinton would get to see his baby brother or sister at the appointment. Unfortunately I had what is called a Blighted Ovum which means that the baby stopped developing a few weeks into the pregnancy and died. So my uterus was empty. So that was the low part of the day. But we made up for it with fun. That evening we went to a Diamondbacks vs. Cubs game. That was the funnest game I have ever been to. There was more going on in the crowd than on the field. Cubs fans can get rowdy. All the people around us just loved Quinton. He's such a friendly guy that he was talking to everyone. He had a blast. Then next day before we headed home, we took Quinton to the Zoo. It was HOT. At the Phoenix Zoo, there is a water area for the kids to get wet. I took advantage of it too. Quinton had fun. It was almost closing time so we didn't have time to see all the animals so we took the train ride to see what animals we could.

The second part was the weekend after. Quinton wanted a "Fun-Fu Panda" (aka Kung-Fu Panda) birthday party. We went up to the mountains and invited friends and family. Before the party could get started, it started to rain. So we packed up everything and moved the party to my mom's house. The house was crowed and some of the presents got wet but it turned out to be a great day for Quinton.

New Toys

2009-04-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, Jeremy was finishing up his first year at school and wanting a truck. It just so happen that my brother wanted to sell his truck. It's an older truck but a nice one. So we bought it. This past March Jeremy turned his wonderful truck (I sometimes call the Beast) into w 3-wheeler in an accident. Luckily for us, my brother that we bought it from is good with vehicles and can fix it to make it look like it never happened. Wish I could say the same for the title. I still find it hard to believe that a little car could have knocked the tire off this big thing. Don't know what kind of car 'cuz we never got a copy of the police report. At the time it happened, I couldn't talk about it. I didn't even tell the ladies I work with. But the whole ordeal is almost over and soon it will be just a memory and a higher insurance rate.

Just before my miscarriage at the end of July, we started looking for a camp trailer. Every year Jeremy's family has a family reunion and my family likes to go camping and trailers make things so much easier. We were in Mesa for my D&C Surgery and Jeremy got a second wind and was bound and determined to find a trailer. So luckily I was feeling ok after a little rest so we went out in search of a trailer. We looked at a few until we found this beauty. She's older too and in need of a little work but a good deal. Jeremy and Quinton picked her up the following Monday. We took out the carpet and replaced it with linoleum, cleaned the couches and it was good to go. We've used it a few times last year and hope to use it some more this year once the truck is fixed.

Another itch of ours. With our growing family we decided a bigger car was what we needed. 2008 was turning out to be an expensive year. We got this before the copper dropped and wasn't sure that Jeremy even had a job still but here we are April 2009 and things are looking good for now. This will be the last purchase for a VERY LONG time. After much research, I found that Pathfinders are more cost efficent in the long run and we are getting about the same gas mileage with this as we were with our Stratus. This one has tinted windows:) Of course black doesn't really help in the Arizona sun. Oh well.

Playing Catch up

2009-04-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

So it's been a few years since I have done any posting. Few things have changed. Quinton is now 3 1/2 (going on 16, he's always asking to drive the car) and very independent. He is very smart. He knows his alphabets and can spell and write his first name. If you look close to the picture above, he wrote his name on the garbage can in permanent marker. He writes his "Q" upside-down. We're working on middle and last. He is going to be a big brother too. At first he wasn't very excited about his baby sister. To be honest, he was mad. When the technician told us that it looks like a girl, he chased her down the hall telling her that "it's a boy." A little later he told me "I not glad any more." He was so broken hearted. That was in February. Now he is ok. Mostly because he thinks that he is having the little brother. I'll have him talk to his little sister and he will put his lips on my belly and tell her he loves her. Then he will have me talk to his little brother by doing the same. At my last doctor appointment, I told the doctor that Quinton is having a baby too. My doctor put the Doppler thing on his belly and moved it around so it sounded like there is a baby in there. He thought that was pretty neat. Luckily he doesn't talk much about his baby in his belly. That baby has been replaced with a stuffed bunny rabbit. He calls it his baby and take it everywhere, well almost everywhere. He's brought it a few times to Walmart with us and the bunny gets put in the front seat of the basket. But he loves his baby sister. I know he will be a great big brother. He like to help with the cooking and the cleaning. He's even given his bunny a bath.

