Our 4th Anniversary!

Wow! What a journey it has been these last four years! We are thankful to God for our marriage, our family, and all He has blessed us with.

Our wedding day 12-18-04

August 2006

Feb. 2007

June 2007

August 2007 - moved to Iowa

Fall 2007

October 2008

December 2008

Here we are celebrating our anniversary (about a week early).

It has been an adventure and we can't wait to see what God has planned for us next!

Thank you to all of our family and friends for your love and support over the years! We love you!

Snow!

So, here's the snow that came yesterday....It snowed pretty much all day long, looks to be about 4-5 inches. The snow removal people came yesterday evening and pushed all of the snow from the driveway onto our yard you can see it piled up around the tree. We are supposed to get more snow/ice tomorrow and it could be a lot.

Well Madilynn and I got out this morning to run some errands. Yes, I drove in the snow (I wouldn't be driving if this happened in Arkansas), and it wasn't bad - no slipping. The roads are pretty much covered in snow though...

Anyways as we pulled out of the driveway Madilynn started saying "gasses, gasses" and I wasn't sure what she wanted, but she was insistant. Then I realized she wanted her sunglasses. The sun is out today and with it reflecting off of all the snow it was really bright. So I stopped on our street and found her glasses and tried to reach back and put them on her. They weren't on right, so they started falling and the picture on the left is what she looked like! It was so funny! Then after we were done and got back in the car I was able to put them on properly for the ride home. Here she is saying "cheese". By the time we got home she was asleep with the sunglasses on - guess they made it darker and we were driving slow!

Artic Tundra

For those of you in Arkansas I thought I should update you on the weather here in the Artic Tundra (how we refer to IA in the winter). When I got up this morning at 7 am the temp. was -4 with a wind chill of -26. Needless to say we (me and Madilynn) are not leaving the house. The high today is 3. They are calling for more snow tomorrow. News says 6-8in. of snow and the Weather Channel says 2-4in. so we'll see. Anyway it's freezing!!!!!!

Oh, but it was nice on Saturday and warmed up to 45 degrees and some of the snow melted. YAY!! (Last year we got no melting from Nov. till March)

We are thinking of you in warmer weather and can't wait to get back for Christmas. In the meantime we are trying to stay warm!

Here's Mommy and Madilynn yesterday before church in our sweaters!

Daddy got a Deer!

Daddy went hunting on Saturday morning and got his first deer of the season. Madilynn was excited to see it and pet it. This is the first time she's really seen a deer that Daddy got. I'm not going to try to give any specifics on the deer or the hunt. I'm sure I would mess it up, so if you want any details you'll have to ask Michael.

Good Weekend!

Saturday morning started out with a surprise for Madilynn. We got her a toddler bed on Friday afternoon, so Saturday morning was spent putting it together. It was a Daddy/daughter project. I just peaked in to take the pictures! Madilynn kept us laughing all weekend with her cute phrases. She would say, "Hi, my Daddy, what are you doing?" or just "Daddy what are you doing?" She asked us both this question over and over all weekend long, we couldn't help but laugh everytime she asked us. We figure she's going to start with the "Why's?" pretty soon!

Here it is finished. When I asked her if she wanted to sit on it for me to take a picture this is what she did!

Sunday morning ready for church. She looked like such a big girl!

After church showing us how to read the bible with Daddy's glasses

Here is a video of Madilynn singing Twinkle Twinkle little star and ABC's with hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider. Sorry about the last 35-40 seconds they aren't as exciting. I never know what she'll do or say next. I don't have the software to be able to edit the video.

Madilynn and Daddy playing!

Sunday afternoon Madilynn helped me make Chocolate Crinkle cookies. It was Mommy/daughter time and Daddy took the pictures. She helped to make the dough, then it had to be refrigerated for 3 hours. So we put her down for a nap, but she was upset and didn't understand why we couldn't bake the cookies right away. We told her she could have one when she woke up.

Here she is enjoying her cookie after she got up - her tired eyes!

Madilynn found one of my headbands!

Well we are gearing up for more snow here - supposedly tonight and into tomorrow we'll see how much we get. At first they said up to six inches now they say 1-2 inches.

Back to Iowa!

Okay, so first things first. We got new flooring while we were out of town for Thanksgiving and here it is! We are so happy with it - it's great! Much lighter and nicer than what we had before. The vinyl in the kitchen now looks just like tile!

We were also greeted back in Iowa with snow! It was lightly snowing when we got into town on Saturday afternoon and it continued to snow all night and most of Sunday. Here's what we woke up to on Sunday morning.

We stayed in most of the day on Sunday except to go to the grocery store. I put up our little Christmas tree which took all of 5 minutes. Madilynn had to help with the ornaments, but at least there were only a few. Once we were done I told her that was all and she hasn't messed with it since-yay!

And we watched some football! Here are Daddy and Madilynn hanging out together!

Here's Madilynn cuddling with her piggy (that she now has to sleep with!) so cute!

Thanksgiving Week!

We got to go back to Arkansas for a week during the Thanksgiving holiday and we had a great visit! Michael also got to do a lot of hunting while we were in town. Michael and I were also able to get away together for dinner and a movie. We saw Fireproof, it was so good. We loved it - cried from the very beginning!

Celebrating Memaw's Birthday!

