Erickson Family Update 6-27-09

Hi Everyone,

We hope to find you all well. So much has happened since our last update. Luke spent a couple of weeks in Spokane for training. It was nice to be in the same time zone since it made us feel closer knowing that he was only 4 1/2 hours away. He wasn't supposed to have any days off while at training there but he called on the afternoon of May 29th to say that they were given the weekend off and that we could come and visit if we wanted to! It was such a great surprise. We know that we wouldn't have long because my mom was coming to visit the next day and we would need to pick her up from the airport that night, but it was well worth it to see him even for those few hours!

My mom coming was such a nice break. We did go to the zoo, but other then that we mainly just stuck around home. That turned out to be great though because it was a busy week for me. We ended up accepting an offer on our house that Thursday (the 4th of June) and the house went to pending status the following day!! It was such a relief! Things were moving fairly quickly since I received a call that following monday for the inspector to come on tuesday. Wednesday the buyers said what they wanted and on Friday I got done the one big thing they wanted done. Now we are still just waiting on the appraiser to come and then to close on the house. We are going to be able to stay in the house until July 22nd and then we will hopefully leave here around the 28th of July.

We are planning on coming to Wisconsin for a visit and then leave Wisconsin for North Carolina around the 17th or 18th of August. That is if all goes as planned. If anyone wants to get together just let me know. I know that we are going to try our hardest to be there by July 31st since that is Relay for Life. I am very excited that there is a chance I can be there this year! Last year was very hard for me to miss since that was the first year both of my parents were cancer survivor walkers. We also have numberous family and friends who have had cancer, some who have won their battle and some who have not. If you can't tell, Relay for Life is very near and dear to my heart. I know that some of you like to donate to the cause. Please do not feel obligated to do so, but if you would like to, here is the link where you can donate to my page: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/amandaercksn. I know that a lot of you have places you already donate to and even some are already donating to the Relay for Life and I would like to thank you for that. Again, please do not feel obligated, I only posted the link for those who may be interested. Any amount is welcome, even $5. I truely can't wait for the walk and to show Brooke what it is all about. Also that weekend is the big family reunion on my mom's side. I can't wait. We go camping up at my cousins cabin. It is so much fun! I'm really glad that Brooke will be able to play with her cousins.

Brooke has been doing well. She has completed her Kindergarten year. Her father and I are very proud of our daughter for receiving a very special award at school. It is the Rainbow Award for someone who makes a large improvement in a certain area, of which hers was reading. I think that will help her a lot when we get to North Carolina. I had to get her a balloon and flowers for doing such a great job. Brooke thought that was really neat. Brooke also enjoys working on the activity books. We have finished the Kindergarten ones and have now started the 1st grade ones.

Blake is amazing us almost every day. He has started crawling and standing up while holding onto something. He has been getting a lot better at both. Also he has gotten three top teeth which brings his total to 5 teeth. The three on the top are the two in the middle and one to the left when looking at him. He has been trying new sounds too. All but mama anyway. I'm sure that will come with time though. He has also learned how to go from being on his tummy to the sitting position. Just the other day he stood for about two seconds without holding on to anything. I can't believe how much he is doing. I think Luke is going to be really surprised when he comes home. Blake also had his 9 month check up and he is 19 pounds 5 ounces (25th percentile) and 26 inches long (50th percentile). He still has some chunky little legs so I'm not sure how that all works out. Even the doctor was mentioning how cute his chunky legs were.

There is only about a week and a half before Luke comes home. The training seems to have been going well for him. I know that he is anxious to finish up and get back home though. Right now we have no communication with him so I have been missing him a little more than normal. Also some very good friends left this week to start their new adventure so that has been difficult for Brooke and I. It is hard to have such good friends leave before you do. At least we have a chance to see them since they are moving to Ohio so that will be not too far from our route between Wisconsin and North Carolina. That puts our minds at ease some.

We hope you all are doing well. Here are some pictures from when we went to visit Luke and when my mom was here. The picture of Blake on the carousel was his first ever carousel ride. He thought it was fun. http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80729&id=641524478&l=9ca1ec8630
The other link is just some other pictures from June, including Brooke's award ceremony and the father/daughter dance. http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80729&id=641524478&l=9ca1ec8630

Take Care!
Luke, Amanda, Brooke and Blake