something to smile about

fun with the fam!

2011-09-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

every summer jen and her 4 kids come out to wi to spend a few weeks at my parents' house. so we pretty much move in as well and enjoy as much time with them as possible.

we usually make it over to valley fair. this year we happened to go on a day when the temps were in the triple digits. i would never do that again! we pretty much camped out at the waterpark for most of the day and eventually headed over to the rides around 4 or 5 pm.

everyone had bright red faces all day long, so we tried to stay as hydrated as possible. despite the heat i think everyone had a good time.

we decided to ride a pizza train that is located in scenic spooner, wi. let's just say that won't be an annual event. it went about 10 mph the entire time, it was hot, stinky and the pizza wasn't great. toby and micah were the smart ones, they brought along books. we'll chalk this one up to "you live and learn".

of course my sister and i had to squeeze in as much shopping as possible. we usually had a few "shopping buddies" along for the ride. but we managed to tire them out.....

elle got a fabulous new haircut!

we also had some birthdays to celebrate. ryan turned 2 and elle turned 7. joel took ryan to breakfast to start off his special day.

gotta have some balloons and streamers!

then we opened presents and decorated cupcakes at nonnie and gramps' house. so much fun! :)

we miss them all and can't wait to see what adventures next summer has in store!

Lauren is 4!

2011-06-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

we had a small pre-party for lauren with just the 4 of us. joel took her to breakfast at ihop (they gave her an ice cream sundae when the server found out it was her birthday. it's not everyday you get to eat ice cream for breakfast!) and then later on in the day we opened presents.

after the party guests arrived, we started the afternoon with crafts.

even though it was a little chilly outside, we bundled everyone up and headed outside to have some fun with bubbles.

lauren received so many wonderful gifts from her friends.

bring on the cake!

lauren and her party guests. i'm so thankful for all the sweet little ladies in her life. happy birthday, lauren!!

wisconsin dells

2011-03-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

last weekend we took a little vacation to the wisconsin dells and stayed 2 nights at an indoor water park. it was fun getting out of town for a few days and driving through scenic wisconsin (the dells are about 4 hours away). lauren and ryan both had a great time. ryan did get a little overwhelmed and wasn't up for doing as much as lauren. he loved the elevator though and would politely tell it "thank you" every time he got on and off. sleeping in a hotel was exciting for them as well. they shared a bed and only one person (lauren) tumbled out during the night. joel and i are having more and more fun with the kids as they get older. i know this was only one of many adventures yet to come!

lauren never wanted to stop and smile for pictures because she was having too much fun, so these were the kind of faces i was getting. so i had to have a talk with her and tell her that i wanted some pictures of her actually smiling. she did come around, so this is the before......

and these are the afters. so much better! :)

random fall photos

2010-11-24T15:46:00.000-08:00

(the downside of having an older sister).

love, love, LOVE my little man!

MOA

Halloween

Minnesota Zoo

1st haircut

he was way to upset for me to get a photo while his hair was being cut, but this was the end result. looking good! :)

having fun!

new bath!!

2010-11-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

this past week and a half we had a little renovation done on our bathroom. a very talented handyman ripped out our icky, non functioning bathtub and shower and replaced it with a lovely new tub complete with subway tile and chrome hardware. it looks amazing!! so i wanted to post a few before and after pictures so everyone can see the incredible transformation!

before

after

september

2010-09-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

it's hard to believe that september is already over. even though the month started out on the cool side, this past week has been amazing, sunny and low 70's, perfect! i haven't had a lot of time to post pictures, so i'm just going to do one blog highlighting some of our september activities.

katie's birthday party!

gymnastics class

toddler tuesday at moa with the super readers!

coffee helpers

geoffrey's here!!!

garden and outside fun

snack time

2010-09-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

well, there's nothing like the unmistakable sound of an entire box of cereal being dumped out unto the floor. ryan, as sweet as he is, has been much more interested in getting into things than lauren ever was. some of his favorite activities include throwing shoes down the basement stairs, pulling everything out of my wallet, getting into the hall closet and "rearranging"it, dismantling the stereo, unstuffing kleenex boxes and i can now add getting his own snack.

on the other hand, he is also extremely cuddly, requiring at least a 5 to 10 minute snuggle when he wakes up from a nap (i love that). he gives warm, wet kisses and is always willing to share his pacifier. he is the cutest little dancer with some very impressive moves. and he has a wonderfully huge smile that i find irresistible (even when he's just dumped an entire box of cereal on the floor). so what more can i say....i guess he's a keeper! :)

summer photos

2010-08-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

well summer has flown by yet again this year. it was a wonderfully full season with lots of activity and quality time with friends and family. after joel's parents left my sister and her 4 kids spent a few weeks with my parents in wi, so we practically moved in while they were there. joel's cousins also stopped in for a few days while on a trip out east. lauren was fortunate enough to go to valleyfair twice this year, not to mention the zoo and numerous trips to beaches and parks. as much fun as we had, i have to admit i am looking forward to the (hopefully) slower pace of fall, which also means hot chocolate, football (thanks brett), falling leaves, fires, crisp air and memories of all the great summer adventures we enjoyed!

ryan is 1!

2010-07-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

it's hard to believe our little guy is officially 1! he has been an absolute joy. joel and i are still in awe of this wonderful gift and how much love he brings to our lives. i could go on and on, i am one proud, blessed mama! we had a small party with joel's parents before they returned home. ryan's still new at opening presents, but that's where big sisters come in. and he wasn't sure what to do with his birthday cupcake. but it didn't take him too long to figure it out! :)

presents!!

cupcakes, yum!!

a little confused, but willing to give it a try..

messy...

messier.....

messiest!:)

not enjoying the clean up.

all done and happy again! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYAN!!!

duluth

2010-07-10T10:32:00.001-07:00

joel's parents came out for a visit around the end of june. during their stay decided to head up to duluth, mn for a few days. duluth is a beautiful historic town located on lake superior. it is a major shipping town so there are numerous large ships that come through daily. duluth also has really neat lighthouses and amazing architecture. we stayed pretty busy exploring the city, swimming, visiting museums, bike riding (i'm sure we were quite a sight) watching the ships, shopping, enjoying the local restaurants, and venturing outside the town to take in some of the area's natural beauty. we all had a great time, but were exhausted by the time we got home. i hope we are able to go again soon!

goose berry falls

fore!

2010-06-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

yesterday we all went to visit barry, bridget and their kids. we were very excited to meet baby dylan for the first time. and what a sweet little guy he is! of course joel and barry wanted to do some golfing, and since they offered to take the two oldest kids with them, bridget and i decided they could go. :) it was a beautiful day and i heard they all had a wonderful time. joel always tells me what a great teacher barry is (he must be a patient one too!). isaac is a natural on the course as you can see by his impressive stance. it's was lauren's first time golfing and joel said she loved it. once they returned home, we were treated to a delicious dinner! thank you bridget and barry for all your hospitality!

new camera

2010-06-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

two nights ago i bought a new camera. i am so excited to finally have my own small one and not have to rely on joel's huge, expensive one. so i have had lots of fun these past few days taking lots of pictures. my subjects may not be quite as enthused with my new purchase, but they all have been good sports. so here's what we've been up to these past few days.....

fun at the park

ryan has 5 teeth that have broken through, yay!

making a garden. ryan ingested a bit of sand on this outing.

at home

so cute, even with some chocolate pudding on her face! :)

story time with dad

breakfast in the backyard

johnny-jump-up

snack/play time

ryan apparently likes the big kid cheetos and not the baby ones!

bath time

daddy time

someone was suddenly very interested in and had a lot of questions about mechanical limbs. anything to prolong going to bed!

