I apologize for the lengthy delay in updating our blog . it would seem that our mac needs a new logic board in addition to the superdrive. so here I sit updating the blog on my new smartphone, i'm actually speaking and not typing how cool is that ?! things are going well for us, in fact we really don't have much to report . madeline went to the doctor saturday because we thought she might have an ear infection, it turns out she was fine, just teething. she is now just shy of 15 pounds which means she has quadrupled in weight. she is also quite the little chatter box ,she has a lot to say to everyone especially the dogs and cat. she is still not crawling although she is getting very close.

the last gasp winter is now upon us, snowing off and on all day.it's been very windy for the last week so much so we don't want to go outside. needless to say we are very ready for summer and some outdoor recreation. unfortunately, we have a record low temperature to set tonight before the weather turns nice. we hope this update finds you well , we'll post more when we have our computer back, i have to say though the droid incredible is really cool! ( sorry about punctuation and capitalization i guess technology isn't quite that far along yet)

A Spur of the Moment Trip

Last Friday we had the opportunity to take an unplanned mini-vacation. Since Jeff has been working so much we have found that the only real break he gets is when we leave town and he no longer has the option of working... in other words this was necessary for his sanity! We left Friday evening and arrived in Boise Saturday around lunch time with an overnight stay in Idaho Falls on the way. It was great to spend time with Jeff's family and we even spent a little time with some friends. Our coffee addiction took us to a new little shop that had great art, really fun jewelry and, thank goodness, good coffee :) Of course we still had to hit my favorite coffee shop in the area, Rembrants. The shop is in an old church which, coincidentally, Jeff's dad used to preach in and it is where his sister Connie was married. They have great stained glass chandeliers, funky furniture and a great atmosphere (once again, they also have great coffee :). Most of our time was pretty relaxed, we took the dogs on a couple of walks in the foothills and had some great family time, we look forward to going again. Our return trip was a little long and once again Maddie traveled so well until the last hour, I think she must sense how close we are to being home and just cannot wait to get out of that seat. Who can blame her for that and how can we complain about one rough hour, right? Here are some pictures of our time there:

Avocado

Maddie Mae had her first experience with Avocados last week, she is still not sure that she likes them, but the pictures are priceless.

Easter 2010

Maddie's first Easter was pretty low key. Unfortunately the weather was a bit chilly for the outfit we had planned for her to wear, a little sad. But we still dressed her up and put a little flower bud headband in her hair made by my cousin Leigh :) We went to church where we were reminded of the humble, overwhelmingly selfless sacrifice Christ made for us in His death and then were able to rejoice in His awesome, powerful, redeeming resurrection, conquering death. He is risen, He is risen indeed!!! What a powerful God we serve, how amazing that He made a way for us to be in relationship with Him...

Here is our attempt at a family photo, we have a tripod and a nifty remote which help us quite a bit... maybe one day we will be able to find a way to get our little one to look at the camera without anyone behind it trying to grab her attention (I know, good luck with that for at least a few more years).

This weekend

We had a great weekend! It started off with the wonderful surprise of Jeff not having to fly on Saturday, he still had to go in but it was for a few hours instead of all day. The sun was shining and all three of us were together, definitely a perfect day for a walk. We spent some time online and in stores trying to find a trailer/jogger for Maddie Mae so that we can ride our bikes... without much success. Who knew what an investment that could be? We would love some recommendations from those of you who have already bought a bike trailer :) We ended up loading up the dogs for our usual walk out at Norm's island and took the camera to record our fun in the sun. Jeff has been working 7 days a week again, we expect it during the holidays but it has gone on much longer this year. Even though it was only most of Saturday and most of Sunday we still really enjoyed the sweet time together!

Semisolid

On Sunday we fed Maddie her first cereal, here is the priceless first reaction to food :) Enjoy!










And today, Jeff's first time to feed her

Maddie Mae's 1st trip to Texas

Maddie Mae's Texas debut can be summarized in a couple of different ways. I guess we could say that there is a glass half empty version and a glass half full version. Considering the fact that I would like to leave everyone reading this on a positive note we will begin with the negative. I just spent several minutes chronicling the multitudes of people on this trip who suffered from a particularly fast and furious form of the stomach flu, including myself and Maddie Mae. Upon reading this excessive account I feel that reliving every moment of illness on this trip does not really do anyone any good so I will just say there were many many sick family and friends and when I say that we can define our trip in a glass half empty way I am referring to the plague going through Texas that ran into us in every city we visited.

