Road Trip and camping adventures!

I have finally built up enough strength and energy to write a lil sumthin sumthin bout our trip to Toronto.
It's been about a year since we last went to Toronto and I was having family withdrawals. I missed seeing them so much and felt that it was the right time to get up and just go. Plus, they hadn't met Keiston yet and that needed to happen.

We decided that we would try driving instead of flying. flights were about $650/person round trip and we have to pay for Khyrum now. That would be $1950 for the family to go and then we would still have to rent a car. We took Bukky with us and she brought her nephew. We drove almost straight to Chicago. Stopping for gas and food.
We decided that we would get a hotel in Chicago and do a little site seeing. there was some event so trying to get a hotel at 11p.m was not easy. We checked probably 10 places all of which were full. we finally decided to go back to the first one we went to just to try our luck and they just had a cancellation. Phew!! A much needed sleep in a comfortable bed and a complimentary breakfast instead of a fast food breakfast was nice.
 We went to the pier and let the kids go on the marry-go-round and saw a few things. then we took a long walk to some shopping. We didn't stay long in the Windy City  because we wanted to get our drive done with and it was too hot to be walking around.

We had a little BBQ get together at my moms and invited a bunch of family. It was nice to be able to see so much family at one place. I also displayed my bcharmed jewelry and scentsy products and got a good amount of sales. 

We went to Canadas Wonderland with Bukky and some of her family. We spent a lot of time at the splash pad and swimming pool so the kids could have fun. We did get some thrill and rode some of the crazy roller coasters.  And of course I didn't leave wonderland without eating funnel cake!

Eating at the  Mandarin Buffet is a must every time we go to Toronto. This trip we had to go 2 times to get our Chinese fix!  So delicious.

 

The trip was nice. Of course it felt too short even though we stayed 10 days. It was nice to see so much friends and family after so long. We ended up bringing my little brother Deandre and cousin Ziquan with us back to Alberta. We drove all the way home without stopping for a hotel. we did the usual gas and food stops a quick mall trip and then a few hour stop for Tate to get a quick nap. the trip back took 30 hours, 24 of which were driving. it ended up being not as bad as we expected. Thank goodness!

CAMPING... When I think back to the campsite, the first thing that comes to mind is mosquitos lol. We camped up by Banff with our good friends, The Haylins. We took my brother and cousin with us so they could experience their first ever camping, being the city boys that they are. We had a great time. we were about 75 yards from a river and the bathrooms and showers were that close as well. It was not totally roughing it but it was close. As close to roughing it as I will ever get. We did eat good though. The men were for the most part in charge of cooking as us ladies spent most our time in the tents with the babies. The best meal they cooked was jerk chicken and rice. They cooked so much chicken and it was so good we had to have eaten at least 6 pieces each.
We spent probably 3 nights camping and that was enough. I was ready for the comfort of my own home. When packing up the camp Vanessa took MaiMai and Khy for a walk. Soon she came running back with the kids crying their eyes out. When they were walking a bear came out of nowhere. it was very close to them so she slowly backed up and once she was out of its site ran back to camp. We went back to check out the bear and sure enough he had just crossed the river and was eating berries. Thank goodness they got out of there safe.

We now have a 2 yr old!

Khyrum is growing wayyy to fast! I cant stand it. He once was my little baby and now he is a big brother?! seriously ridiculous. Anyhow, before I start sobbing uncontrollably, I figured I should post some things we love about our boy and brag a little about the things he does.

His Favorite things are:
Animals, any sort of transportation, balls, etc. He is a typical boy
He loves to eat. He is always hungry and asks for snacks all day
Loves to watch Hockey
Tv show: Calliou and Barney
Loves to be a copy cat
Dancing
Favorite songs: Old MacDonald, twinkle twinkle, The wise man/foolish man

Khyrum can:
Say full sentences
can count from 1-10
Knows the alphabet ( skipping a few letters here and there)
Knows some colors ( blue red green and orange)
Is semi potty trained lol ( usually poops in the toilet and stays dry the majority of the day)

He is so gentle with his new baby. I couldn't ask for a better big brother for Keiston. He loves to hold him ( has to hold him at least twice a day) and is very protective of him. He is also very helpful and loves to get things I ask him to for Keiston.








Khyrum is such a ruff and tumble kid. Loves to get dirty and wrestle with his dad. He can be a bit aggressive at times and he is a really fast runner.