Baby girl Wiltbank is due to be born July 14th. If this pregnancy is like Quinton's, she will be early. We moved to Safford over 2 years ago. They have one clinic and one doctor here for deliveries. So opted to go back to the same doctor that I went to with Quinton which is in Gilbert.

We have a few first names picked out but nothing set in stone. Her middle name will be Pearl which is my middle name, which I got from my Great-Grandmother. I'm still working. I work for the Graham County Recorder's Office. I've been here since we moved to Safford and most likely I'll be here for a while after the baby comes. The pregnancy hasn't been too bad. At the beginning, I had the all-day yuckies, but that's about it. Now it's easy going for the most part. I've had quite a bit of stress from various sources, but other than that, it has been a been a pretty easy pregnancy.

As for Jeremy, I'm am proud of this wonderful guy. On May 8th, 2009, Jeremy will be graduating from EAC with his AAS in Electrical Mining Technician. More pictures to follow. He was fortunate to get accepted as an intern for the FreePort McMoRan Mine (formally known as Phelps Dodge). They paid for him to go to school and paid him to work. It is a great program. He has worked so hard and has kept his grade up. He has met a lot of friends that have helped him. I think he has enjoyed college life. He says he will be glad when it's over but he'll probably miss it too. We had a little scare a month or so ago when the company told him that he would be laid off as soon as school is over. Copper prices dropped to the point that over 1500 employees. We were worried that Jeremy would be in that group but he made it through just to be told he wouldn't have a job after school is done. So we looked for jobs and he did get one call back in WY. I wasn't too excited but I go where Jeremy goes. Then a few weeks ago, Jeremy was told that they would honor their contract and keep the interns on for another two years. Copper prices are on the rise. So for the next two years we will be here. We're on the list to get a Morenci house, so I guess we'll be there for the next two years.

Chaddie's wedding

2007-06-27T17:54:00.001-07:00

Introducing...

Mr & Mrs Chad Lutz
Chad and Kammi were married June 1, 2007.

This is four of my six brothers. Gary is in Iraq serving his country and Cody (the youngest) is in Lousianna serving his church.

And these handome men are the loves of my life. Looking good waiting for the bride and groom.

This is my happy little family at the reception. Are we so cute.

2007-06-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Jeremy and I took a trip up to Utah for my brother Chad's open house. Chad's now wife is from Utah. Quinton got to spend the weekend with his grandma and grandpa Wiltbank
We stopped at Hoover Dam. It's crazy how high the water use to be.

While in Utah, we found a Krispy Kreme. YUM!!!

Jeremy has never been to Las Vegas., so on our way back, we stopped to play some machines. Jeremy lost all his money but I won $175.

2007-06-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

This was Quinton's hair before his first hair cut.

Quinton did so well while he was getting trimmed. Much better then mommy. Look at how cute he is after all is done.

2006-12-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas is here again, and like most families, anual picture taking time. Quinton was soooo good through all of the takes and retakes. Even though it was just infront of our Christmas tree at home, there was a lot of running back and forth and tring to focus just right and then trying to make it before the timer when off. It was fun!!!

Merry Christmas all!!!

2006-11-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

Quinton was a spider for Halloween. He had so much fun. At first he didn't know what was going on but when he realized that if he held out his pumpkin to people, they can him stuff.

2006-11-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

Our family took a trip to Japan last month. Here we are at a castle in Aizu. And then at a Sameri training school. We also visited Tokyo, Niigata, Matsushima and Sendai. We had a blast!!!

We had a wonderful "tour guide." Her name is Hiroko Furukawa. She is more like a friend. She helped us out a lot with the planning and introduced us to a lot of new things while we were there.

2006-11-21T14:51:00.002-08:00

His daddy is a Chicago Bears fan. So that make Quinton one also (since the day he was born). Isn't his dad cute!!

2006-11-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

Recently Quinton had a bronchial infection and had to have breathing treatments. But he is all better now.

2006-11-21T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here he is one year later. Happy, healthy and just sooo cute.

2006-11-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

Meet the JK Wiltbanks. Here we have Jeremy, Karissa and Quinton. This picture was taken when Quinton was four months old at his first basketball game.