The Eagles Nest

It's Just What They Do

2012-01-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

On any given day you might find Austin happily playing with his toys and Ashley playing dress-up, singing, and dancing. Just thought I would post so pictures of some of the things they like to do.

Birthday Girl!

2012-01-16T20:49:00.001-08:00

Today is Ashley's 5th Birthday! I think turning 5 is a rather big deal. Ashley has gone from a little baby, to a toddler, and now to a little girl. She seems so grown up in some ways, and still like my little baby in other ways. I'm proud of the beautiful, fun girl that she has become.

I thought I would share some pictures from her special day. She started out walking through a wall of balloons,then had some of her favorites for breakfast (blueberry muffins, bacon, and fresh strawberries),then she had a mini-mani and mini-pedi with her friend Talia and enjoyed lunch at McDonalds, then it was back to our house for cake, ice cream, and presents. She was pretty woren out after all of that, but I think she had a great day!
We also went to a park and took some pictures. Here's some of my favorites...

So Excited!!!

2012-01-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

This little girl has been ready to burst for the last week. She's been more exited than she was at Christmas. She couldn't sleep the night before, came in our room several times during the middle of the night asking about things, and was up bright and early. It's been all she talks about and constantly asks when it's going to time. So, what could a 4 year old be so excited about, one might ask? GYMNASTICS!
Ashley has been begging to take gymnastics for the past year. Because of the move, new office, and new baby, it's been put on hold; but we promised Ashley after Christmas that she could start. We went in last week and got her signed up and it's been all she has talked about ever since.She had her first class and absolutely LOVED it! She did such a great job listening to Coach Gary, being respectful, and following directions. They definitely kept her moving the entire time, so she didn't have time to get bored. She worked hard and was pretty tired when she was done, but had a fabulous time! I'm excited to watch her each week and hope that her enthusiam continues.
On another note, it's been a pretty hard week for this little guy. He had his first tooth pop through. He's been a little out of sorts, but as soon as it popped through he was back to normal. (Not the best picture, we were trying to get the tooth and he was NOT happy)

Movie Night!

2012-01-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to have a movie night! I first started doing special "girls" nights after we moved to Muncie. Thad was gone almost every other weekend and I tried to think of something fun that I could do with Ashley. It started out as eating candy, painting nails, and watching a movie; but now it has evolved into a family movie night. We try to have a movie night once a month and watch a newly released movie. Tonight, we ate pizza, popcorn, candy, drank soda, and watched Kung Fu Panda 2 (talk about a junk food fest, but boy it was tasty!). This is one of Ashley's favorite activities and we love laying our blankets and enjoying our time together.

Zoo

2012-01-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

We are just loving the weather down here! And, we are loving that Thad isn't having to work quite as much and can spend more time with us. Yesterday, we took advantage of everything and spent a couple hours at the Zoo.
After the our fun in the sun, we enjoyed some fabulous frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf!

Personality Plus!!

2012-01-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

Anyone who spends time around Ashley knows that she is "Miss Personality Plus!" There is never a dull moment when Ashley is around. She loves to turn anything and everything into a game, it's a great quality that she has always had. She loves to tease, play, and laugh! We are finding that she loves to pretend to perform and everyone is her audience. I think her personality really shines through in these pictures.

My parents brought down an old karoke machine of mine and Ashley absolutely loves it. Her favorite thing is to sing and dance for Austin - who just smiles and laughs; he's such a great audience for her. However, she also tries to get Bubby involved as well! Although, most of the time he just tries to eat the microphone.

And, I can't leave without posting a cute pic of our handsome little man (please excuse the boxes in the background. This is our overflow/storage room)!

