We are all connected

This is Mike. This is a video that my brother showed me while we were in Utah over the break. It's a little nerdy, but Robyn and I have been having fun with it. So for all you nerdy folk, here you go, enjoy. :)

Robyn's Graduation

(Mike says) So here are a few pictures of the big day! Thanks again for the support!

Yeah Mommy!

:)

Here's Mom, now a grad:)

What a happy day! Here we are ready to eat pizza afterward.

Robyn Graduated!!!

Mike posting. Robyn is in Utah visiting family whilst I am stuck studying for tests, but I need a little study break from all the bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and worms. Robyn and I were very grateful for all the support we felt for her graduation last week--thanks to all the family that let us stay at their places and eat their delicious food, and to those that babysat Esther (Brian Anderson, we really appreciated taking Esther on a day's notice)!

We will update the blog soon with pictures (Robyn's internet connection is experiencing problems right now, and she has all the pics).

In the mean time, keep having a happy holiday season!

Announcing...

Thanks (in no particular order)

Mike is thankful for:

Family, turkey, gravy, Robyn's homemade gravy and rolls, Robyn's super cooking skills, Robyn's super smile, Robyn Robyn Robyn!, Esther and her smiles (of all sorts), Esthers little "Dyadya!" squeaks, when Esther tries to touch my nose, reading to Esther, reading in general but especially the scriptures, Christ, knowledge, knowledge applied, little kids' smiles & curiosity (like Esther and Christopher, her cousin today, playing together earlier today), waking up refreshed, sleep, chocolate, light rain on a hot summer day, fall colors, snowstorms when we don't have to drive anywhere, hot chocolate, bikes, cars, airplanes, cell phones, clear communication, Mom, Dad, bros and sisters, friends, chocolate, grandparents, mail, stethoscopes, teriyaki chicken, kung-pow chicken (you can tell I'm an American when half my list of thankful's is food), Wii Sports, smiling people, getting a great deal, forests, mountains, oceans, stars, umbrellas, Tim-Tams and Tim-Tam slams (another chocolate thing), science, government, Calvin and Hobbs, laughing out loud,

Robyn is thankful for:

Family--immediate and extended, texting, communications that keep international families together, Raid (there is a little bug on the ceiling), dance, friends, laughing so hard I cry, Tim-Tam slams and other yummy desserts, medicine that keeps me healthy, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the church organization, Christmas:), Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas time, holidays, decorating, games, soft beds, music, laughter, and my eternal sweetheart and our beautiful daughter. (sorry, I had less time than Mike)

So I was in the kitchen getting some lunch after church. Esther was playing in her exersaucer in the living room when suddenly I heard a strange noise. I rushed into the living room worried that Esther had gotten into something she wasn't supposed to. But she was just fine playing with her rubber ducky. It took me a while to figure out that the strange noise was our neighbors upstairs vacuuming. I think this may have been the third or fourth time I've heard that noise in the year we've lived in this house... and everytime it throws me off.

Journals

This is Mike posting, bytheway. Robyn and I have been writing in our journals every day for the past few months (Grandma Smith, I think of your example occasionally as we write). I just wanted to give y'all an update of what I had to write about Esther this week. First off, she is really enjoying her new-found freedom and loves to crawl anywhere and everywhere (especially to where we don't want her crawling, like under our desks or around plugs and cords). Two days ago she pulled herself up to standing on the side of the couch, and then yesterday she climbed her little arms up my upright backpack and was standing there smiling at me with a cheesy smile, seeming to say "look at me, Dad, I'm so cute!"

So I had to pause in writing this for a half-hour or so since Esther just woke up after taking only a 20 minute nap and put her back to sleep. She is a fighter--she'll be rubbing her eyes, and crying and we know she is tired, but she'll never go down without a fight (unless she is reallytired, and then it is funny that she'll just plop her head down anywhere--in her crib, on the side of the car seat, or even or Robyn's shoulder). Luckily her fighting sleep has eased up since we've been trying a routine, even if we have to use it before naps. And she loves to sleep in the "stink-bug" position, which is funny and cute.

So that's a synopsis of what I write about in my journal when it comes to Esther. Hope it was enjoyable! Here's a picture or two!

Here we are as a family!

Wiggley when we try to take pictures

At the zoo:)

At the zoo 2

WARNING WARNING! LOTS OF PICTURES!

Ok, so I finally updated the blog. I know, it's been a while, but don't worry, I have more than made up for it with the amount of posts I have done today. So if you're not into looking at pictures of us (mostly Esther) then I'm sorry because that's what you'll be getting here. :)
Anyways, you'll want to scroll way down to catch all of them. :) Enjoy!

Playing with Esther

Esther is just so fun to play with sometimes! The other day we were playing with her toys and she was just being so cute! I grabbed the camera to try to capture it, but the pictures don't do her justice. There are just moments when I just want to squeeze her so much because she is just being too adorable!


