Merry Christmas 2011!

We are so thankful for God's blessings and can't help but feel undeserving of everything He does for us. We are especially thankful this time of year as we embrace and celebrate the biggest blessing and gift He has ever given...His Son Jesus. May you also be blessed knowing that Jesus came to earth as the greatest gift you'll ever receive. Whether you feel worthy or not, the gift is yours. Accept His gift and you'll be forever changed. May God's peace, love and joy fill your life this Christmas season and in the coming year.

The Latest House Renovations #3 & #4

Okay, so it's been a while but, as you will see, we've been a wee bit busy with house renovations. The house is lookin' awesome and is now reflecting more of our personal style. Our most recent projects have been the Dining Room followed by the Master Bedroom. See the Big Reveals below...

Dining Room BEFORE:

Dining Room AFTER:

Master Bedroom BEFORE:

Master Bedroom AFTER:

 

 

Airplanes and Baseball

Just like last year, Steve took Judah to the Quad City Air Show. They made sure to take ear plugs this time around!

Steve organized a family outing on Father's Day for the GO! Kids ministry at our church. We went to the Quad City River Bandits baseball game. The Bandits are the farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals. After the game, all the kids got to go out on the field where a helicopter had dropped tons of candy in the outfield. After the kids were running frantically to pick up as much candy as they could, the helicopter made a few more passes and dropped large and small marshmallows on top of the kids just for fun. After the candy chase, the kids could run the bases if they wanted to. Here is Judah chugging from first base to second.

This N That

Here are a few miscellaneous pictures from things that were going on in our lives earlier this Summer.

Judah had strep throat 3 times in a several month period and he got to go to work with Steve one afternoon when Teri had to work. He wrote me a note (copied what Steve wrote) saying that he had missed me because he had strep. So cute!

Steve did a gravel road bike race near Kolona, IA in June. It was a very hot day. Afterward, we toured the back country roads and stopped in Muscatine for some dinner at the Old Button Factory and for Judah to play in the water spray fountain along the Mississippi River. Aside from TONS of shad flies that you constantly had to swat away along the river and Judah crashing full-force into a little girl and banging himself up pretty good in the fountain, it was a fun-filled day.

Here's Judah enjoying a "smoothie popsicle" that Steve made for him. He didn't make much of a dent in eating it but he sure had a good (and messy!) time trying.

We had our good friend, Dan, over for dinner one evening and he very graciously and patiently sat down with Judah to begin work on putting together Judah's new Lego Battleship. Needless to say, Dan was Judah's new BFF after that night. :)

Judah loves taking pictures and always wants to take photos of Cassidy. However, Cassidy doesn't stand still long enough so Judah usually asks me to hold Cassidy for him. As you can see, she's not too terribly thrilled with being made to stay put.

Dolphins and Peacocks and Bears, Oh My!

In May we took a trip up to Chicago. All three of us got to choose one place that we wanted to go and we had to fit all three into our one day trip. Teri chose IKEA (what a surprise), Judah chose Brookfield Zoo and Steve chose REI (not a real shocker either). A two hour mad dash through IKEA really was just touching the tip of the iceberg but it was fun, regardless. We spent the most time at the zoo but still could have spent a couple more hours there to really get to see everything. Judah's favorite was the polar bears but Steve and I really enjoyed the grizzly bears as they swam in their pool. They would swim right up to the glass and float on their backs. So cute and cuddly...minus the really big teeth and sharp claws. The dolphin show was pretty fun to watch, too, and so were the gorillas chasing each other. Judah did great the whole time until...the giftshop. Whoever designed the layout of the zoo and made the giftshop the only way to exit the bears section of the zoo is obviously not a parent. If they were, they would take into account that most children are totally exhausted and on the verge of meltdown mode by the time they've trekked through the entire zoo. Poor Judah just couldn't make up his mind of what he wanted to buy (within the parameters we had set for him), the zoo was closing, mom and dad were more than ready to go...then it got ugly. You parents know what that looks like. I won't spoil the fun for those of you who aren't parents yet and haven't had the joy of dealing with a child in full meltdown mode yet. Anyway, he fell asleep on the short trip to REI and the cat nap seemed to put him in a better place once we arrived. We all wandered and drooled at all of the cool outdoorsy/active lifestyle stuff that is REI and wished we had gobs of money to spend on said stuff. When we'd had our fill, we all piled back in the Jeep for the 3 hour drive home. A long but fun family day.

The Cutest Chipmunk You Ever Saw

This Spring, Judah and I found the cutest, sweetest little "orphaned" chipmunk you've ever seen. Judah named him "Chicky" and we took care of him one afternoon by giving him birdseed, water, lots of exercise and lots of affection. I'm pretty sure his mommy found him because I saw an adult in the same area we found him later that evening. Judah still thinks that every chipmunk we see (and we see LOTS of them around our house) is possibly Chicky...and he might just be right.

Where Did Spring Go?

I swear it feels like I blogged not too terribly long ago but the date on my last post doesn't lie. May, hmmm. Guess I'd better get updating.

Steve and Judah decided to plant a small garden on the side of the house this spring. It started out pretty well and we were able to enjoy some fresh spinach for a while but, due to neglect and too much rain, then not enough rain and too hot...the garden didn't fair too well. It was a fun father/son activity anyway and Judah learned a thing or two about gardening. :)

Judah and I dyed the last 4 eggs we had in the house for Easter. Judah had never dyed eggs before so he really enjoyed watching the eggs take on the food coloring and change colors. He was disappointed though when he realized the inside of the eggs didn't change colors, too. He had a great time, as usual, doing the annual Easter Egg Hunt with his cousins at Grammy and Grandad's house. Here he is with cousin Will.

This Spring the Mighty Mississippi flooded much of the Downtown Davenport area. These pictures taken from the skywalk show just how far it came up over the river bank. The normal river bank is just to the left of all the lamposts to the far left in the first photo. It was pretty surreal.

And of course some of the other signs that Spring has arrived...

Flowers and the Farmer's Market. :)