10 months old!

2010-05-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

ryan is 10 months old now. so hard to believe he is going on one year old. he has been such a sweet little boy. very smiley and happy. he loves being held and isn't too interested in crawling or getting around on his own. lauren was just the opposite. the two of them are playing together more and more, which is very cute to watch. she comes up with very creative nicknames for him such as "bunky" and "qugi the monster".

he is getting sick of baby food (i can't blame him) and enjoys eating regular food more and more. he has a very hearty appetite, yet you wouldn't know it by his size. he's tall but only in the 25 percentile for weight. he has two little teeth on the bottom and his top ones look like they are going to poke through any day. he loves taking baths (just like his mother) and would probably stay in there all day if he could. he does have a few quirks, one of them being his fear of elevators. ever since he was about 5 months old he gets very upset once inside an elevator. it doesn't matter if it's big or small, glass or enclosed he hates them.

so to commemorate his 10 month milestone we decided to have a little photo shoot last night. lauren hearing all the fun that was being had snuck out of bed and wanted to get her picture taken as well.

lauren is 3!

2010-05-02T16:56:00.001-07:00

on the 27th of april, lauren turned 3. since her actual birthday was on a tuesday we decided to wait and celebrate on friday. this year's theme was princesses, and the colors were the ever popular pink and purple. she had 4 friends in attendance this year ian, tegan, kiera and katie. the party started at 1:30 with the opening of the presents. that lasted about 5 minutes then one enthusiastic party goer cried, "where's the cake?" i thought instead of just having cake i'd make cupcakes and let the girls decorate them, after all we had 2 hours to kill. i have to say they all did a great job with the cupcakes. their sugar intake was rather high, but hey, it's a party!

one of lauren's gifts was a really neat battery operated bubble blowing machine (thanks, t and a, i hate blowing bubbles!). it worked really well and the girls all had a blast. they popped bubbles until all the solution was gone. all in all the party was a lot of fun. however, after everyone had left i realized we had forgotten to sing happy birthday to lauren. (i had made a cake with the left over cupcake batter just so we could sing and blow out the candles.) so that evening daddy, ryan and i serenaded her. and then she and i both got some spoons and had one last birthday treat.

happy birthday, lauren! we love you!

new jersey

2010-04-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

last friday the 2nd, we embarked on a trip to new jersey to spend the week with my sister and her family. we left at 1 pm and drove straight through the night (joel did most of the driving) arriving in nj at noon the following day. so it was about a 22 hour trip. but the kids did really well, which made being in the car that long somewhat bearable. we had such a wonderful week. the weather was beautiful, mostly in the mid 80's. since we were there over easter we were able to hear my brother-in-law preach a great message at the church he pastors. we then went over to his parents house for a delicious easter dinner and the ever popular easter egg hunt.

the rest of the week was spent hanging out at my sister and brother-in-law's house and getting a lot of quality time with them and their four kids. we ventured to the park a few times and joel took the 3 older kids and lauren to a movie. my sister and i got out a few times by ourselves which is always a lot of fun. we did take a day trip down to cape may which is in south jersey. we went to the local zoo there and then hit the beach. it is absolutely beautiful. lots of old victorian houses and cute shops. it is a really neat town.

lauren had so much fun with her cousins. she and elle played non-stop. dress up, barbies, kick ball, polly pockets, sidewalk chalk. even though elle is almost 3 years older she is very patient with lauren. lauren even got to go to elle's ballet class with her. it was very cute! and micah, toby and remi are the sweetest boys. they are so good with the little ones and are just very enjoyable to be around.

unfortunately the week went by way too fast. we are home now, but missing our wonderful family. thankfully they will be making the trek out here this july. we'll be counting down the days. we love you guys!

easter

cape may

ballet class

the girls

moa

2010-03-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

this past weekend we were planning on going to an indoor water park about 3 hours outside of minneapolis. however, joel, caught a cold which then turned into a horrible sinus infection. so we had to cancel our trip. we were really looking forward to doing something fun this weekend and were disappointed by the change in plans. so to make up for not doing the waterpark, we ended up taking lauren to nickelodeon universe at the mall of america. she loves rides and had a great time going on as many as she could. joel and i had to accompany her on a few which was "fun". we all really had a lot of fun, and joel and i were thrilled that her favorite rides were a huge inflatable pineapple that kids jump around in and a bench like thing that goes up in the air and then slowly drops down. she must have gone on both of those rides about 5 -10 times each and she was able to do it her herself, no adult required (yay!).

gramps' birthday

2010-03-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

this weekend was my dad's, aka gramps, birthday. to celebrate we went out to eat with my parents, brothers and sister-in-law. joel and i then went out for a quick date before going to my parent's house for cake and ice cream. we had a nice time with the fam and celebrating my wonderful dad's special day!

jer and missy

me and pres

ryan and gramps

my dad reading a poem cody wrote for him.

baby ry

2010-02-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

wow, the time has flown! ryan will be 8 months on march 7th. he is the sweetest little guy. he's not in a huge hurry to grow up, and in fact has just decided he's ready to try and sit up by himself. he rolls here and there, but other than that he's not too mobile. but no worries here, it will happen when he's ready. what he is very good at is eating. this boy LOVES food. he scarfs down his baby food as fast as he can (orange veggies are his favorite if you couldn't tell from the color of his nose) and then he wants whatever we are having. the other night we were eating papa john's pizza, and he was chewing on some crust. joel and i didn't notice that lauren had ever so thoughtfully dipped ryan's crust in the garlic sauce that comes with the pizza and gave back to ryan. it didn't seem to bother him a bit! he gets lots of attention from his big sister, and if he could speak would maybe say a little too much! :)

counting down the days until spring

2010-02-26T09:59:00.000-08:00

we have been buried in snow here since november. however, the roads are all clear which allows us to take walks around the neighborhood in the stroller. the forecast for the next week is sunny and low to mid 30's. yay! nothing makes us more excited than watching the snow slowly melt.

dinner time

2010-02-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

ryan has been a great little eater. he started eating solids around thanksgiving time. he loves his baby cereal and veges (except for peas). he hasn't taken to the fruit yet. he can get a little impatient if he's not fed fast enough, and lets you know he's enjoying his meal by humming while he eats. he was trying prunes for the first time in these photos. he wasn't so sure at first, but decided they were worth eating. at almost 7 months he is weighing in at 17lbs 4ozs. he has been happiest little guy, and we are having so much fun watching him experience all these new things.

