The power of advertisements

Eli keeps seeing this commercial for Jumpin' Jack's on TV, and he's been asking if we can go. We finally went this morning. The boys had a lot of fun!

golfing with Grandpa Jim

another birthday picture

I just got this picture that Grandma Cathy took at the party. Noah and I practiced blowing all last week, and he was getting very good at it. I guess he folded under pressure. As you can see, it took all four of us to blow out that one candle.

Noah's first birthday

Being very careful with his birthday cake.

Showing off his cute little shirt from Tonya

I can't believe my baby is one!!!

Happy Friday!!

I'm not sure what happened to the first picture!

Noah's first ice cream cone

After eating two pieces of pizza, a cup of blueberries, and some string cheese, Noah fed himself this ice cream cone at Grandma's tonight.

Summerfest

Eli had a lot of fun at the carnival this weekend. Thanks Grandma!

I'm ready Daddy!

Noah is pretty much just walking these days. He still falls over all the time, but he gets right back up. The big birthday is a week from today. Does anybody have any "must have" ideas for one year olds????

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Vacation June 18th - July 4th

After ND, we went back to my parents for a couple of days. We were planning to come home Monday, but we kept extending our stay. It felt a little silly LEAVING the lake on the 4th!
The boys' must've missed their beds. They both fell asleep instantly tonight!

After the resort, we met Joel's sister and family at their Dad's in North Dakota for a few days.

Eli braving the slide during our four days at a resort with my mom's family.

Relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa's

We were not planning to go on vacation until June 22nd. Unfortunately, my Grandpa died on the 15th, so we went up North a little early. Here are the boys at Krista and Brent's the day of the funeral.

New Kicks

I took Noah to the mall on Saturday, and decided to get him some shoes while we were there. I knew I would have a hard time finding shoes to fit because his feet are very fat. Therefore, I went to Stride Rite where the lovely sales person talked me into these huge white shoes. I know they're kinda ugly, but where else would I find double extra wide shoes????? Yes, he is wearing size 6xxw.

Getting Dressed

Noah was trying to put on his pajama shirt last night.

Eli's latest

sad

angry

happy

confused

Eli has been so cute lately (when he's listening). He likes to make these faces. My favorite is his confused face. He says, "one eye up, and one eye down just like Lightning McQueen". He is also into counting (he went to 200 the other day). He got the leap frog game, 100 hoops, for Christmas, and he loves it. However, I don't think he has ever shot the basketball into the hoop. He just pushes the button to hear the counting, and now he can count to 100 by ones and tens. Grandma Connie was trying to teach him to tell time last week, but I think we still have a ways to go.

working on my golf swing

I'll be ready when Daddy is!

Grandma and Eli

I brought Grandma Connie back with me after Memorial Day Weekend, so she was my helper last week. She kept the big boys entertained! On Friday Grandma and Eli went to see Shrek The Third. After the movie and some McDonalds, Grandma was trying to get Eli to go for a walk with her, but he was much too busy playing with his new Shrek happy meal toys. This was the compromise.

Memorial Day Weekend

• Things I learned this weekend.
  
• *Buy a pacifier clip to use in the car.(I stopped 6 times to find pacifiers on the way to my sister's house)

*Taking fun Memorial Day Weekend pictures does not happen when you have a 10 month old attached to your hip.

*Accept help when offered. (Thank you to my family for helping take care of my boys this weekend, and Joel's family for taking care of my biggest boy this weekend).

*You should make a point to visit grandparents as often as possible.

*Parades do not always have candy, so you should not tell your children that they will get candy when you are going to a parade.

10 months old!

Happy 10 months to me! He hasn't been nearly as clingy today.

Brothers

Aunt Jennifer bought this train for Noah to walk behind. Of course Eli has kind of taken it over.

Joel is home!

Heidi's hospital is now open! Joel got home around 10:30 this morning. I had asked Eli if he would let Daddy use his bed for a while. He didn't really like that idea. Then, I told him he could get a new bed, and he said, "okay. I want a brown bed." Well- the green air matress that we will call his bed seems to be working just fine. Eli's bed fit perfectly in our room right in front of the TV. Thanks Rich and Don for getting Joel's "spot" set up. From the moment he got out of surgery, all Joel was concerned about was where he would go when he got home since our bed is kind of tall and not very firm. Thank you Jennifer for taking care of my children all week, and thank you Cathy for taking such good care of Joel and helping with the boys.

back surgery

I took a picture of Joel when he was in pre-op yesterday, but he wasn't too excited about me sharing it. I'm sure he REALLY wouldn't like me posting it now. His surgery lasted a little over two hours, and then he spent another two hours in recovery before he went to his room. Everything went well, so that's good! He is in a lot of pain, but he did get up and walk to the bathroom this morning. Eli went with me to see him. He was such a good boy while we were there. As we were walking to the car he started crying a little and said, "I want my daddy to get better". Thanks for all the prayers!