Ringin' in the New Year

2012-01-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

The weather was beautiful on Saturday,sunny and 75; so we decided to do something fun for New Years. When Thad got home from work, we gathered up the kids and headed off to Six Flags. We are so lucky to have such a fabulous park so close to our house (just 20 min. away).
Ashley is just big enough to start riding some of the "good" rides. Here she is riding her first big roller coaster! She loved it and we went twice in a row (once with Thad and once with me). We had a great time walking around the park while she rode some of the other kiddie rides. Austin was such a good sport and was happy just hangin' out in the stroller.Thank you Sousa Family (Thad's partner) for the season passes! We are so excited to alot this year!
We were also lucky enough to receive passes to Sea World from the other dentist that Thad has been working with. We upgraded the passes to season passes and now can enjoy it all year long. We enjoyed riding the carousel, roller coaster, seeing Sesame Street characters, watching excerpts from Polar Express in 4-D (complete with vibrating seats, fans, and squirts of water), and we loved watching the Nutcracker Themed dolphin show. Here are some pictures from our visit:

6 Months

2012-01-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

I just love this cute little face! I love Austin's chubby cheeks and his sweet little smile. It makes me giggle every time I see him! He is such a happy baby and just loves to smile and laugh. Austin turned 6 months old on Dec. 15th, but I just got him into the dr. for his well-baby visit this week. The dr. and nurses always laugh at his cute chubbiness!

Stats:

Length - 28"

Weight - 20 lbs. 8 0z.

90-95% in everything

A little about Austin:

Austin is sitting up on his own and loves to play with anything and everything within his reach. He loves to put everything in his mouth. His favorite toys are Dora Teething Keys, a round rattle, Pooh Keys, the exersaucer, and his new jump-a-roo. He loves to make noises and jabber. He has a cute little growl that he does and then switches to a high-pitch scream. He loves to play and stand on your lap. He is a great eater and I haven't found anything that he doesn't like! He loves to play with Ashley. She is really good at making him laugh when she sings and dances for him.

A New Start

2012-01-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated our blog in about 2 years. I originally got into blogging as a way to update family and close friends, but with the craziness of life it quickly fell to the way-side. I found that I needed a bigger motivation for keeping it updated.

I have been watching my friends blog for the last 6 months or so. My friend is so good about updating her blog multiple times a week if not daily. What I noticed is that she keeps it as more of a journal about family. I am absolutely horrible about keeping a journal. I was never good when I was young and I'm not good at it now. I like to pride myself on my memory and for the most part I do a pretty good job of remembering events and details. However, as the years move on I am finding that I don't always remember the funny little things that Ashley says, or some of the silly little day-to-day things that we do.

So what I figured out is that I'm really good at talking about my kids and telling stories and I'm really good at sitting on my computer every evening (well, not quite every evening). I might as well start using our blog as a way for me to journal everything. I can't promise that I'll be as diligent as my friend, but hopefully I'll be better than before. :) After all, who wouldn't want to see pictures of these cute kiddos!

Happy Birthday Ashley!

2010-01-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Ashley's birthday. I can't believe that our little baby is already 3 years old. She is getting so big! Here's a look at her happy day:

We started off having her favorite breakfast consisting of Pancakes, Sausage, and Fruit.

Then it was off to Toys R Us, where she picked out a couple presents - A Pink Umbrella and V-Tech in Motion (kind of like a Wii for kids). Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Then she enjoyed her yummy cake - a Princess Cake, of course!

Ashley had alot of fun and got tons of energy out running around Escapades - they have slides, tubes, and other things that you crawl all over.

She had such a great day and got great gifts - so thank you to everyone!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!

Sledding!

2010-01-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

BEWARE: The following post contains ALOT of pictures. A few pictures just doesn't do justice!

Over the last couple days, we've received several inches of snow. We decided to take Ashley out to play in the glorious powder. We found a park that had some pretty good hills and took Ashley sledding for the first time! We had a great time and Ashley loved it, of course!

Ashley was a little apprehensive, at first...

Dad was so nice to pull Ashley up all the hills!

After the first ride, all Ashley could say is "let's do it again!" She insisted on going by herself the rest of the time.

Ashley decided that she needed to be fair and tried to pull Dad up the hill. Unfortunately, she did not get very far. :)

I think someone is starting to loose their steam...

