Our Minnesota Trip - Day by Day

July 4th - 

On our way to Rochester, to visit Chris' Dad.

Later that night, back at Chris' house.  We kicked off the festivities with some "tequila shakers."  (and when I say "we" I mean "they" - not me.)

Next, we drove down to Minneapolis for the fireworks show on the Mississippi River.  
There, we met up with Chris' brother Jeff and his fiance' Gina and their friends.
(Chris and Jeff)
(Chris, Jeff and Gina)
(Gina and Chris)
(Childhood neighbor, Jenny and Jeff)

After things wrapped up in Minneapolis, we drove to the twin city, Saint Paul for some club time at "Drink."

Our Minnesota Trip - Day by Day

July 3rd...

Welcome to the Mall of America.  For those of you who haven't been to Bloomington, Minnesota, the Mall of America is mostly 3 floors high (with exception to the 4th floor theater).  There is a miniature golf course, and a theme park contained within.
Due to the size of the mall, and my pregnancy restrictions, we had to rent a wheel chair.  Kat was more than willing to rent one as well - since she is 7 1/2 months pregnant.



Oh,... Marc!





Our Night on the town -  downtown Minneapolis 

Who's this guy?  We didn't know either at the time!


Welcome to Mickey's diner!  It was featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" a little while back.  FAMOUS eats!  3:30 in the morning, we got hungry and it was still open - with a glowing sign beckoning us in.  45 minutes later, we enjoyed blueberry pancakes, hearty omelets whipped with a cup of lard, and a Mickey's special burger.  SOOO good.
Why did my face look so skeptical, you ask?  Marc just got accused of being "unpatriotic" by a drunk guy on the other side of Chris.  This was just after the train-car restaurant had broken out spontaneously  - in song.

Our Minnesota Trip - Day by Day

JULY 2nd...

We arrive in Hastings and settle into Chris' house.  Later, the guys decide to play football outside - LOOK AT HOW GREEN THINGS ARE THERE!

Shawn and Kat.  They live five doors down from Chris.  Shawn was on the submarine with the guys.  Kat was out there in Hawaii then too.
This is their 5 year old daughter Alissa.
Marc at his best


And Chris

10 weeks

Today's doctor appointment went well.  In fact the doctor said, "I couldn't be happier."
She's still growing!  We are at 30cm.  Which is comparatively the size of a KUMQUAT.  Yes, that's right!!!  I HAVE  A KUMQUAT in my belly!

Take a peek.  She's sleeping -- Upside down.  Yep mom, I know.  Sounds like my kid to me too!

see her foot?!

...and this one shows her hand better.  It's that little spot sticking out of the middle, right by her head.

July 5th

It's a happening day.

Good friend and co-worker, Katie Harding is getting married to Tim Johnson in downtown Bakersfield.  Their love story is one for the books and I'm certain their wedding will be a beautiful occasion.  Congratulations to you both!  

Previous student, Andrew, is celebrating his 6th birthday  with a swim party!  Happy birthday buddy!

... and we (Matt and I) will not be attending either event.  

We will be having fun,  in Minnesota's 75 degree weather with these guys!... Matt's Navy brothers and best friends, Chris and Marc.

The goal is that each year we all get together - SOMEWHERE.  Sadly, it doesn't always work out.  BUT, this summer, it's happening, and we're going, and we can't wait.

What the...??!!

Found this out yesterday... Apparently, it has been all over the news for a good 2 weeks.  

WE WENT TO SCHOOL WITH HIM!!!  OH MY GOSH!!!

Former Centennial football coach arrested in child porn possession case

BY FELIX DOLIGOSA, JR. Californian staff writer
fdoligosa@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Jun 18 2008 8:39 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Jun 19 2008 11:18 AM

Investigators arrested a former Centennial High School football coach and player accused of having child pornography and distributing the material over the Internet.

PHOTOS:

Michael Turman (Photo courtesy KERO Channel 23)

PDF:

• Federal documents in the Michael Turman child porn possession case

Michael Edward Turman denied ever engaging in any inappropriate or illegal conduct with minors as a freshmen football assistant coach at Centennial High School, according to an arrest warrant. He was also a former football player at the school, earning All-Area Honorable Mention for scholar-athlete in 1996.

Investigators were first alerted to Turman in 2006 when the suspect received a child porn movie on his AOL e-mail account, the warrant said. Turman is married and has a 4-year-old daughter and infant son.

