Celebrations

To Celebrate:  to mark a special occasion or day by ceremonies or festivities.

Saturday, we were blessed to witness the wedding of one of my favorite neighbors/friends.  It was the most beautiful, “story-book” wedding!   The bride was stunning, and most of all, as happy as any bride could be.  It was such an honor to share in this special day.  Pinky and her cousin wore matching dresses.  They looked darling!  They ate cake, drank punch, and danced the night away.  The highlight was dancing with the bride!

With the Beautiful Bride.

Looking cute in their matching dresses.

Monday was the 4^th of July . . . We played kick ball and had a water fight with the kids.  We pigged out on grilled turkey for dinner and strawberry floats for dessert.  We enjoyed a fire with s’mores . . . followed by LOTS of fireworks!  Pinky stayed up til the last spark faded.  She was so cute, clapping with an excited “yay” after each one!

Confetti Poppers

Family Pic - July 4th, 2011

Tuesday was a different kind of celebration . . . the hard kind . . . the celebration of life accompanied by tear-filled good-byes.  We gathered together, our family and friends, to say good-bye to my Gram.   To say she is in a “better place” is probably the biggest understatement ever, as we know God has created a heavenly home for her more beautiful than we can ever imagine.  That doesn’t make the good-byes any easier.  My Gram was a teacher, a cook, a waitress, a quilter, a seamstress, a party planner, a crafter, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, a neighbor, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a friend.  She loved life.  She loved her farm.  She loved her community.  She loved her family.  And we loved her. 

Sending Kisses to Heaven.  July 5th, 2011

17 Months

Another month has flown by!  We've enjoyed watching Pinky's vocabulary grow in leaps and bounds.  Last count she had over 50 words (not counting all of the animal sounds and silly noises she makes).  She loves being outside climbing, exploring, gathering sticks, and visiting the neighbors in every direction.  She has a "grandma" with gardens and beautiful flowers to explore to the north and friends with a sandbox and lots of pinecones to gather to the south.  And pretty much every direction she goes, she's sure to get treats.  HA!  Her favorite is "cooks" (cookies).

C is for cookie . . . that's good enough for me!

Enjoying the neighbor's tulips. 

Sleeping Patterns:  We're cutting out the morning nap and extending bedtime just a bit.  She's ready to head for bed around 8 these days, but if you ask her she'll tell you she's not!!!

Eating habits/New foods:  Bring on anything sweet!  Cookies and candy are referred to as "cook" and she'd prefer and endless supply of either.  She's also enjoying lots of fruits and veggies, although these would be easier to eat if she had more than 3 teeth!!!!  She enjoyed her first treat from the ice cream truck as well.  Gotta love ice cream sandwiches!

Cake.  Please.  Cake. More. Cake.

Discoveries/Accomplishments:  She has successfully greeted every employee and customer in Walmart in a 20 minute visit.  She has a new bike trailer and loves going for rides . . . I guess we need to get her a helmet!  :)  She loves watching airplanes go over the house, which works out well since we are on the "landing path" for most airlines coming into town.  She's into shoes as well!  And likes to make sure we are all wearing them at all times.  She'll bring them to you one at a time, but usually you end up with a pair that matches.  And finally . . . Hair is long enough for a clip . . . however the clips don't last more than a few
minutes before they are carefully extracted by little fingers. 

So many silly faces . . . she's a ham! 
We don't know where she gets it?  HA!

Looking at the baby calves with Grandpa.

Places I went:  A quick trip to the farm in May.  Watertown, SD, for cousin's graduation.  The zoo.  The park.  Daddy's softball games.  And lots of stroller rides and bike rides! 

Oldest and Youngest of Grandma J's great-grandchildren.

Zoo:  Buying feed for the ducks

Zoo: Best Friends

Zoo: Hey, move, I can't see!

Soo: Look over there!

New words:  There are so many words, it's hard to list them all.  Her favorites these days are "hi", "no", "um", and "more".  But she can name many body parts, clothes, animals and toys. 

A recent conversation went something like this:
Mommy:  Are you happy?
Pinky: No
M: Are you sad?
P: No
M: Are you all done?
P: No
M: Do you want more milk?
P: No
M: Do you want more peas?
P: No
M: Do you want a cookie?
P: Cook!

At least we know she's listening I guess! 




Hat.  No.  All Done. Swing.  More.

We're looking forward to a fun and relaxing summer ahead.  We have a couple of trips planned to visit Grandmas and Grandpas and hope to get to the lake once or twice.  We're stocked with sunscreen, mosquito spray, and popsicles so come on over! 

Fargo Marathon 2011



"Let us run with perseverence . . . "  Hebrews 12:1

Fargo Marathon Weekend has become one of my favorite weekends of the year!  This year was no different!  If you've never been a part of an event like this, even as a spectator, there's really no way to describe the energy and emotion of the day!  Thousands of people lining up, each with his/her own goal, going the distance.  Whether it's a 5K (3 miles) or a full marathon (26.2 miles) or anything in between . . . crossing the finish line is one of the most amazing feelings ever! 

This year, my sister and I trained for the half marathon.  Her goal was to finish, and my goal was to finish one step behind her!  We did most of our long runs together.  Our longest training run was 12 miles.  We ran comfortably and almost continuously for 2 hours that morning and it felt great!  We knew we were ready to add 1 more mile on "race day"! 

Marathon week came, and with it came the jitters, anxiety about the weather (rain?  thunder/lightning?  what?), excitement to see friends, and unfortunately, a back injury for my sister.  She'd trained so hard and the morning of the race was having trouble taking a deep breath!  But my sister's stubborn, and she didn't give up.  Although it was disappointing to have to stop and walk when we knew we'd trained to run, the truth of the matter is . . . I wouldn't have traded any of it!  We met our goals . . . she finished the race . . . and I finished 1 step behind her!