fresh snow

2010-02-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

we haven't seen the ground here in mn since sometime in nov. and after a while the snow gets so dirty and dingy looking. on monday we got another few inches which makes our neighborhood look like a winter wonderland. however, it's been pretty chilly lately, usually in the single digits. yesterday i think we made it to 20 degrees, yay! so lauren and i bundled up and took a brisk walk which felt so nice. she had a great time and wasn't ready to come in even though her gloves were soaked and her cheeks were bright red. i'm glad someone is still enjoying winter!

christmas eve

2009-12-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

we are having a very low key christmas this year. just the 4 of us. and even though we will miss being with family, we are very glad that we won't be spending any time in an airport this holiday season (the first time since we've been married). we are also experiencing record amounts of snow, which makes staying home all the more appealing. so today was spent wrapping the last few gifts, cleaning, snow shoveling, listening to christmas music, checking the depth of the snow every now and then, and making christmas cookies. making the cookies was a little more trying on my patience then i was hoping. lauren did pretty good, but had a little trouble listening and was making bigger messes than was necessary (involving water). so after tears and time spent in her room, we finally got them done, phew! as she and i were standing in the kitchen washing our cookies down with some milk, she took her glass, gently tapped it against mine, looked up at me and said, "cheers." such a good reminder that life's too short to sweat the small stuff. wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

watching a show

2009-12-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

lauren always insists on holding ryan, but it never ends well. thankfully he is a good sport!

oops!

thanksgiving

2009-12-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

we had a really nice and relaxing thanksgiving this year. the food was all SO good (my absolute favorite meal). my parents had a fire in their fireplace which makes for a very warm and cozy atmosphere. we pretty much just lounged around all day, watched football and played games. we attempted to teach my parents how to play 'the settlers of catan'. it's kind of a complicated game and considering the fact that my mom still refers to facebook as "spacebook" (even though we've tried to correct her many times), i don't think we were too successful. but they tried. all in all it was a perfect day!

he is the happiest little guy!

daddy's turn.

gramps has the magic touch when it comes to putting ryan to bed! :)

thomas and friends

2009-12-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

lauren has recently become potty-trained, which joel and i are thrilled about! she is very into trains and really loves thomas the tank engine. so as a reward for no longer wearing diapers (yay!), her grandparents (joel's mom and dad) sent her a thomas track. she was SO excited! and it has been a huge hit. i think the pictures say it all......

another first

2009-12-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

we decided that ryan is ready to start eating cereal. he is a pretty good sized baby and has acted very interested in food for quite a while now. he gives us longing stares whenever we are eating, so it's time to let him in on what he is missing. it is always fun to watch a baby's reaction as they try something new. he did pretty good, and seemed to kind of like it. lauren wanted to get in on the action as well and had a little taste. she didn't like it too much. i guess that's a good thing and says a little something for her mom's cooking!

bath bud

2009-12-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

ryan loves his baths! he enjoys kicking and splashing and does lots of wiggling. it can be a little tricky at times to keep him on his towel that i fold up and use as a support/pillow for his head. there is nothing more slippery than a wet, naked baby!

4 months old!

2009-11-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

our little ryan is 4 months old already! he has been such a wonderful baby. he is the happiest little guy! he'll give anyone a smile. he loves to chew on his fists, but no signs of any teeth yet. he loves watching lauren play and dance. and he's very forgiving (he's been bitten a few times on the hand). when i asked the biter why she did that she replied, "i'm a dinosaur." but she assured me she's not going to do it again. he has added SO much to our little family and is a constant reminder that every good and perfect gift is from the Lord! :)

trick or treat

2009-11-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

this halloween we did our trick-or-treating at a local mall again. it's so nice and easy when you have little ones, especially since it's usually pretty chilly outside. halloween was never a big holiday for either joel or myself growing up, and we don't intend for it to be a very significant part of our kids lives either. thank goodness halloween was on a saturday this year, so i was able to sneak out for a bit and try and find a cheap, on sale costume for lauren. old navy had one costume left. a dragon and it was a 4t/5t but for only $2 i couldn't pass it up. and lauren was thrilled...phew! ryan went as a cute, adorable baby this year and pulled it of quite nicely. :) so here are a few photos of our halloween......

our washington vacation

2009-10-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

last month joel, lauren, ryan and i flew out to washington to spend time with joel's family. they had never met ryan before so we were really looking forward to this trip. the kids did really well on both flights, always a relief! once in washington we stayed pretty busy with day trips to the beach, ferry rides to port townsend, family bar-b-ques, a trip to longview, hayrides, visiting a few friends and just trying to squeeze in as much family time as possible. our vacation flew by! of course we racked up a ton of pictures, which makes finding the time to sort through them and blog a little difficult to do. so i'm just going to post a few of the pictures without many captions for now. we all had a great time, the weather was gorgeous, joel's parents are wonderful hosts (his mom is an amazing cook), and i hope we can find a way to get out there again soon. but i do have to agree with dorothy and say, "there's no place like home!"

Port Townsend

joe, andrea (joel's sister) and their daughter, gracie.

chris and megan (joel's other sister).

lauren and grandpa

ryan and grandma

greyland beach

tractor rides

story time

2009-09-07T17:55:00.001-07:00

lauren loves having books read to her. i think she prefers reading with her daddy since he's great at doing funny voices, while all my characters sound exactly the same. she also loves wearing a leotard that use to be mine when i was a little girl. it's way too big for her, but she doesn't seem to mind.

2 months old!

2009-09-07T17:42:00.001-07:00

ryan is two months old today. he has been a wonderful little baby! he smiles ALL the time. he loves doing "so big" and is very patient with his sister who can't seem to keep her hands off of him. every once in a while if she's being too wild or loud around him, he let's us know it's too much by putting his little bottom lip out. he has his limits! :) we are all loving him so much!

lauren's 1st haircut

2009-09-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

yesterday, lauren and i went to great clips to get lauren's hair cut for the first time. i hated the thought of cutting of all her cute curls, but the ends were really dry and unhealthy, and i knew it was inevitable. she was such a big girl and did a great job, following all the stylist's instructions. it probably didn't hurt that the entire haircut lasted about 5 minutes and she was promised a sucker if she was a good girl. but nonetheless another milestone has been crossed, our little lauren is growing up so fast!

before.......

and after!

big sister

2009-08-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

lauren has been such a wonderful big sister. she is always wanting to hold her little brother and showers him with lots of hugs and kisses. she talks baby talk to him and calls him "ry, ry" or "baby brother" or, as of today, "frosted mini wheat". he gets lots of pushes in his swing and even has an occasional book read to him. we are so thankful that she has adjusted very well to having little ryan around. and we are excited to watch as their relationship continues to grow and develop.

little girls are so much fun!

2009-08-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

today lauren, ryan and i went to celia's house for lunch. liz came as well with her two little girls. ryan was the lone boy, but he didn't seem to mind. the girls have a lot of fun playing together, even though there is usually one who is in tears or is being reminded to share. but that comes with being 2 and younger. with seven little ones i don't think there was ever a dull moment, and us "big" girls decided we need a playdate of our own! :)

valleyfair!