Turman told authorities viewing images of young boys was like “filling up a gas tank” because he is obsessed with them, the court document said.

Turman then sent the 29-second movie that depicted an 8-year-old boy in a sex act with an adult to another AOL user, according to the warrant. He is accused of sending and receiving more child pornography.

Turman later told investigators his AOL account was terminated because of what he was doing, the court document said.

Turman was not a teacher at Centennial High, and never an employee with the district, according to officials. He was a walk on football coach for the freshmen team for the school years of 2000-01, 2001-02 and a volunteer from 2004-05, they said.

He would show up in the afternoons and help coach the team, school officials said. 2004-05 was the last year he had any involvement with the school. He received a small stipend for coaching.

On Monday, deputies and detectives executed a search warrant at Turman’s home in the 17000 block of Legend Oaks Lane.

Turman said he knew why officers were at his home and that he feared them coming into his home for a long time, according to court records.

Investigators found about 400 images and 100 video images of child pornography on Turman’s laptop and desktop computers.

In an interview with a detective, Turman said he is sexually interested in 8 to 9-year-old boys and often views child pornography on his computers.

Turman, who’s been married for five years, said he got into child pornography when he got a computer in high school, the warrant said. He got addicted to pornography after he was molested at 8 years old, the court document said.

“Being molested at a young age I feel has ruined my life today,” Turman wrote in a letter to authorities. “I don't think I have ever overcome that. I have moved on physically, but mentally I am still eight years old.”

He later wrote, “I wish there was a way to stop it.”

Turman was arrested on suspicion of receiving and distributing child pornography, according to court records. He works for Turman Construction Company, Inc., a local company.

Federal charges were not yet filed on Wednesday against Turman, according to a federal court database. He posted $100,000 bond and has been released.

Oops!

So, a few days ago, 7:00 in the morning, I was dreading the injection.  My right leg was still throbbing from the night before and there was hardly any space left for stabbing.  I decided... since I have some "dead spots" scattered throughout my hypersensitive left leg, that I could find one, inject the Heparin there, and be perfectly happy.  

I iced the location, I alcohol swabbed it, and stuck myself.  I felt NOTHING.  Nothing, that is, until I removed the needle.  It stung BAD.  But, it didn't stop there.  

Within the hour, I had to leave and meet up with my new grade level for a meeting about our upcoming math curriculum.  I couldn't stay and ice or pamper...

During the entire meeting, my leg was on fire!  It burned, it throbbed, it caused a limp.

4 hours later, I returned home - and checked myself out.  

Shock.

I had a baseball sized bruise that contained a CORE.  It stuck out from my leg by over an INCH!  I panicked.  Called Matt.  He said to not call the doctor - but to just GO!  My main concern was that the Heparin hadn't dispersed, that my body hadn't gotten the medication  - and that I could be facing graver problems than an ugly, swollen throbbing leg. 

I postponed my tutoring session that was scheduled to begin in 20 minutes and drove myself to the doctor.  Upon arriving, I learned that my doctor was out of the office.  I begged the nurse to "check me out"  and give me her opinion.  She was adamant that she wasn't a doctor - and her diagnosis couldn't be taken as "truth."  I continued to beg.  Finally, I just pulled down my pants and MADE her look.  She said, "OH MY!  THAT'S NOT RIGHT!"  Confirming my suspicion.  

She paged the doctor.  He called the office promptly and we described the scenario.  Since there was no heat coming from the area, and no redness (nope! just a whole lot of purple) he deduced that I had to have hit a vein with the needle.  In doing so, the Heparin dispersed INSTANTLY, thinning my blood drastically in that area.  Once thinned, I wasn't able to clot the hole I created in the vein from the needle.  So, I was just bleeding internally.  

I was told to ice and elevate.  

By morning, "most" of the swelling had subsided.  

Now, three days passed - here's the leg.  Oops!

The Nephews

Matt's sister, Kelly drove her two boys Jacob (10) and Timmy (8) to New Mexico where they met up with their father who is now living in Bakersfield.  They've been in town a couple of weeks with their father and Saturday morning, we got to steal them for the day!  We got them around 11 and took them to Costco where we quickly picked out  swim trunks for both of them and ate some free samples!  Next, we hit up Taco Bell for a small lunch and then we drove to Edwards Cinemas.