Race Day . . . Ready for the half marathon and marathon relay!




We got there early to watch the full marathon start! 
The highlight for us was hearing Pastor Dale's invocation. 

At the Start . . . Here we goooooo!

As long as we're walking, we might as well
take a quick picture on Broadway!

Sporting our finishers' medals

Post-Party . . . Already talking about what we're running next year!

Join us next year!  We'd love to run with you!!!!

16 months

"cookie monster"

kickball

She shoots . . . She scores!

GRASS

Yummy!

Weight: 26 pounds/size 18 month clothes (although she's already outgrown some!)

Eating Habits: becoming a little more “picky” when it comes to eating, but she’s still pretty easy to please. Especially if you have frozen peas, cheese, goldfish crackers, or a cookie!
New Foods: We can't introduce too much more until there's a few more teeth to work with! But a new favorite snack: veggie straws! She gobbles them up and asks for more!

Sleeping habits: Staying up a little later these days . . . Bedtime ritual involves reading books, rocking, singing, prayers and to bed with her blankets. She loves to have her mobile on.

New Discoveries: Dirt! Oh how this girl loves DIRT! Mud! I think we’re destined to a summer of grass-stained knees and dirt under the fingernails. She also loves beads and rarely leaves home without wearing at least one color!

Accomplishments: Walking!!!! YEAH! It's been a busy month!!! She also likes brushing her teeth! She has 2 more teeth trying to poke through, but for now, she just has the bottom 2.

Places traveled/visited: Auntie Carman’s for Easter-Eve. Auntie Linda’s for Easter Brunch. Auntie Beret’s for Easter Dinner. (How wonderful to have so many loving aunties to visit!)

New words: stop, me, off, cup, down, bubble, pop, night-night, cookie, whoa, yay, no-no, cheese, baby, hat, monkey noise (“oo-oo-ooo” complete with arm actions!). She’s also trying to say some names which is really fun, especially for those whose names she can say!

These boots were made for walking

Well, in the last week, we've seen quite a change in "Pinky's" walking skills!  Although she still hasn't completely given up the "Pinky Shuffle", she's become quite the little explorer as she gains confidence on her little feet!  A week ago she was taking a few steps.  Today, she is walking across the yard and through the house with determination!  She's pretty proud of herself . . . and we're proud too! 

The "speechie" in me has to add that she has acquired several new words as well:  bubble, pop, cup, down, and me.

Easter

"Pinky" had a fun-filled weekend celebrating Easter with family!  Easter-egg hunts, dying eggs, eating sugar cookies, walks to the park, playing with cousins, and snuggling with grandma and grandpa.  What could be better?  The sun even came out to play outside a bit! 

Snuggles with Auntie C!

"Where are the cookies grandma?"

Time for some Easter egg dying with cousins!

1st Easter Egg hunt. Easter-Eve

Grandpa's Girls

Great Grandma with the Easter Egg Hunters

Snuggly bunnies from Great Grandma

4-Generations

Easter morning walk to the park.

Easter Morning at the Park

Easter Morning Sunshine!  Alleluia!

Playing on my new slide!

Found my Easter Basket from mom and dad! 

Easter Afternoon with Cousins

Thanks for coming to visit! 

15 Months

Another month has flown by!  Here are Pinky's "monthly stats":

Height: 31 3/4 inches
Weight: 24.8 pounds

Sleeping patterns:  Bedtime 7:30.  Awake at 7 am - usually needs some help!  Weekends....still sleeping in occasionally!  9 am is the record!  Still taking morning and afternoon naps . . . Sundays usually just one nap, but the last two weeks the 1 nap has lasted almost 4 hours! 

Eating habits: Breakfast; snack; lunch; snack; frozen pea appetizer; dinner.  2% milk or water to drink.  Occasionally a little juice. 

New foods I liked:  Still on a pasta-strike.  LOVES cotton candy.   Tried salmon and LOVED that too!!!  New snack of choice . . . goldfish crackers.  Still loves an appetizer of frozen peas before dinner. 

"Frozen Pea Appetizer" - No one makes them like mommy!

Cotton Candy . . . You gotta try it!

 New discoveries I made:  LOVES her duplo legos!  Can fit them together but prefers to take them apart!  Thinks putting them away when finished is a blast!    New favorite book is "Goodnight Moon", but also love flap-books and button books!  Thinks eating with a spoon is fun.  There's so much to see looking out the window.

Waiting for spring.

My accomplishments:  Can go from floor to stand without any help.  Has taken several steps without help too, but not quite ready to give up the "Pinky-Shuffle".  Loves blowing kisses, giving hugs and kisses, and snuggling with blankets and bears!  Starting to not "need" the pacifier quite so much.  But will take it whenever offered!  Can find ears, eyes, nose, tummy, belly button on self an others! 

Places I went:  Went to visit grandmas and grandpas in March.  Play-date with "Ad-Lib"!  Lincoln School Carnival.  St. Patty's Day Party with Cousins.  To Auntie Carman's to play!

Big girl in my carseat!

"It's not easy being green" 3-17-11

New words:  Signing "please".  Saying:  "thank you",  "hush" (from favorite book . . . "Goodnight Moon"),  "hot", "neigh", "roar", "grandpa".  Her grandma is certain she can also say "delicious" and "banana". 

Look who came to see me!  Thanks for the books!!! 3-15-11

Our little one loves to share hugs and smiles, toys, and kisses.  Come see for yourself if you get the chance!