A hair pic

I tend to always be the picture taker, not IN the picture, so here's one finally of the short hair - I actually cut it again yesterday, so it's a few inches shorter and thinner. This was at Amelia's big Birthday bash in August:)

Oh Brother - Halloween...a little early.

Our Dorothy and her little dog Toto. We went to Boo at the Zoo to launch our Halloween festivities. One thing Garden City has going for it...tons of activities for children around Halloween, it's a fun time of year. Though Amelia had NO idea who Dorothy was, she mustered quite a bit of excitement about being her:)....so cute. It was funny, when I first told her about Dorothy she was a bit resistive, I thought I could win her over by telling her that Dorothy has a dog and Sam would be her little dog....well that didn't work, she starting crying and said "I don't want to be a dog owner for Halloween". Who would?;)

Sam did not let his candy bucket go during the entire Boo at the Zoo, probably a good 1-2 hours, he would not let go even at the end when it got too heavy for him. He knows where the good stuff is - takes after his mother.

A visit from "the Cousins"

Amelia and Quinn playin around. They look like they could be siblings.

My sister and I with our NEW CARS:) We got a great deal, so my sister and her family came from Colorado for her Birthday and got the same great deal - Happy Birthday to her eh?!

Current happenings...well last month:)

A visit with Grandma and Grandpa last month...too short, but we love to have 'em.

Here's my little Sam boy:) Such a happy boy. Things are starting to cool down a little here, but Sam's favorite place is still outside.

And one more makes THREE:)

Boy, what a summer....and fall:) We're expecting our third little love in Mid-March. Planning a home birth this time, we'll keep you posted. I'll be updating our blog....I PROMISE, vacations are over, morning/all-day sickness is over...we're moving along...If we could just get over these current bugs. Anyway, we're very excited and apparently I'm nesting early as we're spending every weekend getting some unfinished projects done...finally. Here are the babies playing at "the Dam" in Ogden Valley, one of my all time favorite places to be:) Also our big girl turned 3! She had a blast with all her friends at her party, but mostly she loved her cake - takes after her Momma:)

Updates

This morning Amelia said "Momma, you're a stinker, I love you so much". Being a mom has some pretty great moments.

Safety first! Amelia LOVES riding her tricycle - she's a very conscientious girl:)

On Saturdays, we like to jump on the bikes and head to the farmer's market.

We're "carnies" at heart. SEE there are things to do in Garden City. The carnival came to town for, yes, "Beef Days", here in Garden City. Amelia rode the merry-go-round and the ferriswheel - she is still talking about it.

Back in business

Boy, we've gotten SO busy, but we're back in it:) Did a bit of traveling...we drove through Greensburg, strange to see the destruction from that tornado, steps leading to nowhere, where houses used to be, sad. Went to Wichita, that's a nice city. Um, and I walked in a Amelia doing the Hokey Pokey yesterday, pretty dang cute:)

I couldn't decide if this is gross or funny - in a Flinstone sort of a way - she takes after her mother, WE LOVE RIBS:)...

And corn...

cookies too:)

I also chopped my hair off. It was very liberating, I feel all grown up:) More pics to come re: that.

Sam

Sam has recently learned some sign language. He uses the sign for milk most often. When I feed him, he stops eating, looks around the room and does the sign for milk to anyone in the room, then goes back to eating....he's so excited to be able to communicate.

A lovely day for a swim or...

The weather has been so crazy this day was 90, the next day we had to stay inside all day, so by evening we were itching to get out. So we went bowling!

Though initially terrified to bowl, by the end of our game, Amelia was really enjoying it! We're considering putting her a league;)

When life gives you lemons...

For mom's last meal, we thought we'd make it nice - could have been her last meal on earth considering the flight she had ahead of her. It was about 90 degrees outside, so I made REAL lemonade, puts me in the summer mood. All you do is cut up about 6 lemons, take seeds out, pour 1 1/2 c. sugar, add a sprig of mint or two and let sit for 20 minutes. Then remove the mint, mash it all up, pour 2 quarts of water over it, replace mint and serve over ice...it's such a great summer treat and smells wonderful. For the rest of the meal we had spinach craisens salad, potatoe salad and New York steaks OH AND homemade bread with that great jam...what a feast, none of us ate the rest of the day:) Grammy spoiled us rotten while she was here, we had a wonderful time - she sure loves those grandbabies.

Big Girl

I came in to the kitchen this morning to find this - Amelia doing the dishes, maybe she's trying to give me a hint:)

We started potty training again this past week and she has GOT IT! We made a potty chart, and she was off and running...to the potty that is. The first day, NO accidents...I'm so proud, of course there was the next day...all accidents, but after that she just comes and tells me and then goes! She's so big. I just followed friends advice that she would do it when she was ready wanted to - just a loving nudge from me and Voille!

With this comes wanting to dress herself every day as well...we need a little more work in that area, but she really is pleased with herself. After she gets dressed in the morning, she promtly goes back to her room, removes everything from her dresser and redresses. She is quite the fashioneista! - here's a sample

Holy Hailstorm!

Wow, you may think we just emptied our ice chest, but that actually all came down in about 10 minutes.















Needless to say, I don't think the garden, the new seedlings, nor the new plants I just put it, made it:( Crazy.

The Lone Walkers

Wow, what a busy week. My mom's visiting from Utah. She flew in on the little prop planes that fly into our little airport, she said it was like a rollercoaster, she just kept her eyes closed. We've been very busy since her arrival. Of course we've talked up a bluestreak and stayed up way too late for both of us. Amelia LOVES having Grammy around...every time she wakes up she wants to see her immediately. Grammy gets a kick of our 2 -going on 16 - year old character.

This past Saturday was the half-marathon, it was a lot of fun, not very well organized, but fun. They passed out maps the night before, and it's a good thing we glanced at them because they really did not mark the course at all. Heidi and I finished 3 minutes under our goal time of 3hr 15min. We were happy with that. Also to add to our joy (or shame) we didn't finish dead last, though we were initially the only walkers, we passed up an injured runner making her way to the finish...it was GREAT:) To add to the thrill, the marathon winner was coming in just ahead of us, police escorts and all, so we thought we looked pretty great. Sadly we found we weren't fooling anyone, the last water station guys said "1/2 marathon" - we quietly shook our heads, momentarily bursting our little bubble of pride. We tied for 2nd to last:) We got a little help from those great jelly belly sport beans, love em - gave us just a little boost between water stations. Amelia and Jared met us at the finish. Our good friend Kaycee actually RAN the WHOLE race and placed FIRST for the women - WAY TO GO! My hip was really hurting by the end, but the next day, I felt great. It was a good experience, I'm glad I did it. Now, I've gotta find my next motivation to keep moving - I think it may be the "Laura's Legacy" run, dedicated to a young mother of 2 who died of cancer in her early 30's. I could run for that.

Hard at work

Amelia is a big helper putting the garden in

Jared getting the place looking ship shape:)

Berries, Berries, Berries

Berries on sale this week - LET'S MAKE SOME JAM!

Amelia thoroughly enjoyed the process

The outcome...simply DELIGHTFUL!