LIGHTS!

Taking advantage of free events while our husbands were studying all night, a few of us girls went to a park lighting here in the city. They had some Christmas entertainment, a very cheesy entrace by Santa (involving a dummy santa coming in on a shaky sleigh via cables and a lifting crane), and then they lit the Christmas lights around the park, followed-up by a fireworks finale. Adam had fun and still talks about it in his prayers. That's Echo, Nolan, Adam, and me in the first picture. Thanks to Shandra, the photographer, when the rest of us forgot our cameras. :)

another ZOO trip

It was unusually warm the other day, so a few of us enjoyed the day at the zoo. Actually, Adam and I went again the next day too. Love that zoo pass! Adam and Jack had fun giving "fives" to the new baby Siamang monkey through the glass. I keep telling Adam about the white alligator I heard about at the Utah zoo; just like at Uncle Bob's and Aunt Celia's. He's very excited. Who'll volunteer to go to the zoo w/us on a nice December day?!

more catch-UP

Well, it's been a while so I thought I'd throw on a few more. First of all, Adam is becoming more and more attached to his "blueberry" stuffed animal. I really tried to make it a point to alternate blankets and stuffed animals so he wouldn't attach to just ONE. However, my attempts were apparently in vain. Blueberry ("blueblee"... which is better than how he used to pronounce it..."boobee") is like the sibling Adam never had; he does everything with him. He changes blueberry's diapers (wipes and all), shares snacks and drinks, helps him do puzzles, watch Incredibles together, and of course naps and bedtime. I don't want to know what would happen if we ever lost that bear!

Adam also loves helping with cooking and doing dishes in the kitchen. It is so cute; most of the time. ;) I thought he would get a kick out of making meatloaf with me the other day. He wasn't too excited about the messy part as you can tell from the pic--guess I gotta break him in more. And as for the last pic w/the tie... this is how he came up to me one morning when we were getting dressed to go out the door. "Ready, Mommy!"

the many faces of our mOnKEy

our Branch Trunk-or-Treat

Pun'kin Pickin' Time!

'Tis the season! We had lots of fun early October when a bunch of us met at at a nearby family farm to feed the animals and pick pumpkins. You know- if it weren't for the impending doom of winter, fall might be my favorite season instead of spring. Adam LOVED playing around and seeing/feeding all the animals. All except the geese -- why are they so mean?!

Temple Trip

We had a stake temple day last Saturday and we were blessed to be able to go. Let me just say that attending the temple is an amazing privilege. And being able to attend the temple with members of your branch/ward, who are your neighbors and friends, is even greater (in my opinion). Same goes for family members. It's always an awesome experience to go to the temple and to be spiritually uplifted and reminded of where my priorities should be.

So, we would not have been able to enjoy such great experiences were it not for Kendee & Steve's great kindness in watching over Adam for us (And we're not forgetting about the Kopp's that we owe you guys! Thanks again.). I was worried coming home, though... hoping that Adam hadn't been too much of a hassle for his willing babysitters. Not that I had any reason to worry; it's just that Adam has HATED being left pretty much anywhere lately. But apparently those worries were all in vain. We got back to Kendee's place and we find Adam watching "The Incredibles" (a HUGE favorite lately), sitting on Lake's "Mater" chair, which was perched on top of their cozy red couch... I don't think he even noticed that we had left hours earlier. He was too busy with his own personal popcorn bowl to even notice that we'd walked in the room. I was relieved, though. Hopefully this attachment phase is finally fading. So when I jokingly asked if Daddy and I should go home and leave him there to stay at Lake's house, his simple reply was, "Please." Ha! Love that kid.

Tagless

Ok, on to my tag. So, apparently I was "tagged" weeks ago and I've just been clueless. So here you go Karin! Sorry for my delayed reaction. Here are the 2 rules, according to my tagger: 1) Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. 2) At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog, for these rules. MY RULES: forget that I heard rule #2. Here's my confession. I really am not a fan of pressure forwarding or chain letters. Not that I have any issues with people who do them, I just never get into them. So I'm outing myself and have to apologize to anyone who's chains I've inadvertently broken. It's not that I consciously ignore the requests for forwarding, it's just that I put it in an infamous "to do" pile and forget about it until after it's too late. Please forgive me. ANYWAY... on to rule #1: list 6 facts/habits about myself:

1. See previous paragraph :)

2. I love my hard working husband! Guy has been working so hard w/school (patients, tests, quizzes, practicals, etc), and he's had to work "family overtime" this weekend with both Adam and me being sick. And in case you haven't had the opportunity to learn this on your own, sick 2-yr-olds can be quite tricky to please. WOW! Adam is usually a somewhat easy-going kid. Fun and crazy, but his personality isn't usually too difficult to work with. But we have had our trying moments this weekend! So THANKS to Guy for your patience with both of us.