2009-08-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

last night joel, lauren, ryan and i went to a local amusement/water park. it was a really warm evening, still in the low 90's around 6pm. but once the sun went down it was a beautiful night. ryan was great, watching all the action from the comfort of his stroller. lauren was very adventurous and went on all the rides that she could. there were a few that required an adult to accompany her. so joel and i reluctantly took turns. we all had a lot of fun and i have a feeling this is going to be an annual event.

bath time

2009-07-29T12:07:00.001-07:00

6 years ago today....

2009-07-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

six years ago today, joel and i were married. these have honestly been the best years of my life. i am so overwhelmed by joel's love and devotion for me. i couldn't have asked for a more wonderful, caring, sexy husband! and not to mention what an incredible father he is. seeing how he treats and loves our children blesses me so much. they are so fortunate to have a daddy like him. and saying all this i have to ultimately give credit to God. His ways are so perfect! i am forever thankful for the gift He's given me in joel and our two beautiful children. thank you, Lord, for giving me the desires of my heart! i love you, joel!

park time!

2009-07-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

yesterday we took ryan on his first outing to the park. he seems to really enjoy riding in the stroller because he fell right to sleep and didn't wake up until we were back home. which meant lots of playing time for lauren, so she was happy!

a few cute photos

2009-07-16T14:18:00.001-07:00

little ryan has been such a smiley baby. and he has the tiniest dimples in his cheeks. so cute!

and lauren has been such a great big sister. she is always giving him toys and carrying on conversations with him. today i was in the kitchen and ryan was in the living room in his swing. i could hear lauren say to him in a very concerned voice, "ryan, did you spit up a little bit?" i went in to see and sure enough he had. as i was going into the kitchen to get a cloth lauren said to him, "your mom is going to get a towel to clean you up. don't worry."

ryan timothy has arrived!

2009-07-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

well, the wait is finally over! on july 7th ryan timothy was born. however, it took a little bit of work to convince him that it was time to come out. after being a week overdue, there were no signs that he would be born anytime soon. so much to my hesitation we chose to head into the hospital for a scheduled inducement. it's very different walking into the hospital to have a baby without any contractions or labor pains. they slowly got things started on monday night and by 11:13 on tuesday morning he was born. for the most part everything went really well. once it was time to push he was out after only 3 contrations. so glad considering he was 9lbs 6ozs!

we have been home for a week now and he has been such a wonderful little baby so far. lauren adores him and i always find her checking on him when he's sleeping in his bassinet. joel and i feel so incredibly blessed by the amazing family God has given us. and we greatly appreciate all the prayers and well wishes from all our friends and family. thank you!

4 days overdue

2009-07-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

well, no baby yet. even though i was glad to spend the day with my entire family (it had been over a year and a half since we were all together last) i was hoping that today would be the day our little guy decides to enter the world. i can't complain too much, however. this has been a great pregnancy and i've felt pretty good even up until now. my patience is just wearing thin and i'm so anxious to meet our little boy. i have to keep reminding myself that we are SO close to the end and i know that at some point this next week our baby will be here. yay!!

family fun

2009-06-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

we have been waiting for months for my sister and her 4 kids to come and visit. they finally got into wisconsin on saturday evening! yay! joel, lauren and myself went over to my parent's house(where they will be staying) yesterday to spend the day together. of course everyone had grown so much. little remi is almost walking on his own. elle is just the sweetest little girl and lauren is so thrilled to have someone to play with her. micah and toby adore their uncle preston and spend lots of time hanging out with him, getting lots of football games in. now all we need is my little guy to be born. his due date is tomorrow and they will be here until around the 20th of july. so i know we will all be together soon, i'm just hoping sooner rather than later! :)

little remi is not so little anymore. he weighs about as much as lauren! what a cutie.

he is very good at telling you how big he is, "sooooo big!" and he's not lying! :)

football time!

bubbles are always a hit!

off to the trampoline!

a great day for the beach

2009-06-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

this past saturday joel, lauren and i made our first trip to the beach. even though it is only june the water was so warm and clear. lauren had a great time playing in the sand and "swimming" in the shallow water all by herself. she and joel ventured out a ways to a dock where she could jump off and have joel catch her. i think she could have done this all day! we all had a great time and i hope that was the first of many outtings we will make to the beach this summer. maybe next time as a family of 4! :)

you know you are a true midwestern girl when.....

2009-06-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

our little gardener

2009-06-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

this spring, my wonderful husband built me two little box gardens. i love gardening and the challenge of trying to make things grow and then of course the reward of eating fresh vegetables. lauren apparently shares this love with me and is always ready to go out and "work" in the garden. she is also great at watering, even though it ALWAYS ends up with her being completely soaked from head to toe. but as long as the garden gets at least a little bit of water i won't complain! :)

mill city park

2009-06-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

on jodie's last day here we went into downtown minneapolis to have coffee and walk to a park by the river. unfortunately it was really chilly, so our visit was brief. we did get a few quick photos before rushing back to the warm car.

"uncle" cheese's

2009-06-13T19:01:00.001-07:00

this past week joel's mom was visiting from wa state. the weather was beautiful at first, but towards the end of her visit it got really cold and rainy. so since we were limited to finding something fun to do indoors, we gave chuck e. cheese's a try. lauren's never been there before, but she's seen the advertisements for it on pbs. and for some reason she always refers to chuck e. cheese as uncle cheese's. so when we told her we were actually going to go with grandma she was very excited. it was rather crowded and lauren seemed a little overwhelmed at times, but she tried lots of different rides and games, even though she spent the most time on a small slide. but she did have fun and i'm sure we'll go back at some point but hopefully not in the near future! :)

minnesota tax rally

2009-05-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

last saturday joel, lauren and i went to a tax rally that was held at the minnesota capitol in st. paul. it was a beautiful day, sunny and low sixties. minnesota politics has been a little depressing lately (al franken may soon be our senator). so it was encouraging to be around fellow americans who are justly concerned about the direction our nation is heading and the ever increasing size of government. it was great having a pastor leading the event in a reading from proverbs and delivering a powerful prayer. we do have some inspiring leaders here in mn such as michelle bachman and gov pawlenty who spoke at the event. i am glad we were able to attend, and it seems now more than ever is the time to make our voices heard.

representative michelle bachman.

lauren loved climbing the stairs of the capitol and exploring inside. so she was very sad when her daddy said it was time to go.

so i made the long trek back up with her.

"yay! we did it!"

gov pawlenty arriving to give his speech.

park time

2009-05-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

lauren and her daddy took a little outing to the park. (and i took a little nap). joel was kind enough to take the camera and get a few pictures of all the fun that was had.

happy birthday, lauren!!

