Holdcraft Family Blog http://holdcraft.net/blog A Journal of the Holdcraft's in Arizona Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:31:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Jak Jak has his 1st AZ Yuckies…& other updates http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/02/01/jak-jak-has-his-1sy-az-yuckies-other-updates/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/02/01/jak-jak-has-his-1sy-az-yuckies-other-updates/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:28:19 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/02/01/jak-jak-has-his-1sy-az-yuckies-other-updates/ HI Everyone!  Quick update, Jak Jak has his 1st cold since moving to AZ.  He just coughing real bad on Friday, so I took him to the dr (mommy panicked, because I was having pneumonia flashbacks!)… but I am glad I did because we got him on nubulizer treatments and also got him on a oral steroid 2x day for 4 days.  So he is doing pretty well, all things considered!  Just a common cold, but it hits him harder because of his asthma.  Other than that he is doing wonderful!  A handful, but great! 

Elli is doing well too!  We went to Mesquite Elementary last week to get her regsitered for Kindergarten!  She is very excited, but I think despite her being in Day care and preschool, I will still be a mess! But it is a good mess.. my little girl is growing up! :)

Dave is almost 2 weeks quit smoking!!! YAY!!!!! I think he is having an easier time with it too, everyday gets easier!I am doing well.  

I am still loving running!  I ran 6.2 miles yesterday!!! :)  My legs were wobbly by the time I got home, but it felt good!!  My 1st 10K is next week, and I found a friend to run it with me that runs marathons, so I am excited!   I also became a “member” of my church today… the pastor also asked me to share my “journey of faith” with our church today!  I was very nervous, but everyone thanked me and told me what an interesting story I have.. it was nice to hear that from everyone!

 We have our close friends from MI coming out to see us in a short time (1.5 weeks), we are SOOO excited to see them again!  We plan to take a short trip to Vegas!  We are VERY excited for that!!  Grandma will be watching the kids, so it will be fun for the kids too!

 That is it from us!!  Still loving the weather, though I am a little worried what our summer will be like because it is already in the upper 70s and it is only the end of Jan!!

Love ya!! 

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/02/01/jak-jak-has-his-1sy-az-yuckies-other-updates/feed/ 0 Yay Dave!! http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/01/22/yay-dave/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/01/22/yay-dave/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:07:14 +0000 amy http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/01/22/yay-dave/ Dave is 3 days quit and I think he really needs props from everyone!!  So everyone give him a Hoo-rah Dave!! :)   I am SO SO very proud of him!  I KNOW he is going to do it this time!!  He did SO great the last time he was on Chantix, and he would have kept with it if it was not for his weak wife going to buy him smokes after dealing with a SCREAMING post-op baby for 2 weeks! (I would do it again..no one can explain the torture of your baby crying like that!)<Br>

<Br? Also, wish him a Happy Be-lated B-day, we had a really nice quiet b-day!  Someone from his work offered to sit for us as a b-day gift!  Dave and I went to Outback for dinner then walked around Wal-mart and bought a froggy shower curtain for the kids’ bathroom.  It was so nice just to have some time together!  Considering 2 years ago for his b-day we had just found out about Jak’s cleft and got my amnio results back on his b-day, and one year ago Jakob was admitted to the hospital with Pneumonia on his b-day!!  So this year was extremely nice!<Br>

Anyways, I am very proud of you, keep it up hunny!! 

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2009/01/22/yay-dave/feed/ 3 Merry Christmas Eve http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-eve/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-eve/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:23:16 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-eve/ Hi Everyone!I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas!  Everything is going well here since my last post, we been busy.  
I ran another 5k, the Tempe Iron Girl. I did pretty good, my mile pace was not the best but my place was 203 out of 1010!  I am really enjoying my running, it has really become my “me time” that I really need. 
Elli has been having an absolute blast for Christmas this year!  She was adorable during her Christmas Recital with pre-school.  I will have Dave upload a video I took during the recital to You Tube.

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She also sang at the Senior center with her Youth Group.It was SO cute!  She did not know many of the words to the songs, but she was certainly charming the pants off of all the Grandmas and Grandpas!
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It is hard to explain but Elli and Jak really have been such a blessing this Christmas.  It is SO much fun to watch them!  No matter what our stress level is, Elli and Jak have not lost that Christmas spirit.  From sharing Hot coco together, to seeing Christmas lights, to making Christmas cookies, this Christmas has been very rewarding to watch the kids!  It is SO great to be out here, in AZ, with my mom and sister, building new Christmas memories with them, enjoying the weather, but we are also extremely sad to not be with Dave’s family.  It is just not the same not having our Holdcraft Christmas party with Barb’s Italian beef!  :)  We REALLLLLLY miss you guys!

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Good news on my work front, we won the Commercial Resupply Services project from NASA!! It is a delivery system to send supplies to the International Space Station.  This is a 1.9 billion dollar contract for us!  I am REALLY hoping I can get on that project!  But regardless, it is great news for Orbital, and it means job security!