Nope, still enough left for a few more rides!

Now, I get a turn to ride!

Thad took Ashley down the BIG hill as the last ride for the day. Her face says it all!

We had such a fun time and Ashley can't wait to go again!

Merry Christmas - a little late

2010-01-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I guess I have been pretty terrible about updating this little thing - better late than never, right? I'd like to say that I'm going to be better, but I really can't make any promises. I had planned to give an update with some pictures from the fall and Halloween, but the pictures are on my laptop, which died and is at the shop getting the hard drive copied (so I can hopefully savage everything), and well... now you know that part of the story. Anyway, no big deal - you'll just have to wait for those pictures. So instead I thought I would start with Christmas.

Oh wait, before I start with Christmas, I'll at least give everyone a quick update. Thad officially began working as a dentist in the middle part of July. I think it's definitely been an adjustment (you know, having a job, being the boss, and everything else), but he loves with he is doing - which is a relief. I mean, you don't want someone to go through all that school just to find out that they don't like it. It's been really nice having him home in the evenings and spending more time with him. Thad is also serving as the Young Men's President in our ward. So between work and church he is still staying quite busy, but loving it.

We started Ashley in a preschool/learning center this fall. She attends three days a week and just loves it. In the beginning it was hard for her to have me leave her, but now she loves it. She's made so many friends and loves her teachers. I also think it's been really good for her. It's been amazing to see how much she has grown. I don't know that I can really describe how she's grown. I've seen such a change in the way she interacts with other kids, her reasoning, verbal language, that sort of thing. I'm seeing her personality come out more and more. We've always known that she loves attention, but I am all of a sudden seeing this extremely goofy side - she's kind of the class clown. There was one day I went to pick her up early from school and they were eating snacks. I peaked in the door and she was doing goofy things and making goofy faces and all the other kids were laughing - she was happy as a clam just etertaining them. She loves entertaining people and being the center of attention. Today she wouldn't leave church until she gave her favorite young women/babysitters a concert. She sang "Holly, Jolly Christmas" and "Do Your Ear's Hang Low". She's such a little hamm! She's coming up with all sorts of crazy things to say every day and we love it!

Now with Ashley in school three days a week, I'm sure you're all wondering what I've been busy doing. Well, now that Thad is done with school, I have gone back. We really just can't seem to get away from the school life. I am currently taking the prerequisite courses for the nursing program and will apply this April (keep your fingers crossed). School has pretty much taken up any free time that I had. I'm really enjoying being in school and feeling like I'm accomplishing something. Ashley and I still get in plenty of play time and love visiting the zoo, Children's Museum, and hanging out here at home. Anyway, enough about us... so how have you been? :)

We hope that you all had a fabulous Christmas. We decided to stay here for Christmas again this year. We stayed home last year and really enjoyed it. It's been kind of fun starting our own traditions. Christmas was alot of fun this year because Ashley is older and really got into it. Back in October she picked out a bike that she wanted. I told her that she would have to ask Santa for the bike, and boy, she did not forget. Several times a week she kept telling me that she needed to ask Santa for her pink princess bike. I thought it was so cute! At our ward Christmas party, we of course had a visitor and she finally had her chance. She was so excited! Anyway, Santa delivered... The only bad part is the fact that she hasn't had the chance to ride it outside because of the snow.

Well, now is the part that I'm sure you're really interested in... pictures. Enjoy!

HOORAY!!

2009-05-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

Today, Thad graduated from dental school. What a huge accomplishment and we are so proud of him!! Now it is on to real life... Some of you may be wondering what lies ahead for us. We will be staying here in Indiana for two more years. Thad will be working in Muncie which is about 1 1/2 hours from here. We are currently in the house hunting stages, but will be leaving Indianapolis and moving closer to his office. Thad is scheduled to begin work the middle of June. In the meantime, Ashley and I are so happy to have him home and we will all enjoy some R&R and family fun-time.