2009-04-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

last saturday we celebrated lauren's 2nd birthday. she was so thrilled to see all the decorations and balloons when she woke up. her exact words were, "oh, my goodness!" only one party guest was able to make it, but having a small low key birthday isn't necessarily bad when you are only 2. :) and katie was a wonderful guest! all in all it was a great day. joel and i just feel so incredibly blessed with this wonderful little girl that God has given to us. these past 2 years have been better than we ever could have imagined and i know the best is yet to come!

concentrating very hard as she opens up........

big girl underwear!

grandma and grandpa got her a fun tea set.

trying it out.

she also got some polly pockets.

and what could this be?!

vintage little people that her grandparents found on ebay.

next was a very neat floor puzzle from katie.

her uncles have gotten her interested in golf, so we thought she needed her own set of clubs. :)

more big girl underwear (hopefully she'll get the hint).

candy necklaces were a definite hit.

right, katie?

she also got a beautiful homemade dress from her aunt missy.

she loves balls, especially footballs.

aunt missy and uncle jeremiah taking in all the action.

she got some really great books from her aunt megan.

still enjoying her books.

cake time!!!

little meltdown when lauren realized the cake wasn't all for her.

but once she had her piece, the crying stopped.

happy birthday, lauren! we love you!

yay for spring!

2009-04-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

this last week was absolutely beautiful. every day was warm and sunny and all we wanted to do was be outdoors. which is good considering all the yard work that needs to be done. the front yard looks pretty good for the most part, but there are a few dirt patches that needed some seeding. so lauren and i decided to tackle this little project. she loves being able to help and get in on the action - especially when there's water involved. :)

easter sunday

2009-04-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

we had a really nice easter this year. for one the weather was great, sunny and 60 degrees. so we could actually wear springlike clothes and have an outdoor easter egg hunt - yay! we started the day by going to church. joel and i had nursery duty so we didn't get too dressed up, but it was fun getting lauren ready with her cute summer sandals and a really pretty dress that was given to her by her cousin elle. so we decided to have a little photo shoot before church.

we thought we'd better include a shot of baby sorrell as well.

after church we went to my parent's house for easter lunch. lauren loves going to nonnie and gramp's house because there are so many fun things to do. one of her favorite things is to walk over to the neighbor's fence and feed their horses. so gramps and preston took her over there.

joel did a little golfing (and also aerated my mom's yard at the same time).

lauren got lots of swinging in...

and then for the highlight of the day, the easter egg hunt!

she also did do a little gardening with nonnie, and i think it's safe to say i changed her clothes just in time! :)

waterpark!

2009-03-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

this past weekend joel, lauren and i went to an indoor waterpark that was about 2 hours outside of minneapolis. we had gone to another one in december with my family and lauren loved it. so we thought we try another one to help tide us over until summer (it's been a LONG winter). lauren had a great time and thankfully her daddy was willing to pretty much do all the water activities with her. hey, someone had to watch our stuff and take pictures. :) she loved the lazy river, but it wasn't too relaxing for joel who had to continually change their course to avoid the waterfalls and squirting statues. they also did a few water slides together, but lauren wouldn't go any more once i had the camera out (of course!). but it was a great little family outting, and when we got home it was over 60 degrees and sunny! quite a change considering it was 0 degrees just the week before. summer can't come soon enough!

daddy and lauren hanging out in the kiddy pool.

this was about the extent of my water fun.

actually, i did manage to quickly plop in. but THIS was the extent of my water fun.

thank goodness for daddies!! :)

warming up in the hot tub.

a nice little back float.

just hanging out and having fun.

and the inevitable time to go home. :(

big girl bed

2009-03-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

a few weekends ago, joel, lauren and i went to ikea to buy a big girl bed. lauren was very excited and was a great "helper" when we were putting it together. she slept in it the first night and did very well until about 6:30 am when we heard a thump followed by crying. sure enough she had managed to find the one area of the bed that didn't have the guard rail on it and fell out. so after that she decided the crib was a safer place to sleep. but she eventually gave the big girl bed another try and has liked it ever since. one night she came prancing out into the living room around 11:00 announcing to joel and i that she was awake. ( a definite plus to the big girl bed - more freedom). but for the most part she does very well and it seems her crib is becoming a thing of the past.

she likes to line up her stuffed animals, which she calls her "friends".

everyone is in their place and ready for bed.

at least i hope everyone is ready for bed! :)

best buddies

2009-03-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

today we had 4 of my cousins (or cousins-in-law) over for lunch. we all have little girls that range in age from 18 months to 22 months. my cousin celia has 6 month old twins as well, but they obviously are too young to play with the "big girls", but it won't be long.... it has been so great watching the girls enjoy each other's company more and more. they are all so sweet and play very nicely together. they are all working on their manners and many times more than one of them will chime in with a "please" or "thank you" when a mommy says, "what do you say?" i feel so blessed to have this wonderful group of cousins/friends for lauren to be a part of for many years to come! :)

it's not easy to get a group shot! (l-r) katie, ian, lauren and ava.

katie and lauren playing in the "tunnel".

katie, ava and lauren playing catch.

ian was busy doing some very impressive coloring! :)

celia and baby kiera, who will be having fun with the "big girls" in no time.

it's not as hard to get them all together when there are cookies involved. :)

after a few hours of fun, it was time to say goodbye. they are all very good huggers.

and finally, little kiera and tegan all ready to go. bye, bye girls. we hope to see you all again soon!

daddy attempts to fix hair

2009-02-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

this morning we were in a hurry to get out of the house, so i asked joel if he could get lauren ready. after getting her dressed, i informed him that she needs to have her hair fixed as well (a task joel repeatedly tells me he doesn't know how to do). I reassured him that it is not that difficult and since he has a little girl he has to learn how to fix her hair. so he bravely gave it a try.....

this is the before shot.

he begins with a little detangling spray. off to a good start!

he runs into a few snarls. lauren is not enjoying this too much.

"are we done yet, dad?!" obviously not.

so they continue on. and finally.....

..the after shot! i don't know what looks more funny, lauren's hair or her "smile". but i have to give joel some credit, at least he tried. and i'm thinking (and hoping) he'll only get better with time. :)

sewing with aunt missy

2009-02-23T16:08:00.000-08:00

last week my brother and sister-in-law moved in with us as they are starting a new life in minnesota after living in south africa for the past year. we are really enjoying having them here and being able to spend so much time together, something we've rarely been able to do in the past. lauren is especially loving her uncle jeremiah and aunt missy time. they are both so good and patient with her. and joel and i are having fun watching lauren develop a relationship with them (which didn't take long to do). missy is a great seamstress and is always sewing something(she's promised to give me lessons). so the other night lauren wanted to take a closer look and see exactly what missy was doing with this strange machine. i think she was rather impressed.

our dancing queen

2009-01-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

lauren loves to put on her ballerina tutu and dance. however, she prefers having a dancing partner as opposed to dancing alone. she's very lucky that her daddy finds her hard to resist. so the two of them had a little dance today, and i was able to get a couple of cute pictures!