3. I love my crazy Adam boy. He is our constant entertainment and, thus, his head is getting bigger by the second! (Figuratively speaking, of course... not quite taking after Daddy in that respect:). He and I can't wait to go visit friends and family in Utah next month. We'll be there a while, so please call us!

4. I am addicted to cereal. And it's not an addiction that I try to hide anymore. However, I have grown to love the healthier cereals just as much as the sugary ones. Kellogg's All-Bran Complete (wheat flakes...kinda like Raisin Bran w/out the raisins), Crispix, and ooh--the Quaker Oatmeal Squares are really good too! Make sure it's the cinnamon version, though. Gotta catch that kind on sale. Those are among my favorites. No worries though. I still have my "dessert" cereals too... Fruit Loops, Malt-O-Meal Fruity Dino Bites (yeah, better than Fruity Pebbles themselves), mmmm and the strawberry-frosted shredded wheat. YUM! Are those considered a sugar cereal, or can they still be healthy? Maybe my subconscious thinks if a cereal appears fruity in nature than it's ok. I've never been a big fan of the chocolate cereals or the ones w/marshmallows (yeah sorry Matt, not even Lucky Charms).

5. I love our branch! That's the church group that we meet with. Everyone has come to mean so much to us and I'm already dreading the day we have to say goodbye. Not for at least 18 more months, though, so let's not think about it. We had our primary program yesterday that I refused to miss. I was a little late coming back from the doctor's office w/Rx in hand, but I was so glad I made it. It was awesome; they're such great kids. I teach Sr. Primary (8-11 yr olds).

6. I love my part-time "job". I feel weird even calling it a job because I only get paid for like 2 hours/week and I certainly don't do it for the money. I work at a local gym teaching mostly step aerobics classes. I seriously love it so much... I'm so glad I was able to get into it. I work hard, have fun, and meet lots of people that I would have otherwise never known. THANKS to Lindsay for helping me get started and RaQuelle for helping me survive the training process!

...Well, there you go. 6 random or not so random facts about me -- just putting it out there for now and possibly later regretting my nerdy self. At least I feel that I haven't completely failed you, Karin, in your tagging. :)

Oops...

Okay, it's been a while. Yes, I AM technically a "blogger" because I have a blog. However, I feel I'm still easing into the whole blogging lifestyle. I don't have a great internet connection back where our PC is, so I usually just get online when Guy isn't using his laptop. And I'm the kind of gal who relies heavily on emails and I rarely communicate via blog comments. But I love reading all of yours! So please continue to keep some interest in my family and me as I improve my "blog commenting" skills. Tangent: Why are commentators called "commentators"? For some reason this highly important question has been burning my brain lately. Why aren't they just called "COMMENTors"? Do commentators get paid more than mere commentors would have? Hmmm...

Adam Sings

Every night Adam requests for us to sing one of his favorite LDS primary songs, "I am a Child of God". Last month he and I were driving in the car when he just started singing it all by himself. I guess I wasn't really surprised 'cuz he's heard it dozens of times, but it still shocked me ... it was so sweet! He's been singing it ever since (though he still has to be in the right mood for it). What a sweet boy.

Primary Activity

Last month we had our first primary class activity w/the 8-11 year-olds (a whole two showed up:). We wrote letters to a missionary from our branch, made cupcakes, and delivered them to our neighbors. Adam loved playing w/the big kids and getting his own bowl of sprinkles. :)

Misc Pictures...

Here are a few miscellaneous pictures. From our Cedarburg visit, our fun trip to Louisville (Hi Woodcocks! Wish we took more pix) and their zoo (Adam's "reverent" sliding at their fun splash park), Adam teaching Blueberry the Bear how to go potty, and just a cute messy face.

Goofin' around.





















We pulled out our high-tech "char-b-que" the other day (thanks again, Myers!) and toasted some 'mallows to make some nummy cookie sandwiches. Adam loved it!

Explanation

An explanation for the video below... We went up to Cedarburg weeks ago and enjoyed dinner, a nice walk, and an ice cream treat before heading back home (well, actually we didn't enjoy the dinner, but that's another story). Adam was helping me finish my cone, and I noticed a big drip starting to fall. So I said, "Oh, oh, oh!" and tried to snag it with my tongue before it dripped... he started mimicking me and we thought it was hilarious. Mostly because he thinks he's so funny. ;)

adam's 2nd birthday!

branch pioneer picnic

"we're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo"

We've been loving our zoo pass and have gone several times already this summer. This particular visit was with Stephen and Rachel Meiling. We stayed w/them over the weekend while Pam (my cousin) and John were making plans to move to San Diego. Can't believe they'll be leaving us next month! But we're very grateful for all the Sunday and birthday dinner's that we've been invited to over the last 2 years. Have fun in California!

21-mile bike ride

Our good friends Josh & Janna Tinch invited us on a 21-mile bike ride a few weeks ago. We survived and had SO much fun! No pictures of the actual bike ride, though. I was a little too focused to think about taking pictures. :) Here are a few from the park we went to just afterwards. Adam and Clay had lots of fun.