To all of our friends who are leaving... we will miss you all! We have valued the friendships that we have built here and will cherish the experiences and memories that you have all been apart of. We wish for you only the very best!!

Alright, so enough of the sappy stuff :) Today we are celebrating a special day, Thad's Day (and all the other graduates). He did it, you all did it! HOORAY!

Most of the LDS Guys

Thad & JB

Thad & JM

BR, TE, & Thad

Thad, RB, JJ, & JM

Me with some of the other wives

Thad & his clinic director

Thad with other dental friends

The Proud Moment!

Congratulations Dad!!

The End is Finally Here!

2009-04-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

Four years ago Thad and I moved to Indianapolis so Thad could begin dental school. After our first year I began counting Fast Sundays (there were still 36 to go) and I felt like the end would never come. This past Sunday I checked off our last Fast Sunday (we have Stake Conference this week). The end is finally here!

In nine days Thad will graduate from dental school. I have watched and admired Thad as he has worked so hard for this accomplishment. We are so proud of you and love you so much!

Way to go!!!

Prima Ballerina

2009-04-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ashley absolutely LOVES to dance. She inherited a cute dance costume from our neices and loves to wear her "pink dress". She insists on wearing it every day to dance around the house. She will dance to about anything from Barney to Enchanted to High School Musical 1,2, and 3.

Here are some pictures of her doing her favorite thing. What do you think? Prima Ballerina in the works???? :)

The Rest of October

2008-11-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

I know that I'm a little late on this post. I'm really not sure what happened to the 2nd half of October. The first half I remember, the second half is a complete blur. Ahhh... so goes life.

Hope you enjoy the all the pictures! :)

I posted things with the most recent being at the top.

Trick-or-Treating
Halloween Day
Hee Haws - Utah Cont'd
UTAH

Trick-or-Treating

2008-11-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

Ashley had so much fun going trick-or-treating with her cousins. She dressed up as a witch, but refused to wear her hat. :( She did really well and walked/ran most of the way - chasing after her cousins. They took really good care of her and made sure to take her up to the doors or get candy for her. She especially loved her "suck-its" (suckers)!

Halloween Day

2008-11-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

On Halloween Day, Thad's parents took us to another pumpkin patch and corn maze. Ashley had a lot of fun seeing more animals and swinging. Afterwards, we went to Chucky Cheese for lunch. Ashley had a lot of fun playing on the rides, playing skee ball, and especially loved putting the coins in all the machines. :)

Hee Haws - Utah Cont'd

2008-11-12T18:31:00.001-08:00

We had a lot of fun going to Hee-Haws. They had games, slides, and corn mazes for the kids. They also had a petting zoo with farm animals. Ashley LOVED the animals and they were all really good. She ran around chasing the pigs and goats. When the goats would stop, they would let her come up and pet them. She would wrap her arms around their entire body and hug them.

UTAH

2008-11-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

During the last week in October, Ashley and I took a trip to Utah to visit family. We had so much fun seeing everybody and Ashley loved playing with her cousins. After a week at home she is still talking about all of them. I know that she really misses playing with them.

While we were in Utah, we made some Halloween sugar cookies. This was actually Ashley's first time making sugar cookies (I know, shame on me!). She had a blast playing with the dough and flour.

Enjoying More of the Great Outdoors

2008-10-11T17:59:00.001-07:00

We're trying to spend as much time outside as possible. Especially before the cold, winter months set in. Today we went hiking at Turkey Run State Park in western Indiana. The scenery was beautiful and the kids did great! The park has several trails ranging in difficulty from easy to very rugged. We mostly stuck to the easy and moderate-to-rugged trails. The kids were able to hike on most of the trails and had so much fun. We went with our friends, the Broadbents.

Here are Ashley and Brandon up on a ledge (don't worry, we're within arms length to catch them)

There were many flights of stairs on our hikes. Ashley loved climbing up and down the stairs and was such a trooper!