surviving the winter

2009-01-19T18:16:00.000-08:00

lauren asks to go to the park all the time, even when it's below 0 outside (which has been quite often). however there happens to be an indoor park just a few miles from our house. yesterday, after church, we met chad and celia and their 3 daugthers for lunch and some playtime. the playground equipment was geared more for older kids, but the girls had so much fun exploring and running around. with outtings like this, we may just make it through the winter after all!

christmas '08

2009-01-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

we had a really nice christmas this year. we went to washington state to spend the holiday with joel's family. a few days before we left we had a little christmas with just the three of us, which was really nice. lauren got so many wonderful gifts that will keep her entertained and occupied for a quite a while. her favorite present this year was any and every book she received. any time we handed her a present before opening it she would always say, "book, book". sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't. i should say she did really enjoy everything she received though.

christmas in the northwest

lauren and her grandma (and mumpy and elmo)

lauren, mumpy and her enormous christmas stocking.

grandpa and the newest member of the family, baby gracie.

there was so much snow in washington that we felt like we were still in minnesota!

megan and chris (who will actually be the newest member of the family sometime this summer, yay!)

my little family

munching on some fresh snow

lauren and her little snowman

and lastly, a shot of the whole family. phew, that was a long post! :)

big sister in training

2008-12-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

yesterday lauren and i got to watch my cousin's three month old daughter, kiera. lauren loves babies and really wanted to hold kiera. little kiera was fairly willing and let lauren hold her for about a minute. lauren was very sad when it was my turn to hold kiera and would protest everytime i took the baby off her lap. it was really sweet to see how happy and content lauren was just having a real baby to hold. she's going to be in for such a wonderful surprise this summer when "her" baby arrives!

my family christmas

2008-12-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

this year we are going to spend christmas in washington with joel's family. so this past saturday we had a small christmas with my mom, dad and two brothers. it was also my mom's birthday. we had a really nice and relaxing day. my mom made some great soup and enchiladas. there was a roaring fire in the fireplace. very cozy! joel and i also told my family that we are going to have another baby this june. they were really surprised and excited! it's a secret that we've been keeping for a while, so it was so great to finally get to share the good news. i got a few pictures of our time together, but of course the camera battery died! i hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season!

three cool dudes, cody, preston and my dad (who always wears shorts indoors, even during the winter).

lauren got a really neat baby doll from nonnie and gramps.

this is the first doll she's ever had that has hair, so she was pretty fascinated with her.

she even came with her own tiara, very cool!

o'christmas tree

2008-11-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

today joel, lauren and i got our christmas tree. it was a perfect day for putting up a tree. the snow was coming down and everything was covered in white. it really helped to put us in a christmasie mood. we were excited to see lauren's reaction when we brought this huge tree into the house and began decorating it. unfortunately, due to taking only a 10 minute nap today she was a bit on the grumpy side (isn't that always the case when you have something special planned). so our warm, wonderful family activity didn't quite go as we had hoped it would. but it was still fun, and our living room looks and smells so nice with our beautiful tree!

thanksgiving

2008-11-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

we had a great thanksgiving this year at my parents' house. we celebrated with my mom and dad, two brothers, four of my aunts and uncles, and my cousin tim, his wife amber and their daughter, katie. a small gathering actually considering our family get together's usually consist of 40+ people. the food was great, my all-time favorite meal, and we had a nice time relaxing, talking politics (unavoidable, but we're all pretty much on the same page) and just hanging out. this truly is a wonderful time of year!

my mom and one of her four sisters, mitzi.

lauren and katie had lots of fun playing together.

no family gathering would be complete without a puppet show from cody and pedro.

and he always has a supportive and encouraging audience with the family, even though they've all seen his performances numerous times.

and here is a picture of my brother, preston, giving lauren some attention. after all he is one of her favorite people!

dinner with friends

2008-11-24T17:49:00.001-08:00

last saturday night joel, lauren and i went to my cousin tim's house for dinner. his wife, amber, made us a delicious salmon dinner and lauren had a great time playing with their 14 month old daughter, katie, who is SO cute! we had a great time, and i am so grateful to have such a wonderful extended family!

tim and his lovely wife amber with sleeping katie.

i was unsuccessful at getting a good picture of the two of them together. so individual shots will have to do. katie just started walking a few weeks ago, but is doing a great job.

lauren and her "pappy", a shot that's never hard to get. i know what our new year's resolution will be!

lauren did try to give katie some kisses, but katie wasn't too sure she wanted any.

our new jersey trip

2008-11-17T07:23:00.001-08:00

last friday joel, lauren and i drove out to new jersey to spend a week with my sister, her husband and their four kids. it was a long drive out there, but we were fortunate not to hit any bad weather. and for the most part we got though the major cities (mainly chicago) without too much trouble. phew! lauren had so much fun with her cousins. they are so sweet and patient with her considering they are a bit older than she is. micah is 10, toby is 6, elle is 4 and remi is 6 months. she also was thrilled to play with new toys and elle introduced her to the world of princesses. one highlight was our trip to the camden aquarium. (unfortunately i forgot my camera). but it was really neat. there were so many amazing sea creatures to see and we even got to pet sharks and sting rays. lauren loved it! even though joel was working all week, he got to have a little fun too. he consumed his first philly cheese steak sandwich. it probably will be his last, i guess it takes a while to get used to them. joel and i also watched the godfather for the first time. it kind of added to the experience just being in the area where it all took place. so it was a wonderful trip and we miss the megaws so much! thanks for a great week!

remi and jen.

toby and joel.

two "princesses" looking at books.

lauren and elle.

still reading!

remi and lauren.

elle, remi and lauren.

all the cousins - elle, toby, remi micah and lauren.

lauren's 1st memorable halloween

2008-10-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

joel and i took lauren to a nearby mall to go trick-or-treating. she had a great time and was so happy to see her candy basket getting fuller and fuller. she stopped frequently to take inventory of her loot but was very good not to eat any until after we got home and had some dinner. she also enjoyed seeing all the other kids in their costumes and was especially impressed by a little girl in a butterfly costume. something to remember for next year......

pumpkin, candle!

2008-10-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

joel and lauren have started a new little tradition. every night once it's dark they go outside and lite our pumpkin. (we are down to just one due to the squirrels). well, this has become one of the highlight of lauren's day. as soon as she wakes up in the morning, she says to joel, "pumpkin, candle"! and he tells her, "no, we have to wait until it's dark". so when the sun finally goes down, joel tells lauren it's time to light the pumpkin. she immediately says, "shoes, jacket". so even though they aren't outside for too long joel goes through the process of putting her shoes and jacket on. this has become such a special activity for joel and lauren, so i thought i'd take some pictures to have as a reminder.

wonderful warm fall weather

2008-10-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

yesterday there was a pumpkin giveway at our local park. so we helped ourselves to a few. joel and i eached carved one. i stuck to basic triangle shapes while joel's was a bit more elaborate. we had fun and it was a new experience for lauren. we also have tons of leaves in our yard so we spent some time raking and playing in them today. (we just wanted to be outside this weekend since the temp's were in the 70's - perfect!) fall is such a beautiful time of year and always reminds us of what an amazing designer God is.

can you guess which one is joel's?

daddy's girl

2008-10-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

i don't think there is anything in this world more precious than a daddy and his baby. and i have the pictures to prove it! :)

fun with friends!