Dave is hoping to get registered for a class very soon!  I am SO VERY happy he has chosen to go back to school for teaching!  I think it is a great fit for him, and it is neat to see him follow in his dad’s footsteps.  I know it is has been very hard for him to deal with losing his career, more then I could explain or probably even know.. so getting his teaching certificate is really huge.

So we are busy, a little stressed, but we have to remember to reflect on what is most important, family, and that we are very strong in!  Merry Christmas everyone!  Love you all! 

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-eve/feed/ 0 Elli’s B-Day http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/23/ellis-b-day/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/23/ellis-b-day/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:02:53 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/23/ellis-b-day/ Hi Everyone,Elli had a great B-Day.  Like any princess would do, she made it last all weekend long!  We went to Organ Stop on Thursday, party at her school on Friday, went to the zoo on Saturday, and I took them to the park to ride the train on Sunday.  She told me got everything she wished for!!
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And her fav. part was Organ Stop (she loved the dancing cats!) and getting Thomas the Train.  It is amazing how that place totally captivated both of them!  We realized Organ Stop is celebrating their 30th anniversary and Dave actually went to Organ Stop 30 years ago when he was 5! :)
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The zoo was fun too!  Though Elli was tired and Daddy’s leg was hurting, tt was great to be with Grandma Nese and Aunt Sarah!  She wore her B-day crown the whole time at the zoo, very cute!
We are all LOVING the weather here.. I ran a 5K race on Friday night and it was a beautiful 70(s) degrees outside.  It feels so great to be able to get back into shape and run..even though it hard to find time to run (I usually run at 5am, if I can motivate myself to get up), it has REALLY become my “me time”.  I am trying  to (I WILL) run a 5k every month and then slowly increase my mileage and run the PF Chang’s Half Marathon in January of 2010.  
That is about it here.. Everyone is doing well.. Jak man is doing great!  Eating and talking a ton!  And he is healthy!!  Such a change from last year!  It is SO incredibly nice to beliving a “normal” life with our kids.Everyone have a Happy T-Day.
It is going to be very nice to celebrate Thanksgiving out here in WARM AZ with Grandma Nese and Aunt Sarah… though we will also REALLLLLY miss being with Barbie’s family!
Love to all! Check out the new pics!
Amy

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/23/ellis-b-day/feed/ 0 Happy Birthday Elliana Mary!! http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/13/happy-birthday-elliana-mary/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/13/happy-birthday-elliana-mary/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:19:20 +0000 amy http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/13/happy-birthday-elliana-mary/ Miss Elli turns 5 today!!!  She is very excited about her birthday and has been singing happy birthday to herself since 6:30am!  I went out and got Elli, Jak, and daddy doughnuts before I went to work this morning.  She also made a special b-day crown last night with me that she then wore to church “cubbie bears”, is wearing now, will probably wear for a week!   Elli Bean knows how to make her B-Day last!! 

Tonight we are going to my all-time “geeky” fav. place; Organ Stop Pizza!!  (I know Ali, Michelle, Julie, and Marni just lol for my love for Organ Stop!)  (http://www.organstoppizza.com/)

Saturday we are going to the zoo.  Elliana is having a great b-day.  So hard to grasp the concept that she is 5 years old!!  I love watching her grow up, she has really blossomed into a extrodinary little girl! Though her personality can be challanging at times, I would not trade it for the world!  I love that she can make friends with ANYONE, whether it be a tough biker dude at Blockbuster, a truck full of Mexicans when we are driving, or bunch of pretty teenager girls at the park, she wants to be friends with everyone!

Love you Miss Elli and I hope you have a great day!!

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/13/happy-birthday-elliana-mary/feed/ 0 Trick or Treat!! http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/02/trick-or-treat/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/02/trick-or-treat/#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:01:54 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/02/trick-or-treat/ Hi Everyone! We had a great Halloween.  Elli was a Kitty and Jak was a doggy.  Jak-Jak didn’t quite understand what was going on, but he was having a blast following Elli around!
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Daddy had to work so missed out on the kids trick or treating, but he did come home in time to see the kiddos in their costumes.  :) Plus, he did carve the pumpkin the night before, he and Elli got “the goopies out” of the pumpkin. Jak-Jak did not want to go near the goopies. 
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They were both SO adorable trick or treating.  I hauled them around in the wagon to each house, they definitely had fun!
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 My friend Meg even stopped by and was generous enough to buy me a costume!  Elli was calling me “you heiness” all night!  She even instructed Daddy how to address me! :)
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Check out the photo gallery to see all the pictures! 