Prior to going to the movie, we went to RiteAid to get the necessary candy for the show  - which I stashed in my Mary Poppins purse.  We watched "The Hulk"  --- The boys thought "It was SO AWESOME!!"  I thought, "eghh, Iron Man was SO much better."

Later, we went to my mom's house to swim and BBQ.  The boys were hilarious jumping off the diving board.  They made up so many dives and posed and said funny things in air.  My mom was a crack up as well.  She and Timmy took on Jacob and Matt in a chicken fight.  I think everyone ended up drinking a little pool water.  The four of them finished off the swimming fun with a shallow-end game of Marco Polo -- Where my Mom and Matt were repeatedly losers.   Some hotdogs, pineapple  and cherries later and we were on our way back to our house for the night.      

The boys played tug with our two dogs, chased them around a bit, and did, what I'm certain the cats would deem 'harassment' to the two of them.  Once it was good and dark, we built a fire in the pit and roasted a couple smores.  

Baths, teeth, and one blown up bed later and we were ready to call it a night.  --Jacob had other plans.  His Dad mentioned that he had a little cough the night before...we hadn't noticed it during the day.  AS SOON AS HE LAYED DOWN, Jacob started coughing.  I hooked him up with some cough syrup, lozenges, and a bottle of water and figured we'd be good.  Wrong.  Middle of the night, we hear a small knock on our bedroom door.  We are yelling "come in," and nothing happens.  Finally, we hear Jacob's voice say, "I just threw-up in my hands." 

Stink.  

I got Jacob cleaned up, Matt got the house cleaned up, and we got Jacob set up for "precautionary round two."  (Little side note: Matt DOES NOT do throw-up.  Can't even handle it when it's grass that the dogs ate.  Gags all over the place!) 

Jacob slept through the remainder of the night just fine.  We didn't even hear him cough - post vomit.  The next morning, we woke, and started making pancakes (bland) and scrambled eggs.  Both boys ate very slowly, and neither finished their short stack.  

We packed them up, got them ready to go back to their Dad's (and church), and headed off towards the other side of Bakersfield.  

During the drive, Timmy was really quiet.  Until he said, "Do you guys have any water?"  We said, "No," and that "we were almost to his Dad's house."   Timmy nodded.  Three seconds later, he vomited.  All over Matt's truck, all over himself, all over his spare shorts. 

I love Sonic.  

That's where Matt was able to pull over.  They gave us some napkins and a cup of water.  Matt was trying to deal with his truck, I was trying to deal with Timmy... Matt started gagging.  I told him, to switch me places - and he happily did.   I found out in under a minute, that my gag reflex  - post pregnancy, wasn't at all what it used to be.  I couldn't handle it.  I tried twice, running away both times towards a nearby bush.  After that, just trying to help at all put me over the edge.  

I don't want to sound unsupportive or judgmental, but I never thought Matt had it in him!  And, thank goodness he did, or we'd still be standing at Sonic. 

We delivered the boys to their father in a less than pristine condition for church.  In fact, poor Timmy was "wearing" or "holding up" Jacob's spare shorts -- which had to be at least 8 sizes too large. 

I was really hoping to redeem myself this time with the boys and create a better memory.  Last time, (a few years ago) Timmy and I crashed hard on GoCarts at John's Incredible Pizza - and I delivered him back to his father with big red sash across his neck from the safety belt.

We are hoping to get them again later in July and take them up to Coarsegold to see their Great Grandparents.  Cross your fingers for us.

It's a Girl!

Well, so far it's a girl!  I didn't know this  - BUT  ALL babies start out as girls!  It's not until the 10th week that you either get a testosterone surge, or you don't!  I'm going to call it "her" and "she" for the next two weeks  - instead of referring to it as "it."  

So we went in yesterday and they took this picture!  To help you make heads and tails of it (literally) I have added some much needed commentary!  

Matt found this "real to life" model of the 8 week embryo and it looks like our little sea monkey is coming along rather on schedule!

Out at OXY

Matt took this photo while at work the other day.   CRAZY HUGE BOBCAT!  Teeny Tiny Photo.

The picture struggle.

On our last day of the school year, Jen hosted a dinner get together for all the kindy teachers and their families.  We tried to take a picture at the end of the night and it was SUCH a struggle!  

They voted and "my belly" counted as the kid I was holding in this photo.