Madilynn dancing

Here are Madilynn and Madison playing "ring around the rosie" at Mama's on Thanksgiving

Here's Madilynn enjoying some homeade rolls!

Me and Mama

Madilynn's 2 yr Doctor Visit

This morning we went to Madilynn's 2 year doctor's appointment. I told her before we went that we were going to pick up Daddy and she was happy with that, then I added that we would be going to the doctor to see how much she weighed and how tall she was and she said "no". So we stuck with going to see Daddy. She loved seeing the fish in the waiting room. They had Nemo and Dory, and she kept saying "Dory, dory" and pointing at them. That was the first time I had heard her say that! She continues to learn new words every day. She did really well at the appointment. The doctor commented that she had a good attention span for a 2 yr old. She weighed 25 pounds and is 361/2 inches tall! Tall and skinny, but not too skinny the doctor said. All was well until the shots she had to have two today (one was the flu shot). Then we had to go to the lab where they drew blood from her finger to test her iron and lead levels. She didn't appreciate that at all. She kept saying "no,no" while the nurse was squeezing her finger. But she loved her "boo boo"(band-aid). Afterwards we took Daddy back to work and got these pictures. She was doing much better by then and even ran a few laps around the shop!

Maybe you can see the shiny band-aid in the picture. She has continued to hold her hand out like this all morning. Now she is taking a much needed nap!

Fun Projects...

Okay, so I guess we found things to do. We got creative and took on a project...or two. Michael still got in all of his hunting despite the cold weather. (Currently the temp is 27 with a wind chill of 17. Too cold in my opinion for hunting). He actually just left for the afternoon for more deer hunting, Madilynn is napping and I have some free time....

On Friday afternoon I got some inspiration to do a little project after browsing etsy.com. And after a trip to Hobby Lobby I started it on Friday night. I basically just wanted to see if I could do it..make this sign that is. Well it's done except for attaching a ribbon to hang it by, and I love it! (turned out better than I expected). Can't wait to do more!!

Then, On Saturday morning Michael brought up the idea of re-arranging the furniture in the living room - this made me happy. I had been wanting to do it, but we were waiting until Thanksgiving break when we were going to have to clear out all of the furniture for new carpeting to be installed while we are out of town. Michael was motivated to do it, so I was all in. Actually it turned out great and we were able to move the computer and office stuff to our room to see how we like it in there instead. So I guess we got a jump start on moving out all of the furniture, now we just have mostly big pieces left. Notice the dark indoor/outdoor carpet. I'll have to post pictures after the new carpet is in! Oh, can you tell Madilynn is watching Nemo one of her favorites these days - kept her quite entertained during all the moving!

Oh, and here is a cute picture we took of Madilynn last weekend. Michael did her hair it was so cute!

First Snow!

Well, we awoke this morning to the first snow of the season here in Iowa. After last year's winter I wasn't ready to see it again yet! I just stuck the camera out the front door and took this picture at about 7:30 this morning, and now it is mostly melted off the grass. We are supposed to get more snow today, tonight and tomorrow. The current temp. is 33 and the wind chill is 20. I'm just not ready for winter to be here yet! I've been spoiled living in AR where you can get away without having a heavy winter coat. The wind here is partly what makes it sooooo cold - currently there are gusts to 28mph.

Well, we don't have an exciting weekend planned. I think Michael hopes to go hunting tomorrow either deer or duck, not sure yet which. It will depend on the weather if he goes or not. Otherwise we'll just be hanging out. I would normally plan to bake cookies or something, but I just made some on Wednesday, (Peanut butter blossoms - my first attempt) they are wonderful!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

ISU Game and Family Visit!

Saturday was game day for us. We hadn't been to a football game since we've been here and were excited to see what it was like. Daddy was able to get the tickets for us and Madilynn was free. I think Michael was the only one sporting any ISU apparel, as you can see below Madilynn wore her Razorback outfit!!

Daddy and Madilynn had some fun playing around before the game!
Trying on Daddy's Razorback hat!

Here they are working.. I thought it was cute that Madilynn was helping.

After Madilynn's nap Saturday afternoon we headed up to the stadium for some tailgating! Madilynn had a good time sitting on the cooler enjoying her cheese & cracker and hotdog.

The band marched by us on their way into the stadium. Madilynn enjoyed watching them go by.

Daddy and Madilynn enjoying the game

Mommy and Madilynn watching the game

She took Daddy's hat and put it on..

It started getting pretty chilly and we ended up leaving at half-time. Madilynn did great at the game. We had some empty seats around us and that helped out a lot, she was able to move around some without being in other people's way. We had a great time and really enjoyed watching Madilynn see everything at the game. We realized while we were there that she hasn't even been to a Razorback football game yet. When the crowd started cheering "ISU" Madilynn started repeating it. Michael then started telling her "Arkansas Razorbacks" and she pointed to the hog on her jacket. It was so cute - she knew exactly what we were talking about.

Family Visit

Just after we got home from the game Saturday night Nana, Papa, and Ashlee arrived in town! Madilynn was so excited!

Madilynn got her first lesson from Nana on how to put on make-up.

and checking it out in the mirror...

Ashlee and Madilynn singing Ring around the Rosie and falling down. Madilynn loved and didn't want to stop. Ashlee and I had played it with her earlier until we couldn't do it anymore.

Nana and Madilynn reading a book

We had a great visit! It's so fun when family and friends can visit us here!

GO HOGS GO!!!