We hate New Jersey

All of the O'Rourkes have been battling illness the past few weeks. Some nasty virus that has been going around took hold and made its way through our house one at a time. First it was Ava that was down for a couple of days, then Luke, then Andy (who claims he is still not completely over it) and finally me. And guess who got it the worst? Me. The one who still has to somewhat function through it all. The biggest bummer of it all was I had the privilege of having all of my nieces here this past weekend for a girls weekend, and I felt rotten. We still managed to have a good time, and my oldest niece, Maddie, pretty much saved my life by being a great help! I rewarded her fairly well through bribery and ice cream. Our family is counting down the days (not in a good way) before my oldest sister and her family move to New Jersey, where my brother-in-law will be stationed at Fort Dix. We are not looking forward to having them be so far away, and Ava and Luke will miss their cousins A LOT! (And I will miss my sister, too, darn it!) Ava keeps asking where the cousins are moving to, and I answer "New Jersey!" with a smile plastered on my face, but inside I am thinking "Stupid New Jersey! I hate New Jersey!" Sorry if any of you are partial to New Jersey. I associate 2 things with New Jersey. One, my sister will soon be living there, FAR away from me. And two, the only time I have ever been to New Jersey was when my mom, dad, brother and I were driving to EFCA national conference when I was in junior high, we stopped at a gas station in New Jersey, and a trucker yelled some not so nice things at my mom because she was in the wrong lane (not her fault, nothing was marked). I have yet to have a pleasant New Jersey experience. I am sure we will visit, and probably have a good time, but for now, I still hate New Jersey.

To end on a positive note, here are some pics from National Nite Out. The police and fire departments stopped by and the kids got to check out a firetruck. I thought Luke was going to pass out from sheer joy!