2008-10-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

this past week our good friends andrew, jessica and liam took the amtrak train all the way from washington state to spend the week with us. it was so great to see them again and to be able to have a nice amount of time to spend together. while they were here we went to a few local parks as well as the como zoo and the mall of america. we also spent one day sightseeing in downtown minneapolis and spent another day in stillwater, the oldest town in minnesota. except for one day the weather was great 60's and sunny. lauren and liam played very well with one another. she called liam "him" and thought it was pretty neat having a constant playmate all week. so here are a few pictures of our activities....

liam and lauren looking in the tiger cage at the zoo.

liam, andrew and jessica checking out the animals.

liam is always ready to smile for the camera!

best buddies!

having fun in the grass.

a shot of a very nice looking family!

while in minneapolis we found a glass wall to take a group photo in.

now that they are home, our house is so quite and rather boring. lauren at least three times a day asks about "him". thanks again for taking the time to come and see us, andrew, jessica and liam. we miss you guys!

fall fun

2008-09-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

yesterday joel, lauren and i went to an apple orchard with my cousin nate and his wife, liz, and their daughter, ava. the orchard was really beautiful, out in the country on a hill over looking fields and trees. it was a warm day, but a refreshing breeze was blowing. there were lots of activities for kids such as a corn maze, a mound of hay to climb to climb on, a big corn cob bin converted to a play area, a wooden train, hay rides, live music and animals to pet. the girls were a little young for some of the activities, but had fun playing in the corn cob bin and on the train. but i think their favorite thing was just eating the yummy apples. we also tried some hot donuts which were delicious and some fresh cider. we had a great time and i can't think of a better way to welcome in the fall!

little ava is great at giving hugs. i was trying to decide on a few pictures to post of the hugs, but they were all so cute that i'm just going to put them all up!

the tractor ride. weeeeee!

and lastly, here we are picking and eating some very tasty apples. yum, yum!

just can't get enough!

2008-09-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

yesterday joel, lauren and i went to yet another mccain/palin rally. it was held in an airplane hanger in a north minneapolis suburb. the previous mccain event i attended in july was a small (about 800 in attendance), women only town hall meeting. this gathering had over 13,000 enthusiastic mccain/palin supporters! one of the most touching sights there was a little down syndrome girl who looked about 2 years old. she was with her mom and grandma and the three of them were holding signs that said "we love trig"! and the most annoying sight was a woman dressed as a wayward "polar bear" holding an SOS sign. (i don't think she was at the right rally). with so many people there i couldn't even see sen. mccain or gov. palin, but that's okay. seeing such an awesome turnout was more exciting than seeing the candidates. it's encouraging and gives me hope that the right man is going to get in the white house this fall. Go McCain-Palin!!!!!

a shot from inside the hanger with thousands of excited conservatives.

lauren and mumpy (her stuffed monkey) had a great time at the event. and really, how could you not?! :)

lauren had fun wandering through the crowd and saying "hi" to lots of friendly people.

and stopping when something interesting caught her eye. oooh, a kid!

but it wasn't all fun and games for lauren. she'd stop and show her support when she thought it was necessary. my little patriot!

daddy and his girl, cheering mccain to victory!

skol, vikings, let's go!

2008-09-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

this past weekend our good friends, brad and kelli, flew in from wa state and spent the weekend with us. it was great seeing them again since it had been a while since we last were together. we had fun exploring minneapolis and their numerous sky bridges, trying some nice local restaurants, and relaxing in the evenings with a few good movies. however, the highlight of the weekend was going to the mn vikings game. brad is a huge fan of the vikings. this was their season opener and they hosted the colts. it was a pretty exciting game with the vikings being ahead the whole time. but unfortunately with some help from payton manning, the colts went on to beat the vikings. but the experience was fun (joel and my first time attending a pro football game). and the company couldn't have been better. :)

semi vikings fans.

true vikings fans.

kelli and i, all ready for the big game.

payton manning, doing what he does best. better luck next time, vikes!

our summer vacation

2008-09-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

joel, lauren and i just got home after an almost two week vacation. we drove from minnesota to washington state. we were a little concerned about how lauren would do in the car considering it's an 1800 mile trip. but she was absolutely awesome, which made the trip all that more fun.

we weren't even out of minnesota before joel wanted to stop to take some sunset photos. so lauren got out of the car and ran around while her daddy got some really beautiful shots.

our first overnight stop was in kalispell, montana. we stayed with one of my closest friends, geoffrey. i got to meet her mom (who is so nice and hospitable) and her little nephew and niece (they are both very cute). lauren was happy to have kids to play with. we had a great time and were treated to tons of good food and meals. thanks again for everything!!

after kalispell we drove to joel's parents house in washington. lauren loved being at grandma and grandpa's house and spending time with them. it was a very relaxing visit. we did go to the zoo one afternoon. lauren was most happy just running around though and thought the animals were just okay. but we all had lots of fun.

grandma and grandpa's

the zoo

after saying goodbye to joel's family, we spent a few nights with some good friends, jessica, andrew and liam. it was great spending time with them and seeing their recently purchased house. liam who is 2, is really sweet and played nicely with lauren. it was a great way to conclude our time in washington.

so after a fun filled trip, we are home now. (it's so nice being in your own bed after a long trip). and after a few days of unpacking bags and grocery runs, our lives are back to normal. but we have precious memories of our wonderful west coast trip and the time we spent with our family and friends.

we miss you all!

finally some fun!

2008-08-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

lauren's cousin, ian, came over to play for a few hours this morning. the timing couldn't have been better since lauren has had a pretty boring week so far. and as they get older ian and lauren seem to enjoy each other's company more and more.

they both really like reading books and each picked out one that looked interesting. (even though i think both of their books are upside-down).

their game of catch didn't work to well, but they ended up finding other balls to play with.

they did play for a little while together in lauren's "bouncy house". it is amazing to see how fast they change from tiny babies to "big" girls! but also so much fun.

bedtime

2008-08-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

this has been a pretty low key, uneventful week so far. it has actually been really nice, but it also makes finding a blogging topic a little more difficult. so i thought i'd write about our very exciting nightly bedtime routine. after her bath lauren got her 8 almost 9 teeth brushed. she wanted to take a turn with the toothbrush tonight.

she then read a few books with her daddy. she loves her daddy time! (and he loves it too).

when the books were read, she got to drink her bottle.

she (and apparently elmo) were fast asleep almost as soon as her head it the pillow. sleep well, baby girl!

bridget and barry's b&b

2008-08-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

this weekend joel, lauren and i drove a few hours out of the cities to spend some time with my cousin, bridget, her husband, barry, and their two kids, isaac and brianna. we got there around 9 p.m. on friday evening (traffic was a little heavy leaving the cities). and of course all the kids were excited to see each other giving them a jolt of energy that kept them going strong until 11 p.m. but oh well we were on vacation!