This was a huge, live tree that was knocked over. You can see the roots sticking up out of the ground, but the roots on the bottom side are still grounded and is keeping the tree alive. As you can tell, this was a big tree. Thad's feet can't even touch the ground, and mine definitely weren't touching! :)

We took a break to eat lunch and let the kids play on the playground. Their favorite part was swinging in the tire swing!

After lunch we set off again, on to more rugged terrain. This time we loaded Ashley up in a hiking pack and she did pretty well, but was completely exhausted.

By the end of the day, Ashley was completely pooped! :)

Biking, Playing, Biking, and more Playing

2008-10-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Thad had a break from school. On Friday we went to Eagle Creek Park with our friends, the Broadbents, and went biking and played around. Here are some pictures:

Ashley loved playing in the damp sand and would throw it all over herself. She was covered in sand and had it all through out her hair. However, she didn't like it when the sand stuck to her hands... go figure!

Here are some pictures of Ashley playing at one of the playground parks at Eagle Creek. She had a blast, with her buddy Brandon, swinging, climbing, and going down slides. They were both exhausted by the end of the day!

On Saturday we went out to Washington Park, one of Thad's favorite mountain biking parks. He and Justin had alot of fun biking through the park, while we played with the kids at the playground. Ashley spent most of her time swinging, throwing rocks in the pond, and going down big slides. There was one big orange tunnel slide (which I do not have a picture of), that she just loved. It's the biggest slide in the park. She kept begging to go down again and again, until one time where she ended up twisted, turned around, and upside down. There was no more after that, but she still had a complete blast!

Family Pics

2008-10-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures taken last week by a friend. Our last picture together as a family was when Ashley was 6 months old. We figured it was time to update things! :) Anyway, you'll have to bare with me as there are alot of Ashley. She was in a really good mood and did a great job!

We love the pictures! Thanks for everything Adri!

Red Raspberries and Apple Slushies

2008-08-30T18:09:00.001-07:00

We are fortunate enough to live near the fabulous Anderson Orchards. So last night we decided to go down and partake of their wonderful fruit. You can buy already picked produce or you can pick it yourself. So we decided to go and pick raspberries.

This was Ashley's first time picking any sort of fruit and she loved it. At first she didn't know what to think and thought you could pick everything - leaves included. Thad showed her to only pick the reddest raspberries. The first one she picked, she decided to lick and then threw it on the ground. After a few more licks, she finely tasted it and then she couldn't get enough. She loved eating the raspberries more than picking them (who doesn't?!)! We also got some delicious apples and peaches. After all the picking was done, we enjoyed Apple Slushies. Yum!

I'm a Big Girl Now!

2008-08-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Last night Ashley spent her first official night in a big girl bed. Well, maybe it was still her crib, but she got to sleep in it like a big girl. Due to space constraints, we have decided not to get Ashley a toddler bed or twin bed. Our crib is a convertible crib and she was definately ready for the freedom of being able to get in and out on her own. Unfortunately, we didn't have a bed rail yet (we bought one today) and she fell out of bed 3 times. The first couple times it woke her up, the last time we heard a loud thud, then waited a couple minutes to hear crying. When we went in her room we found her sound asleep on the floor. She didn't even realize what had happened. We felt bad, but it was kind of funny too.

Yesterday when I took the side rail off her crib, we played around climbing on and off her bed. She thought it was pretty neat. Later that day we were downstairs and I was busy in the kitchen. I realized that I hadn't heard Ashley for a few minutes. I looked around and went upstairs, only to find that she was sitting on her bed reading a book. It was really cute! I think that she is going to love her new found freedom (I just hope that we do too :) !)

What a Difference a Year Makes!

2008-08-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that we go to the state fair every year. Anyway, after posting the pictures from this year I had to go back and look at the pictures from last year. It is so amazing to see how much Ashley had changed in just a year. She was just 7 months old when we attended the fair last year. Now she can walk, talk, is taller and thinner, and has MORE hair. I thought it might be fun to post the pictures from last year. Here is Ashley feeding the goats (with Daddy's help of course.) :)

What Do You Do in the Summer Time?

