SAY CHEESE.........

Good thing I did not count on John to smile good for a Christmas card this year! He was being such a "ham" in front of the tree. I could not get a good picture to save my life. This is his new thing where he smiles so you can't see his eyes :) He was poking at the tree and moving all over so I finally sat him in his bumbo chair. Good thing we had professional photos taken for cards, however I could have came up with something clever to go with this one................

Playing with Cody and Abby

My nephew was in a play 2 weeks ago so he had called and wanted me to go. Let me tell you, it is the FUNNIEST play I have ever seen. I laughed and laughed :) The weather was so nice out on Saturday so we decided to play outside for awhile. Cod has a 4 wheeler and Abby a 3 wheeler, they got them out and took John for a spin. He did not have to much reaction about the whole deal, just loved being outside. He was in a good mood all weekend, he loves going to see Aunt Mo and his cousins.

First Trick or Treat!

What a good first Halloween John had! Melissa, Emma, John and I started Friday night with trick-or-treating downtown Sheldon. Afterwards, the guys came home and we had pizza with the kids. John and Emma watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and played the night away. On Saturday night we took John to some close friends and family. Somehow he managed to get 2 pumpkins full of candy! Now what does a 10 month old do with that? Most of it is still sitting on our counter. We have been nibbeling a little here and there!

SPOOKY SPIDER

Well, here we are John's first Halloween! I wanted to try on his costume to make sure it fit. It was perfect :) We went outside (BEFORE all the snow came!) to take some pictures. I am so lucky I got the one I did. He was more interested in the leaves, cars going by and his pumpkin. We were outside for about 45 minutes. We will go trick or treating uptown with Emma and Melissa then to see a host of family and friends. We will see how long John will last.

HMHC Billboard

HERE HE IS! Many of you have asked that I post a photo of the billboard that John is on for the hospital. Here it is :) It is off of Hwy. 18 when you turn to get on 75. Fortunately, I get to see it everyday on my way to work :) I get a HUGE smile whenever I look at it. I cannot think of a better way to start my work day. My friend Nancy works in marketing, she is the one who 'brewed" this up.

It's FALL!

A couple Saturday's Amanda and I took the kids to Pumpkin land and had a great time. The weather was super nice, I was actually sweating! The BOYS had a blast, Dawson was hissing at the animals to get their attention, I do not think Amanda and I could of laughed anymore. He is a HOOT. John just sat in his stroller and enjoyed "site seeing". As long as he is outdoors he is bound to have a good time.

Here kitty kitty

John's uncle Nick's cat had some kitties about 3 weeks ago. I will be the first to tell you, I HATE CATS! But, they are so stinkin cute :) If only they stayed that little and cute.......John was not sure what to think of them. Dad helped him looked them over. Also, uncle Nick had a derby on Saturday so John is wearing another good luck derby shirt!

Happy Labor Day!

Mom and John sitting by the park enjoying the fresh air, parade and eachother!!

I covered John's ears for the last 3 entries which were firetrucks...we must have tired him out! He feel asleep right in my hands! My cousin quick snapped a picture of this for me.

Happy Labor Day! John and I were BUSY over the weekend...WOW. After we got home from camping we went to see Dad at the shop. He thought we needed to eat with him and see Grandma :) We did not get home till 10 Sunday night. Then Monday was Sheldon's annual celebration days. We went to the park around 1030 to meet my mom, aunt and cousin. We snooped at all the crafts and then went for pizza to celebrate my aunt's b-day. We returned to the park for the parade and had a great time! John was awake for the whole thing other then the last couple entries (see above!!) he sat up the whole time and was a good boy. After that, John had a sitter while I went to the derby. All the guys did GREAT, it was fun to watch once again. I got home around 1030--whew what a busy, busy weekend!!

A camping we will go

John thought he was big stuff sitting in his own camping chair around the fire.

John and I headed out to see my sister and her family for a camping weekend over Labor Day. He was in is element! Loves to be outdoors!! He had so much fun with Cody and Abby you would not believe it :) He was a good boy all weekend long, we had a GREAT time! We left Dad behind to work on his derby car for Monday's big event.

Oh what a Sunday!

On Sunday, my friend Melissa called to see if we wanted to walk to the park...what a BEAUTIFUL DAY! We said YES...and off we went. John and Emma LOVE hanging out...and so do Melissa and I :) We had a BLAST. John loves the swings....he napped the whole walk home plus an hour when we got home! I think we need to build a park in our backyard. HAAA!!!!

NEW SHOES FOR JOHNNY BOY!

My friend Amanda (as seen down below in the "twin photo") and I went shopping Friday in Sioux Falls. We REALLY NEEDED to get out if you know what I mean! I had seen these shoes for John before and I passed on them...not a necessity one would say, as he has shoes....well this mama is always looking for a bargain and here they were on sale! Need I say more...here they are! He likes 'em!!!! On another note, he is 8 months old now :)

John is 7 months old today!

Today marks 7 months for John Nickolas (aka Johnny Boy) being in our lives. I cannot believe the joy, love and excitement he brings to me everday! The last 7 months have just FLOWN by! I was always told that time flies when you have children, boy is that the truth!! John rolls over like crazy now, eats beans, sleeps through the night (most of the time...YEAH!!!!!), and plays with his toys now. It just amazes me all the new things they learn in such a short amount of time. What a GOOD 7 months. :)

9 years of wedded BLISS

Sean sent me these flowers for our 9 year anniversary. Where does time go, I ask? 9 years...WOW. I got them in the morning so it was nice to enjoy them for the day. We went out for Mexican food and topped the night off with some ice cream from the local Dairy Dandy :) What else could a gal ask for?

Happy Birthday Tammy!

A group of us from work went out to celebrate our friend Tammy's birthday, which was a couple months ago, but I just got these this morning! I opened them and LAUGHED all over again. We just went to the Texas Roadhouse to eat, nothing extreme and had a BLAST. I love going to eat and hang out with friends! Anyways, we saw this bus and for those of you that know Tammy, we HAD to stop for a photo opt. buy the BEAVER BUS!!!! HAAA. What a GREAT night, hope you had a great time Tammy!

It's a Girl!

Our friends Tracy and Sandy Weidner got the phone call they had been waiting for....the GREAT news of YOU ARE GETTING A BABY GIRL!!! Gracie Joy, was welcomed home by 2 wonderful, loving parents. She was born on June 20. John and I were fortunate enough to be invited to a purse party hosted at Grandma Hendrene's house. Sands wanted to show Gracie how much fun shopping for purses really is :) We sat John next to Gracie and all he seemed interested in was her blanket. He will soon learn that when you have a cute little girl sitting next to you, you should strike up a conversation. We want to extend our congratulations to Tracy and Sandy. We will continue to pray for you during this awesome journey of adoption!!

WELL.....so the saying goes GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE, and I would have to agree. Amanda and I thought to wear the same thing to work today. She walked in and we just had to laugh at eachother. Hey....when you got it you got it :)

Well here I am, an official BLOGGER.....sheesh who would of thought! We have had an exciting summer so far. We had our Annual Wolf BBQ and fireworks on the 11th of July--we are all still alive after so Huge bombs were let off by Sean, Nick and the rest of the clan. It is a death sentence when you make those homemade things if you ask me!!!

Sean, Nick and Aaron ran in a derby Sunday night. Aaron got 4th (GOOD JOB AARON!!) Sean and Nick had some tough luck but I guess a good time was had by all. John wore his derby shirt for good luck to dad! It was so cute. I can see him 16 years from now plugging away on a car of his own with dad!!