Now, on to all the wonderful things we experienced (they far surpass the glass half empty version referred to above).

My brother Jon and his oldest daughter Addison picked us up from the airport and we spent the first night with them in Mansfield. It was so very much fun to hang out with the girls! Aubrey is crawling and is constantly exploring the world, already following her big sister around and wanting to do everything that Addison does. Addison and I had our first real opportunity to play and had so much fun! Usually there is so much going on when we are together that we do not interact much, it was great to get some quality Aunt/niece time with her. I also had a great time with Jon and Emily, I value them getting to meet Maddie so much and they really loved on her (happy sigh)! Here are some great cousin pics from their house.





The next leg of the trip began with my dear friend/cousin-in-law Tyne picking me up in Mansfield and going to lunch with our former roommate Adrianne. We then went to College Station where I lived for 10 years before moving up to MT... 10 years, wow! We started with some Pho Johns and meeting Lenna Marie, the precious babe you see to the left, born to Ryan and Beth Evans. I was able to spend dinner that night and the next afternoon with them, dear sweet friends who I miss so much! I stayed with Matt and Christine Martin, ate lunch at Cheddars with Sarah Malone and Janine Kirk, ate dinner at La Bodega with Jarrod Edwards, George Ward and the Martins then spent some quality time with that group plus Scott and Katrina Westphal. Dear friends and great food with lots of laughs! Not as many pics as I would have wanted but that is traveling with a baby :) Due to the previously mentioned stomach bug Tyne was not able to participate in many of these things (truly sad) but at least we had time to really talk on the drive...







The next stop on our Texas tour was Longview. We stayed with my mother and were joined by Jon, Emily and their girls. We went to my Uncle's new restaurant, T. Blancos for dinner on Saturday night (if you are in the Longview area you should definitely check it out!), the ceviche was amazing and I know that Jeff cannot wait to try it out on our next visit. On Sunday my cousin Leigh, Tyne and my mother threw Maddie a baby shower and the whole family came over to meet her. Leigh made the best white (tinged with pink) cake with seven minute frosting and there were beautiful flowers and wonderful food. It was great to have the opportunity for my very large family to meet our sweet little Madeline Mae and they blessed us with sweet little outfits, books and gift cards. Thank you!! Jon and Emily left that night and gave my mother some good Grandma time with Madeline and good mother/daughter time with me for the next couple of days. While my mother was at work on Monday we went over to Leigh's house to eat and play for the day. We were then confined to my mother's house for 2 days while the three of us worked through our stomach issues... my mom took care of us just like she did when I was little and we were blessed to be at her house when that happened. Here are some pics from this leg of the journey.







Our last stop was at my brother Randy's house. We arrived there on Thursday and had some quality hang out time with my sister-in-law Emily and their children, Seth, Abigail and Levi. On Friday my mom arrived and we were able to celebrate her birthday with an apple cake that I fully intend to get the recipe for from Emily :) On Saturday we attended a carnival at Levi's preschool. It was very well done, a train, pony rides, jump houses and lots of little games, it was a great time! On Sunday we were able to just hang out and play some games. My nephews and niece have grown up so much, it was incredible to reflect back on the day they were born and then see the people they are becoming... makes me feel a little old :) I really enjoyed the time we spent together! On Sunday evening my good friend Jenn that I have know since high school came over and we attempted going to dinner together. Maddie Mae was having a rough time (I think that teething has begun) so dinner was cut short but it was wonderful to see her! Here are some pics from this part of our trip.













That is the tale of our journey to Tx. Tx will always feel like home in so many ways, but I missed Jeff so much... home really is wherever he is (cheesy but true). When we arrived he greeted us with dinner and an amazing surprise. Jeff's brother Tim came here for a week while we were gone and helped Jeff get work done on our master suite. It is looking so good! You can actually see what it is going to look like, it is an amazing and wonderful surprise. Here is the link to a video of where we are now upstairs if you want to see. Thanks for sticking with me on this long long post.