the next morning we were served breakfast by our ever gracious hosts consisting of cinnamon rolls, eggs, fruit salad, potatoes, juice and coffee. it was delicious! joel and barry then hit the golf course for a few hours. barry, who is a golfing expert, said that joel did quite well considering it was his first time ever golfing. (i was informed that he drove the ball 200+ yards, but also that he needs to improve on the direction that he drives it). joel has decided to take up golf as his newest hobby. so while the fellows were out having fun, us gals stayed home with the kids. but we had a great time talking and relaxing (when the kids were napping).

lauren and isaac had a lot of fun, and both really like playing with balls. isaac is on his way to becoming an expert golfer. for only 2 years old he really drives the ball far!

here is a rare moment when the three of them are all sitting still and together. (i actually was playing peek-a-boo behind joel's back while he was taking the picture. note the look of strange bewilderment on their faces).

thanks isaac and brianna for sharing all your toys with lauren and playing with her! she had a lot of fun and fell alseep as soon as we pulled out of your driveway.

and thanks bridget and barry for all the great meals and yummy vietnamese coffee. i would definitely recommend a stay at bridget and barry's b&b to anyone who was passing through!

elmo's newest friend

2008-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

lauren has recently discovered what so many millions of kids before her have - elmo. whenever we are out shopping and she sees his face on various items, she imediately exclaims, "elmo, elmo!" so this past weekend her dad bought her a little elmo doll. (it doesn't take much to get him to buy her things, he's a bit of a softy).

ohhh..... so happy!

she even offered elmo her most prized possession, her pacifier a.k.a. "pappy".

but not for too long!

forever friends

2008-08-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

today lauren and i had lunch with four of my cousins and their babies/kids. two of them were visiting from out of state, so it was wonderful having everyone together at the same time. we pretty much grew up together and have been good friends since our teenage years. we all got married within a few years of each other and were in each other's weddings when the circumstances allowed. it's always fun to get caught up on each other's lives and laugh about past memories. we had a great time, and i feel so blessed to have family members that i think more of as friends!

this is a picture of us in 1996. the 5 of us flew down to texas to spend a week with my grandma. it was a fun trip!

and here we are today, 12 years later. from l-r: me, corrin, celia, laura and bridget. here's to a lot more fun and good times in the future! :)

picnic at the park

2008-08-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

this evening joel, lauren and i had a picnic at local park with my cousin celia, her husband, chad and their daughter ian. ( i should mention they are excepting twin girls next month). the weather was perfect, mid 70's with a light breeze. the girls had a lot of fun and even gave each other kisses from time to time. very cute. i couldn't think of a better way to spend a summer evening!

a cute shot of chad and celia.

the girls had a lot of fun and will probably sleep very well tonight! :)

lauren loves footballs! she was feeling a little left out when joel and chad were playing catch. so she was thrilled when she finally got a turn with the football.

two cool looking dads with their sweet little babes.

lauren enjoyed sliding down the hill. she was quite a mess by the time we left. but she didn't seem to mind, that's what being a little girl is all about. :)

like father, like daughter

2008-08-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

joel and lauren are enjoying some freshly made lattes. lauren's"latte", however, is just milk and vanilla. we won't let her in on the main ingredient just yet! :)

at the beach

2008-08-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

this past week has been really warm, with daily temps in the 90's. so on friday afternoon, joel, lauren and i went to a local beach. lauren enjoys swimming in my parents' pool, but she's never been to the beach before so we weren't sure how she'd do. well, she loved it! the water was very warm and clear. little fish would even swim within a few feet of us. all she would say was "wa-wa!", her word for water, over and over again. she had fun with the sand and liked having her feet buried. she even got a little popsicle treat, which unfortunately ended in tragedy with half of it falling into the sand - those things are hard to eat! but it was a great day and we're all looking forward to going back again soon.

spaghetti girl

2008-07-29T19:32:00.001-07:00

every child has a famous shot of him or her eating spaghetti and making a mess. so i thought i'd post a few of lauren after she recently enjoyed a yummy plate of spaghetti. i really don't think she can get any messier than this, at least i hope not! :)

a nice night for a walk

2008-07-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

this evening joel, lauren and i went to a park that we'd never visited before. some friends told us about it, and what's great is that it's only a few miles from our house.

so we stopped and got some jamba juice since it was still pretty warm this evening.

joel's taking a turn pushing the stroller, (usually he mans the camera).

and this is why. he is an amazing photographer!

we never came across any swings at this park, which is lauren's favorite thing to do, but she did end up having fun playing with some bark chips.

lauren also loves being a big girl and pushing her own stroller. she hasn't quite mastered the steering aspect yet, which can be a little dangerous for any unsuspecting pedestrians.

we also stopped for a brief moment to watch some remote controlled boats. i think lauren was wanting to swim with boats instead of watch them, so we couldn't stay long. but it was a great little outing on a warm july night. we have get out while we can because summer won't be here for too much longer. :(

girl's night!

2008-07-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

joel went to the new batman movie with a bunch of guys tonight, so a few of lauren's friends who are also her cousins came over to play. they were all very good and had a lot of fun together.

ian who is 13 months is on the left, lauren's in the middle and then ava, who will be 1 in about a week, is on the right. they are all so close in age which is great!

after playing with toys for a while we decided to go for a walk to the park.

even though ava can't walk yet, she is an amazing climber who really gets around!

ian is so close to walking on her own, but she still managed to cover a lot of ground with a little help from her mom.

lauren thought she'd do a little digging this evening.

well, we finally managed to get them all in the same place for a quick photo. thanks for the fun night, girls. i hope we can do it again soon!

coffee helper

2008-07-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

one of lauren's special "jobs" is to assist her daddy make his daily pot of coffee. this is a very important job which she takes very seriously (as the pictures will prove).

in order to properly get in the coffee helper role, one must first put on his or her coffee helper hat.

to begin the process, lauren inserts a coffee filter.

she then supervises the grinding of the coffee beans.

she helps daddy count the coffee scoops, with backup spoons in hand in case she needs to intervene.

she carefully puts the coffee in the filter.

all that's left is to turn on the start button.

the green light is on signaling the conclusion of yet another coffee making success. and she'll be back on the job tomorrow, hat on and spoons in hand, to begin the process all over again. :)

becoming a big girl

2008-07-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

lauren thought she'd try something a little daring tonight and use a spoon to eat her dinner. she did a great job and was quite proud of herself. (i think it also helped that she had two very enthusiastic "cheerleaders" clapping at every bite). i will take you step by step through this very exciting and somewhat tense process.

she starts her approach with a good, angled grip on the spoon.

do i really want to eat these peas, she thinks, pausing for a moment. oh, what the heck, it always makes my mom and dad clap and cheer. so here goes....

she then puts the spoon in her mouth with the greatest of ease. remarkable! since she was on a roll, she decided to follow her dinner "act" with a proper demonstration on how to blow one's nose. again we were rather impressed.

our sweet little baby is growing up! (and yes, joel and i could use a little more entertainment in our lives)!