3 Visitors, A Trip to Alaska, Santa Monica, Hawaii, Atlanta and Spain and a whole season Later....

Disclaimer: the following and any posts on this blog will not be grammatically correct. I have had the life long disability of poor grammar. Not due to my lack of education but due to my own lack of interest. So if I use "their" instead of "there" or if a comma is incorrect I apologize and warn you that if it sincerely bothers you DO NOT READ THIS BLOG:) This is for you Krista....PS...this is totally friendly people. I am making fun of myself and a previous post of a friend with whom writes so well she could be an employee of the New York Times.


There is a beautiful tree in our front yard that shades us in the summer and gives us privacy from the main road. I love to look out the front window and see it's beautiful blossoms in the Spring, the Green Leaves in the Summer and then in Autumn watch it as it slowly changes through all the beautiful fall colors. Right now it is an amazing mix of light green and yellow. I keep looking at it and thinking, man I got to do some sort of craft project inspired by these beautiful colors. In the Winter our tree becomes an abstract piece of art, bare branches weighed down by the ice and snow that covers it. I just love our tree!

My parents came to visit, and spoiled us rotten. They got us a great BBQer which we have used almost daily and also got us a zoo membership which we also use EVERY week. The last time we went the weather was perfect and the animals were all so friendly and happy. Our little zoo here is the perfect zoo for toddlers. We will miss it over the extreme winter months. My parents also bought me a bike for my birthday so we recently added a bike trailer/jogger and now we can go on bike rides and runs. WE LOVE IT! I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to bike again. The wind blowing through my hair, the speed, the freedom it gives me. It just feels good and the kids LOVE it. We have a really cool bike path (7 miles worth) right at our doorstep. It winds through town and hits an assortment of parks along the way. It is lined with woods and streams, bridges and lots of fun critters. It's one of our favorite things to do. My parents took a walk with us one day while they were here. We also took in the Iowa State Fair which is one of the top 100 things to do in the USA. It was definitely a site to see, complete with tractor dancing. Yes the tractors indeed did dance. We had the most incredible corn dogs imaginable and we saw lots of fun horses and livestock. We were able to see the Nauvoo Pageant and Festival, what an amazing show. David, Joseph's brother, was also here, we enjoyed having his company. We all got to go on a cruise down the Mississippi together as a part of Homecoming at Palmer, where Joseph goes to school.

Ok so I just remembered one of my good friends, who is completely honest, said my blogs are always too long so I am going to stop myself here. My parents came, we had fun!

Then this summer we went to Juneau for a few weeks to visit Joseph's family. We helped out and spent time with the family. Kaitlyn celebrated her birthday while there. She got to ride a helicopter up to the top of the glacier where she drank glacier water and got very very cold. Joseph went with her and said she LOVED it. Joseph also got to go on the zip line tour where he had the time of his life. I settled for a ride up the Tram and a nice hike on top of the mountain.



We went on our first family camping trip a few weeks ago to a nearby campground just to see how the kids would do. We had tin foil dinners and Sm ores of course. Adam slept perfectly. Kaitlyn woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to wander the tent but overall she did just fine. I think once the newness wears off she will sleep just fine in her little sleeping bag. The kids LOVED painting the car with mud and going on an adventure through the woods. The campground, though only 15 minutes from home, was absolutely amazing and we will definitely go back again next spring.


I have been busy with two jobs, one at a chiropractic office working the front desk and soon will also be doing billing and the other at a ice cream store called Maggie Moos. We serve fresh made ice cream and mix in extras on a granite table just like at Cold Stones. It's a lot of fun and it is super yummy too. I work in the evenings with both jobs so we don't need any babysitters and it gets me out as well as brings in some extra cash for gas and diapers:) I am the Nursery Leader at church, which is super fun. If you are also a nursery leader let me know we can exchange ideas. In addition to all of this I am a part of a club on campus where we support and learn about chiropractic. It's a club for spouses or partners of the students and we do educational and fun activities. I enjoy that and especially enjoy the friendships that have formed from it. OH and I turned 30. No big deal. Had a good birthday and decided to cut my own bangs, just for a change. I am getting them cut professionally on Monday, I can't wait. Note to self, when bored and feeling like I want a change, lock up the scissors.

Recently a good friend of mine who works at the local airport took me on a dream getaway to Hawaii. With the accumulation of many fortunate circumstances I was able to go with free babysitting and on a very low budget. My friend Nathalie and I stopped in Santa Monica for a day and visited a friend there and did some major good shopping. Santa Monica really is a dream. It is so beautiful and super exciting. We stayed 5 days in Kauai, which was like heaven. We just layed on the beach, saw all the natural wonders and enjoyed a wonderful boat ride. We saw dolphins, turtles, lizards and cool looking moths. I made some good friends and had a nice relaxing vacation. I owe Nathalie big time for her generous gift and her steadfast friendship. She is amazing and I am so grateful for her and her husband. I love to hang out with them and they have done so much for me. Thank goodness for good friends!

We recently went to the pumpkin patch and got some pumpkins. The kids rode the pony's and petted all the animals. Kaitlyn especially liked the llama. Adam enjoyed the bunnies.

At Palmer they have a Trick or Treat day. I made Kaitlyn and Adam's costumes the morning of. I found some cute furry material and decided to make them Mommy and Daddy's little Monsters! Roaaaar. They turned out well, I was pleased. Kaitlyn thought it was the best day of her life to walk around and have people give her candy. She just quietly walked up to the bowl of candy, took two (which is as much as her hand will hold), and would put them slowly in her bag and walk away. Surprisingly her favorite thing ended up being a note pad she got. What can I say, she loves to draw.

Which leads me to our trip to Spain, where our camera was stolen so we have no pics of the monster costumes. Just think furry and blue. For Joseph's break we went to Madrid and Barcelona. Despite having a bag stolen from literally underneath our noses we had what I would call an amazing time. I had never really experienced Europe and thouroughly enjoyed the ancient history and awe inspiring architecture. I def want to return to Europe it was unforgettable. If you want to see pics of the most beautiful architecture check out my friend Nathalies blog. They took really good pics and were great guides in some of Europes busiest cities. I cannot forget to mention our nights stay in Atlanta and our visit to The Worlds Largest Aquarium. Go people! It is worth the trip, Atlanta is so friendly anf fun. We are going back with the kids FOR SURE!

Since we have been home, life is back to normal. Winter is now upon us. When I started this post fall had just arrived and now all the leaves have fallen and the air is cold and crisp. Snow will soon arrive and so will the holidays. How quickly time goes by, I am so greatful for the amazing experiences we have enjoyed this year. Sorry for the long blog.......you deserve an award if you made it the whole way thru....

There you have it, I am all caught up...wooohooo. Take Blog off the TO DO list, at least until next week when I get to update you again:) We love and care for you all. Let me know how your doing. Even though I don't blog a lot, I do check your blogs....often. Blog on my Blog friends...Blog on!