2008-08-26T18:18:00.001-07:00

Well, I can't believe that it's the end of summer. It has just flown by! I thought it might be fun to post some of our favorite summer activities.

#5 - Going to a Baseball Game - Ashley loves reading books and as a prize for reading a certain number of books from the library, we received tickets to go see an Indians Baseball Game.

#4 - Riding Bikes - Ashley loves riding bikes. She's still a little small to reach her pedals, but she really enjoys having us push her around the block. Then she gets off and pushes her bike herself.

#3 - Going to the Zoo - We love going to the zoo. We go almost every week. Ashley loves to run around and never gets tired of seeing the animals. Her favorites are the koala bears and monkeys.

#2 - Playing at the park - We play at the park several times a week (of course, what else is there to do?) Ashley especially loves swinging.

#1 - Swimming at the Pool - the pool has been a nice break from the hot days. Ashley has loved splashing around.

"Goats, eat"

2008-08-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

It has kind of become a "tradition" for us to attend the Indiana State Fair (we've gone every year). I know, it sounds kind of dorky, but is actually pretty fun. Of course the best part is the food. The first year we went we were all in awe and excited to try all kinds of deep fried food/desserts; such as, fried twinkies, ho-ho's, snickers, oreos, and somewhere I heard there was deep fried pepsi (although we never tried that one). I guess these Hoosiers will deep fry just about anything. There is nothing in the world like fair food! Of course it's something that you can only allow yourself to have just once a year (I'm sure we'd all die of heart attacks if we had it more often). :)

The last couple years our attention has somewhat been diverted away from the food and towards some of the more child friendly activities. We enjoy seeing all the different animals that have been brought for competition (pigs, cows, etc.). However, the highlight of our visit is feeding the goats. Ashley loves this part - as you will soon see from the smiles on her face. That night she kept talking about feeding the goats - "Goats, eat. Goats, eat." Even today she giggled at the pictures of her feeding the goats and said "Goats, eat!"

High Speed Chase

2008-08-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

How many people have been in a high speed chase??? I can now say that we have (not so sure this is something that we want to confess to or brag about). Here's what happened.

Last night we were driving home from the State Fair on the freeway (post and pictures to come later). We were in the middle lane and out of no where we hear this loud "bang" as this white car crashes into the side of us knocking us into the right lane. He slowed down for a split second (as we realized what had happened) and then took off. Thad started yelling "That guy just side-swiped us! Call the police, he's trying to run." So I grabbed my cell phone and called the police. Thad was really mad and his adrenaline kicked in. So while I'm on the phone, Thad starts chasing this guy down the freeway doing 110 mph - I thought we were going to die!!!!! The guy was driving like a complete maniac - driving onto the shoulder of the road to pass cars and weaving in and out of traffic and Thad followed right behind him (I still can't believe that we're alive and can't believe that Thad chased him down - looking back I'm not so sure it was the most intelligent decision)! He got off at an exit and we finally caught up to him so I was able to give the police the license plate number. The police told us not to follow him because they didn't want anything to happen - like him pulling a gun on us or something. They said that since we were able to get the license plate number, they'd send an officer out to do a report. So we headed home to wait for the police.

As soon as we arrived we jumped out to see what kind of damage had been done to our vehicle. As we were chasing this guy we were able to see the damage to his car - he had hit us pretty hard and the entire right side of his car was completely munched. We thought for sure our car had to be in pretty bad shape as well. We were surprised to find that our vehicle was fine. It has some minor scuff marks, but no dents or scrapes. When the officer arrived, he asked us if we wanted to file a report. We decided to simply because of the principle - we couldn't believe he had tried to run. The officer filled out his report and said he was going to track the guy down.