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/11/02/trick-or-treat/feed/ 2 Update from the Hs http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/10/20/update-from-the-hs/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/10/20/update-from-the-hs/#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:36:34 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/10/20/update-from-the-hs/ Hi Everyone,I am going to attempt to better with the blog page and actually use it!  We have all been extremely busy and it has been eventful past 2 weeks! Most of you know the details so I won’t go into them here, but in the end we are very happy, everything happens for a reason, and everything is going well with us in SUNNY and WARM AZ.!! :)  It is  SLOWLY starting to cool off.  I am enjoying my cold runs in the morning (yes I am getting back into running and I am loving it!)  I ran the Race for the Cure a couple weeks ago.  Over 43,000 people ran the race.. it was SUCH a memorable way to ran my 1st 5K in a VERY long time!Two weeks ago we took Elli and Jak to a farm.  Schnepf’s Farm.. it was a HUGE farm.  We probably could have stayed another hour or so, but the kiddos were exhausted!img_1413.jpg  Jak man had another Post-op appt today.  Everything went well and his scar is still not healing as well as they would like but, we are going to wait another 3 months before we think about starting steroid shots.  He is doing great.  He is a handful, especially with Dave and I working opposite shifts, but he makes me laugh and amazes me every day. img_1385.jpgElli is LOVING preschool.  She is now singing her ABCs, counting up 15, we are working on words, AND she is wearing undies at bedtime!!!  WOO-HOO!  For Elli, these are amazing accomplishments and we are very proud of her!  She is really blossoming into a sweet, awesome, social butterfly little girl.  She is in youth group program at our church and she is loving that too.   The other week when I came home from my race I gave her a pink cape and a pink scarf I got at the race.. she wore that along with a pink snow hat when we went out on our normal running around at stores.. it was very cute!img_1450.jpg Dave is doing well too.  I will let him do more detailed updates about him but despite all the stresses from being a stay at home dad and us working different shifts a couple nights a week, he is very happy.  I do not tell him enough, but I am very proud of him!  He is putting the finishing touches on his 1st real web contract he is working on!  It looks great!!  He will need to send you all the link when he is done.  Though this contract was a bust for us making money (minus computer expenses, etc) it was a great way for him to get his skills back up!Elli’s b-day will be here soon!  My little girl will be 5! WOW!  Shhh, don’t tell but we plan on taking her to the zoo for her b-day.. since animals are her fav thing in the whole world, we figured it would be a great surprise!So we are doing well, been out here for almost 5 1/2 months.  It really does feel good to be back here!  And as we see the MI temps drop to the 40s it is great to be in 90s/80s right now!!  We miss Dave’s family and our MI friends like you would not believe!!  :(  We love you all SO VERY much and PLEASE come visit us in Sunny AZ!!Love to all and thanks for checking up on us!  Be sure to check out our photo gallery, I updated it with some pics of us!  

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/10/20/update-from-the-hs/feed/ 0 Elli’s 1st Day of Preschool! http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/08/20/ellis-1st-day-of-preschool/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/08/20/ellis-1st-day-of-preschool/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:33:58 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/08/20/ellis-1st-day-of-preschool/ Elli had her 1st day of preschool!  She is such a little girl now! She had a great time and met lots of new friends.  She was very excited to wear her new shoes (she picked out all by herself) and her new dress… It was so sweet and a little sad to see her off to school today!  We really like her new preschool too!   img_1205.JPGimg_1209.JPGimg_1212.JPG

]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/08/20/ellis-1st-day-of-preschool/feed/ 0 Jak is getting SO smart… http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/06/10/jak-is-getting-so-smart/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/06/10/jak-is-getting-so-smart/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:58:32 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/06/10/jak-is-getting-so-smart/ Ok, so during the day today I took the kids to checkout area preschools/daycares so I could actually get some work done. We’re only looking at 2-3 days a week, so it’s not gonna cost us a fortune.

Anyway, Amy came along to visit the last one for the day (which, by the way, we never entered… something about a daycare being in a stripmall between a tattoo parlor and a dive bar). We ended up going back to the one I liked the most, so Amy could meet the director and checkout the facility.

Shortly after Jak had his bottle before his evening nap, he was playing with one of Elli’s toys grunting because no matter how hard he pushed the button, the toy wouldn’t come on (lack of batteries). He gave up on it pretty quick and walked over to the drawer where we keep his diapers. He opened the drawer and walked over to Amy and I, laughed, fell on his butt and then rolled over…

The grunting was not his frustration with the toy, he was baking brownies :)

The funny part was not only did he know he had left us a package, but he knew to grab a diaper and get in the position!

I have a feeling potty training Jak, like everything else, is going to be a million times easier than it was with Elli  ]]> http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/06/10/jak-is-getting-so-smart/feed/ 0 We’re testing out the .mac gallery… http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/06/08/were-testing-out-the-mac-gallery/ http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/06/08/were-testing-out-the-mac-gallery/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:37:32 +0000 Dave http://holdcraft.net/blog/2008/06/08/were-testing-out-the-mac-gallery/ Ok, so Amy and I bought a new toy when we moved from Grand Rapids back out to Phoenix… a Mac. With the Mac, we’ve got the whole iLife package, and as I’ve been playing around with it, I wanted to checkout the .mac web package that they offer. 

It’s pretty cool with everything you get, which you can see at the Apple .Mac site.

Anyway, our gallery is located at: http://gallery.mac.com/holdcraft. We’re setup right now with the trial account, so we don’t get a lot of space until we purchase the full year package, but we do have a small picture gallery setup of Jak’s Palate surgery.

Talk to everyone again soon!

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