Friday, September 30, 2011

It's coat time

Here is my little darlin' trying on coats for her Momma.  Jace was much too busy to take time to see if his coat is going to fit this winter.  But little Rue was more than happy to wear it all morning long.


And it fits her juuuust right!


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Recent Happenings

On Monday night, Jace got to have his first sleepover! All day on Monday, he could not contain his excitement.  Our guest?-- Ammon Erickson!

On Sunday, his room looked like this.

Can you spy Ryan in this picture?

Behold the hutch -so lovely.

"Ryan--keep up the good work!  Don't you wish I would put down the camera and help clean a little?"
Several hours later, and I mean several-- this mess was cleaned up and it was time for Ammon to arrive!!

As soon as he got here, off came their clothes, and on went their pajamas just so

they could jump on the bed.

 They jumped and they jumped.

They read books and played with firetrucks and dump trucks.
By midnight--give or take and hour--all three little darlings were fast asleep.

And on Tuesday, Ammon got a new baby sister!!

Congrats Phil and Julie!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Weekend highlights

Friday night we got to have the missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over to our house for dinner.  It was so wonderful. After we enjoyed dinner together, they asked if they could share a spiritual thought with us before they had to leave.  The two Elders serving our area right now are Elder Rasmussen from Utah and Elder England from California.  Ryan is half Rasmussen, so we might be related to Elder Rasmussen!

Five main doctrines of our religion are: faith in the Lord- Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.  Their lesson focused on these principles. As an object lesson, they gave each of us a square piece of paper and asked us to make a cup in 5 folds that could hold water without leaking. Ryan came close.  His creation could actually hold water!  Gracie ate mine, and Jace worked on his for 15 minutes. He put nails and glue and tape on his.

They are such hard working Elders. They would make their parents proud.  I took this picture for their Moms!  "Hi Mom!"  they said.  They look great.  I have a nephew-Tanner-who is serving in the Philippines right now.

It was such a privilege to see my son sit at the feet of these two representatives of Jesus Christ and be taught by them. 
I love the spirit of peace that is in our home when they are here, and that stays after they leave. 

 I look forward to the day when Jace and perhaps Grace make the same decision to serve in such a capacity.

                      
Because we are so blessed to be members of the restored church of Jesus Christ.

Friday, September 23, 2011

My Robin and Rue

It makes me so happy
October 24, 2010
 that they have been infatuated with each other


from the beginning!



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A look down memory lane


For the past 48 hours we have been watching CONDORMAN at our house!  I had forgotten all about this 1981 classic until I was reminded about it on Stephanie's blog this week.  I knew Christopher Robin would love it, so I tracked it down.

Robin's Dad likes it too. It turns out he watched it when he was a boy as well. And the fact that there is a Russian flare to the movie makes it all the better.--since Ryan lived in Siberia for 2 years.


Early in the movie, the old gypsy truck turns into a race car!! Can you tell by the look on Christopher Robin's face that that part of the movie is spectacular!  We have watched that part 20 times now.
  
The car!


Dad, try as he might, hasn't been able to stay awake for the movie.  He only gets through the first 20 minutes. 

Then he is zonked out.  We tried again tonight.  But still no luck.  Maybe tomorrow.  And if it has been 30 years since you have seen this reel, it's time!

Monday, September 19, 2011

One more down

Dr. Hot coming out of the hospital.
Tonight at 9:55 PM I finally got the call I was waiting for. It was my sweetie letting me know he was finally done for the day.  He was in surgery all evening.  A man unfortunately decided to shoot himself in the face today.  It took a team of oral surgeons several hours to repair the damage.


"The bullet went in the chin and up to the forehead.  Luckily no eyes were lost.  But a lot of the teeth were shattered which were like shards of glass in there."  --(That's what he told me.- If he tells me the gory details my head starts spinning, I start sweating, and then I feel faint.)

We picked him up right outside the hospital main entrance, just so he wouldn't have to stay at the hospital for another 30 minutes waiting for the late night shuttle.


He is always smiling.  He is such a stud.  I want to be just like him when I grow up!

Here are his little munchkins in the back of the van, so excited to see him.  -The camera flash was too bright for Christopher Robin's eyes.

Finally some dinner!
He now has one more day of residency down and more than 1,000 to go, but who's counting?!!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Doin' laundry

                           
This afternoon I looked out my kitchen window. I saw a bare naked boy in his sandbox.


I panicked a little. We do not have a very private yard. "Jace, where are your clothes?" I asked.


"I am washing them in my muddy puddle."


Perfect, they are going to come out so nice and clean. I can't wait!

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Niabi Zoo

In Moline, Illinois, is the Niabi zoo.  It is a quaint, wonderful little zoo.  It was the perfect place to spend Labor Day. The day was beautiful, cool and sunny.  We arrived about 2:00pm and nearly had the place to ourselves.  
We started by riding the Niabi Express.  The ride was about 12 minutes long and took us around the entire park. 

We then walked around the entire zoo to see all the animals up close.  First, were the elephants.



Which were splendid.

Then we walked past the scary dinosaurs to the Koi pond.


Of couse we used our only quarter to buy food to feed them.



Then we saw the hippo.

Hands down, the funnest part was the pony rides.

Jace got to ride Snowflake

and Grace was on Henry.

They walked and walked and walked around in a circle forever.  There wasn't anyone waiting in line, so we got a long turn.

But that was just fine with Grace.  She shrieked and she laughed, and she bobbed up and down.  She was TOTALLY in love with Henry.

Ryan's lungs got tight and his face started to fall off, so I took the reins with the kids.

When the ride was finally over,
Grace kissed Snowball goodbye a hundred times.

Next was Lorikeet Landing.   Here we saw kangaroos and Lorikeets.

Of course we spent our last dollar buying food to feed them.

Ryan and Jace held out cups of liquid and the birds flew onto their shoulders and arms to feed.
Jace wanted us to get him one as a pet.  We happily declined his request.


The giraffes were "neat" and had really long necks, as we expected.


There were zebras, and reptiles, and monkeys, and gorillas, etc.  They were all so fascinating to see again.  It has been awhile since I have been to a zoo.

The lion was our favorite. We visited his cage almost at closing time, and he was ROARING.  I am not sure if I have heard a lion roar that close before. It is intimidating.  They are so loud and powerful sounding.  It made us realize that we could really be his lunch if we were on the African prairie and he was hungry.

Grace in her prized butterfly chair.
 To leave the park, they have all the guests exit through their gift shop --brilliant.


Of course Christopher Robin found a "really neat" safari "vehicle," that came with a lion and hippo, to take home with him.  So he spent his $5.00 on this wonderful treasure.  He sweetly shared the lion and hippo with Gracie, who loved and kissed them.


He played with his truck for about 20 minutes and then both Robin and Rue were fast asleep for the 60 mile drive home.

Now every time I see Christopher Robin playing with his safari truck, like all afternoon today, I think about our wonderful day at the zoo together, and I know he does too.  So all I can say is $5.00 well spent!