This afternoon I received a phone call from the officer. He told me that he found the guy last night. He was completely plastered. The officer told me that after seeing his car and seeing the kind of condition this guy was in he couldn't believe that we walked away with such minor, minor damage. Come to find out, the license plate was a fake, he just bought this car last week, and he doesn't have insurance. The officer wrote him up for several violations, plus charged him with a misdemeanor.

We realize that this accident could have been much, much worse. We feel very blessed that we were uninjured and that there is basically no damage to our vehicle. We know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us and definitely kept us safe last night.

Our 4th of July!

2008-07-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a little late on posting this, but wanted to share some pictures from the 4th of July weekend. Since it was raining Friday morning, we decided to go and get Ashley's pictures taken. I'll post those as soon as we get them back.

For all of you that know Thad, he loves fireworks! Even though we didn't have any big plans, he insisted on buying a bunch of fireworks (mostly bottle rockets and firecrackers, although he got some other things too).

Here is a picture of Ashley as Thad set off the first set of firecrackers...

Then she chased bubbles...

That evening we went to a BBQ with a bunch of the other students. The kids played and the husbands played even more. Thad brought all his fireworks. All the guys lit off the fireworks, which I think the husbands enjoyed more than the kids. When we were done we went downtown to watch the fireworks and do sparklers. Ashley enjoyed watching the fireworks, but enjoyed playing with her glow-light bracelets even more. :)

On Saturday it was nice weather so we went to Eagle Creek Park to ride bikes, play at the lake, and eat a picnic with the ducks (Ashley calls all birds "ducks" even if they're not). :)

Here's a picture of Ashley helping us to get the bikes ready...

Ashley and Thad taking a break from biking.

Playing with the ducks....

Throwing rocks...

Saturday night we went up to Connor Prairie and enjoyed watching the Star Spangle Celebration; which is put on by the Indianapolis Symphony. This was fabulous! We had such a good time. It's the absolute perfect thing to take children to. You bring chairs and blankets and a picnic and just sit and enjoy the music (and fireworks). It's really nice because it is so low key. Ashley enjoyed dancing to the music, climbing all over us, and helping us to eat our dinner. :)

...And she played peek-a-boo!

A Typical Conversation with a Toddler!

2008-07-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

The other day we were driving in the car and Ashley and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Ashley: "Juice, please. Juice, please mommy!"

Me: "Ashley, we're going to be home in a few minutes. Let's just wait." (Just because I didn't want to reach behind the seat and dig it out of the diaper bag.)

Ashley: "Nnooooo! Juice, pleeeassse!"

Me: "Ashley, you can wait for a few minutes. You're not dyin', are you?"

Ashley: "Dyin' mommy!" (So dramatic!)

I think it was too cute. Needless to say she got her juice and was quite happy!

Thad's Trip to Brazil

2008-07-03T19:51:00.001-07:00

So we thought that we would post some pictures from Thad's trip. He had a fabulous time, but was very happy to be back home and sleeping in his own bed!

Thad in front of the Clinic. They were at the clinic for about 10 hours everyday.

Thad working with patients.

The group from IU.

The whole group.

This is a picture of the LDS temple in Curitiba. This temple was dedicated just a couple weeks before Thad arrived in Brazil. Thad and Justin poked their heads in the front door and one of the temple workers came over and talked to them. He took them on a tour of the temple grounds and told them the story behind the temple being built in that location. About a year ago President Hinkley came down to choose between three sites to be the final location. This land was the most expensive land (and is actually one of the most expensive pieces of land that the church has ever bought). President Hinkley knelt down behind a tree and when he was done praying turned and announced that as the location. The temple now sits in front of the tree where President Hinkley prayed and at his request all of the trees were left in their current places.

There is a Brazilian word for these animals, but I have no clue how to spell it. They are basically big rats! Gross, huh?!

The bed where Thad slept while staying at one of the student's homes. Aww... how cute!

Thad and Dave. In the background the skyline of Curitiba.