If we had to imagine what he would become when he gets older, we decided he would be great with instruments. He is musically inclined and is amazed when someone is playing the drums or piano etc. Other than that we also see him as an athlete because of his big hands and speed. Its fun to wonder but anything he chooses to be will make us proud.

Although Khyrum can be a ball of energy most of the time and usually has his own agenda no matter what anyone else tries to ask him to do, we still love him like crazy and can not imagine him being any different!!!

-Felisha

JAMAICA!!

So we were sitting in bed on March 5th trying to figure out our next trip. There was the possibility of Jamaica because Felisha has family there that me and the kids had not met, Utah for mission reunion or Vegas for a friends wedding. We were leaning towards Jamaica for end of march/beginning of April because we wanted to go before Khyrum turned 2 so we wouldn't have to pay for him. Then I get a text from my sister saying "$199 round trip flights to Jamaica including taxes!" WOW you can imagine our shock at such a great deal. the kicker was you had to leave on march 9... like 3 days away and keiston has no passport let alone a birth certificate. So i go online and make sure there is a way we can get him an urgent passport and there was so we booked the tickets still not knowing if we would for sure get his passport. The next day we head to Calgary passport office with the receipt that we paid for a birth certificate and we just didn't get it yet. we got turned down, but he said come back on Thursday on your way to Edmonton ( we flew out from there) either with keistons birth certificate if it arrived in the mail or with a note saying why you don't have the birth certificate. Wednesday we packed for our possible trip. Thursday morning we check the mail... no birth certificate, so we took a note. long story short we got the passport by about 4pm, finished our drive to Edmonton, went to sleep, woke up and started the next leg of the trip!

We arrived to Montego bay around 8 pm then took a taxi to Kingston and arrived at Grandma Lucile's around 11pm! Felisha's Grandma, Aunts, and cousins were so excited to see her after about 8 years since her last visit! they were happy to meet us as well as we were happy to meet them.
Felisha's family is from an area which would be considered the "slum" the houses there are pretty run down. None the less, we were able to conform to the lifestyle.

This was our room for the next week. Auntie Viviene was kind enough to give us her room and she shared with someone else. We loved our fan, its called Reggae Breeze. It was a little crazy but it mostly did its job. The house we were in was a 31/2 bedroom with 4 beds. While we were there 12 people between the ages of 2 weeks to 56 years were sleeping in the house. An average 3 bodies/bed.   

The next day most of the family went to Felishas great uncles funeral a few hours away. We did not go due to travelling with the kids and it was raining a lot where the funeral was.

This was not your typical trip to Jamaica... beaches and pina coladas everyday.  Most of our time was spent within the neighborhood with family as we expected it to be. It was still a great trip! I am sure we will have more opportunities to travel there and will get our fair share of beaches and coladas as well. We did go to the beach one day with Felishas cousin Pete! Khyrum loved the sand.

Felisha loved the Fresh fried fish. And i loved everything... except the wind.

Cousin Pete and Keiston. Thanks to this guy we got to see the beach.

Khyrum kept us on our feet all day every day. He constantly wanted to be outside with the "puppies" ( stray dogs), goats, pigeons, or pigs. After a while he started to fear the puppies but still wanted to see them from a distance and not within licking range. If he saw a goat he ran as fast as he could... towards them. Nothing you would say would stop him.. except maybe ice cream or candy but even still most time he started chasing, the only way to get him back was to pick him up and bring him back. I am sure everyone thought we were crazy for trying to keep Khyrum close to us at all times. It was nice how everyone in the neighborhood watched out for everyone.

Khyrum and Ziggy. Ziggy is the father of Felisha's cousin Ziquan. He owns all the goats that Khyrum would chase around the neighborhood.

 This is pretty much how Khyrum wanted to be everyday. He didn't want to wear shoes. He was pretty much a street kid the week we were there.

Felisha's cousins were always  sharing their sweets with Khyrum. He didn't like anyone to pick him up. He would scream for mom or dad, but if they said "I'll give you candy" he would almost always go with them. The dog is one of the 4 that were always around where we were. They pretty much just lay around all day. One licked Khyrum's face so he started keeping his distance.

 I think he is trying to show his age.

 Felisha posing in the doorway of the internet cafe

 Khyrum giving his mom rough love at the beach

Felisha's cousins Rasheeda and Rickala ready to go to school.  