We're so Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

2008-07-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well, Thad made it home safe and sound from Brazil. Ashley was so glad to see her daddy (we both were)! She gave him a huge bear hug and didn't want to let go. It was so cute! Since that time she's been very sure that she always knows where Daddy is and waits for him to get home!

While Thad was gone, my mom came out and stayed with us. We had a lot of fun going to the zoo, shopping, and going to the pool. While my mom was here Ashley discovered a new talent for singing and loves to sing along with the Enchanted Soundtrack and the High School Musical 1 & 2 Soundtracks!

And You Thought $4.19 was Expensive...

2008-06-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

Thad is in Brazil right now for ten days on a humanitarian dental trip. He emailed me today and asked me to post a little about his trip. I'm sure he'll post more when he returns (along with pictures). Here it is...

"Brazil is really nice; from what we have seen it is nicer than most of the parts of Mexico I have visited. We saw the clinic where we will be working and it is nice, but in the middle of no where. We went to a traditional Brazilian birthday party for Dr. Zandona's daughter and cousin. It was pretty fun. The children and parents dress in traditional style clothing which is interesting to see. We have eaten so much rich, rich food. Any kind of candy here is very, very sweet, almost like eating straight sugar. Brazilians are very laid back, they are 15-30 minutes late for everything and just take things as they come. It is a little hard to get used to. For example, we set up most of the clinic on Saturday, but we have no idea when we are starting tomorrow or what we are doing. Also, plans change on a whim. We were supposed to stay at the clinic, but now all of the guys are staying at one of the student's houses together. The students have been really nice about driving us around. Gas is extremely expensive here almost $9 per gallon so we feel kind of bad."

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-14T18:47:00.001-07:00

Ashley and I would like to wish all those fathers and grandfathers out there a Happy Father’s Day! We hope that you all have a wonderful day!

Unfortunately, Thad is out of town and is not here to celebrate Father’s Day with us. He is currently in Brazil as a participant in a Humanitarian Aid Dental Trip with the Dental School. He’ll be back with us next Sunday. Since he is not here, Ashley and I wanted to dedicate this post to him and tell him (and everyone else) what a wonderful daddy we think he is. Ashley loves to play with her dad; he is her own personal jungle gym! She loves it when he takes her on walks or helps her ride her bike. She also loves to play hide-and-seek with him. But, I think her favorite thing is getting up early with Daddy and watching cartoons with him on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

We wanted to share a couple of stories just to show how excited Ashley gets when Daddy comes home. She always knows when daddy should be home and will stand by the door looking for his truck. As soon as she sees him pull in, she starts waving and exclaiming “Hi Daddy!” When he opens the door, she gives him a big hug and can’t wait to play with him. Some nights she has to go to bed before Daddy gets home and she is always disappointed. The other night I was up in bed and Thad got home around midnight. Ashley was asleep in her crib and when she heard the front door open, she woke right up and exclaimed “Daddy!” She knew that he was finally home. It was so sweet! Ashley loves her daddy very much!!

If Everyone Jumped Off a Cliff, Would You?

2008-06-12T19:46:00.001-07:00

Yes! And, I did!

Alright, alright, I know... starting a blog is not even close to jumping off a cliff. I was feeling a little left behind since everyone is moving to blogs. I finally told my friends that I needed to jump on the wagon. I have a confession though... I haven't started before now because I've been scared! Yes, that's right, SCARED! All of you are funny, witty, creative, and have fantastic stories to share (or you at least share them in a very funny, interesting way). I, unfortunately am not any of the above. So, for all you expert bloggers out there, you'll have to be patient with me as I'm learning the ropes. Maybe some of you will send me your tips and tricks!!! :)

I know that this will be a great way to stay in touch with family and all the many friends that we have made. I am horrible at letters and emails, and I am even worse at sending pictures! I know that our families will at least enjoy seeing pictures of Ashley and hearing of all her latest discoveries (of which there are many everyday). And maybe, just maybe, I can make a few of you laugh along the way (of course it will all be Ashley's doing)!