This man was always around. He was always just standing around starring deeply at people.They say he isn't right in his mind, but completely harmless.  Creeped Felisha out a couple times. He was just crouched like this looking around. Khyrum saw him and decided to go copy him. There was a funny old man that was always around too. He Loved to dance and Khyrum liked to copy him too. Wish we took a picture of that man too.

Beef Patty and coco bread! Delicious!

Felisha's Aunt Vivienne washing laundry. Khyrum was being rowdy and hitting dirt everywhere and splashing around in the laundry water. I was going to stop him and his great Grandma said to let him do what he wants...he just got ruder and ruder.

Chilling on the pathway that leads to the park.

The first couple of bedtimes were hard for Khyrum so Great Grandma Lucile came to the rescue. She could not get enough of these kids. Hopefully she will be able to come here in the near future!

Aunty Delva and Grandma at the airport.

We got Khyrum this little tiger travel bag and filled it with treats and toys to try to keep him occupied on the trip. He loved that thing. If anyone would try to play with it he made sure to tell them it was his and take it from them.

The trip was well worth the effort. It was so nice for me to meet the rest of Felisha's moms family (as well we met her dads brother Danny). They were so warm and welcoming and took great care of us. It gave us a greater appreciation for what we do have. We have always wanted to give them help, but going there and seeing how they are living made it easier to find ways that we can help. We hope to help them set up 1 or 2 small businesses so they can live a little more comfortably and independently. possibly sending them used sell phones from here to be sold there, or painting supplies to start a painting business.

Keiston Knight Boehme

We have not been too good at updating our blog, but having a new baby deserves a spot on it. Felisha has always wanted me to add to the blog because it is both ours, so this is coming from me (Tate).

Felishas due date according to the ultrasound was February 26 and according to the Dr. was March 4. She had been thinking that the baby would come sooner because of the adjusting her body was going through. We were hopeing that he would come around the 18th of February or soon after because the following week kids here were out of school so some of the kids Felisha baby sits would be able to be home with siblings and others she would not have to worry about taking them to school they could just be in the house.
Sunday the 19th we went over to my parents for dinner, came home put Khyrum to bed, then spent some time together watching a movie before bed. Around 2:30 Felisha woke me from my sleep because she was having some pains. she stayed in bed trying to get some sleep but the pains kept coming back. around 3:30 we realized the baby would soon be coming.
 We started timing the contractions. The next 2 were 5 minutes apart then they started getting closer and closer. Felisha decided to get in the shower to detensify the pain. When she was done she was hoping to get back in bed and get some sleep. When she was about to leave the bathroom her water broke.
We decided to call the hospital and tell them what was happening and they could prepare for us to get there. it was 4:43 AM when we called. The nurse said come now! Of course Felisha had to grab her earings before she left and then went to see Khyrum in bed one more time before the baby came, and I took the baby monitor next door to my brother so he could listen for Khyrum.
We got to the Hospital at 5 AM and started checking in. Felisha started another contraction and told the nurse she feels like she has to push. The nurse left the paper work and took Felisha to the room, got her a robe, and told her to change and then get in the bed, and then she left for a minute to call the dr and get stuff ready. Felisha started another intense contraction before she could get in the bed. The nurse came in and helped her in the bed so she could check her dialation. The babies head was almost out at this point so the nurse said "okay your going to push next contraction." A couple deathly screams and a push and there was the new baby. Born at 5:14 AM just 14 minutes after arriving at the hospital. The nurses asked if baby had a name. We said,"Yes, Keiston Knight" (Felisha has names picked for all our kids and more). I cut the ambilical cord and they moved the baby to the table then the dr walked in. about a minute too late. he made it there pretty fast, but not fast enough.
We were so delited that he came when he did. Perfect timing! He looks identical to Khyrum when he was born. He weighed 7lb 5oz. and for some reason we never got his length. Felisha will call tomorrow and find that out.
At 7 AM Felisha had me run home for a couple things and to wait for Khyrum to wake up. Soon after I got home Khyrum woke. He started asking for mom and i told him mom was at the hospital with the new baby and we would go see them soon. he started walking around saying "mom, hopital (hospital), baby. I took him up to the hospital and he was so happy to see the new baby. right away he climbed on moms bed to be closer to the baby and asking to hold him. Khyrum just loves Keiston to death. He cant get enough of him. Hes always rubbing his head or giving him kisses and when Keiston crys, Khyrum tells mom to feed him! We are so blessed to have these little boys in our lives, we love them to death, and are so excited for the journey ahead!