The other day Mike and I were cleaning up Esther's toys to get her ready for bed. She kept grabbing the bucket and pulling them all out. So in a frenzied moment of parenthood I began piling all her toys on top of her. I finished by singing "A!" (think singing in the rain) Mike thought it was great so he took a picture.
Since it's been a while since I've really updated I guess now would be as good a time as ever to do so. Esther has been doing a one armed army crawl for the past month and a half or so. On Oct 25 (Esther's 9 month birthday) something clicked and she began crawling for real. I mean belly off the floor and alternating hands and everything. Now she is getting into absolutely everything, but at least she can follow me around when I leave the room instead of just fussing. :) She's in the 70th percentile for height, but only 30th for weight. All that crawling around has caused her to slow down in the weight gain. Who would have thought that my kid would be considered tall? :) he he he...
This last picture we took this morning. Mike and Esther were having so much fun with this! Who knew my baby could fly?

All Hallows Even

We had a busy Halloween season. The night before Halloween there was trick or treating at the medical college. All the offices were decorated and the kids would go around trick or treating at each office. Then in the cafeteria we had cookies and apple cider along with a backdrop for people to get their pictures taken at. I was on the committee that helped put the whole thing together, so I hung out in the cafeteria the whole time with Esther. Mike was at an MD/PhD retreat, so he wasn't able to come with us (boo!). But we still had lots of fun. Esther and I did not go trick or treating, 1-because Esther can't eat any of the candy, and heaven knows I don't need it, and 2-I was a bit tired by the time we could have gone. So we had fun hanging out in the cafeteria. I was a princess and Esther was my pea. In case you didn't get that, we were the princess and the pea. If you don't know your fairy tales, look it up. :) I actually don't have pictures from that night at the moment because they're on someone else's camera. When I get them, I'll update this post. :)
Then the morning of Halloween we went to the birthday party of one of our friends. Marie turned 2 on Halloween and for her birthday she wanted "Friends over!" So we were invited over. Most of you know I love dressing up in costumes and will look for just about any excuse to do so. :) So that morning we had different costumes than the ones used the night before. Esther was our little fairy princess and I was a woodland nymph.

Halloween night we threw a party! Since Mike had been gone at the retreat, I had fun and decorated our place. I threw sheets over most of the furniture like they always do in those old scary movies. You know the ones where someone gets lost and wanders into an old mansion that's supposed to be deserted. Then it ends up being inhabited by some scary creature like Dracula, or a monster or werewolf or whatnot. I didn't remember to take pictures of the decorations until after the party (but at least I remembered!).
I made the web out of yarn and the spider out of pipe cleaner and a piece of cloth. Kinda cool, huh.

Here's our pumpkin. I didn't have time to carve him, so last minute I mummified him. :)
I was planning on making homemade root beer for the party, but the person that I talked to on the phone from the grocery store didn't know what they were talking about. I had asked if they carried dry ice and root beer flavoring. They said yes to both. When I went, there was no root beer flavoring and I didn't even bother finding out about the dry ice. Major bummer. But I was still able to make mummified hot dogs that were a lot of fun. If you ever want to make them, just cut the crescent roll dough into strips and wrap the hot dog, leaving a little bit of room for the face. I was planning on doing little dobs of catsup for the eyes, but ran out of time (like usual!).
Anyways, we ended up having about 40 people over for the party. Not everyone is in this picture because some came after we had taken the picture. We had so much fun having everyone over! I definitely want to do it again next year! :)
I was thoroughly impressed with the creativity in the costumes. We had a Chiquita banana, the swine flu (which wasn't actually tacky since he's a doctor), a chili pepper, a mind reader, a sumo wrestler and more. Thanks for all of the fun everyone!
Some of the kids found the cauldron I was planning on using for the homemade root beer. We thought it would be fun to get a picture of Ivy in it. So cute!
Nathan thought it was so funny that he grabbed the cauldron and said "Let's boil me!" When we told him he was too big he grabbed Katie and said "Let's boil Katie!" Katie didn't like that idea. Then Nathan looked defeated and pleaded "Can't we boil anyone?" Too funny! Later that night we stuck Jude in the cauldron for a photo op and Nathan was thrilled.
All the babies didn't seem to mind being in the cauldron, so the next day we stuck Esther in it and she did not like it one bit!
She was much happier once she got out of the pot! :)
Mike however, didn't mind being "boiled" as Nathan said. :)
For the party Mike and I were pirates and Esther was our parrot. :) Such a cutie! Don't ask me what my face it doing in these pictures. I was going for a pirate face, but maybe I had too much ale by that point (ginger ale that is). :)



Sorry that was such a novel. We had lots of fun at all the Halloween festivities. :)

Enjoying Autumn

Autumn came earlier than expected here in Wisconsin. It got chilly early and never really warmed up. One Sunday we decided to head over to a park and get a few pictures. Unfortunately by the time we got all loaded up in the car, most of the sunlight had disappeared, but I think we still managed to get some fun pictures.

I love that chubby chin!
Esther is never quite sure where to look when there's not someone dancing around behind the camera. :)
I LOVE this picture of Mike and Esther. She loves her daddy that's for sure!

This next picture is the trees in front of our house. For a few weeks we would get this golden sunshine in our front room. It was beautiful!This is the walkway by the side of our house before Mike raked the leaves.
Here's Esther hanging out with daddy as he rakes the leaves. :) I love how her eyes smile!

Here's the side of the house after Mike raked the leaves! Thanks honey! Mike looked up at the trees and asked where all the leaves were coming from when there were so many leaves still on the trees!
The leaf pile was bigger than Esther! Unfortunately it had rained the night before so everything was wet, or we probably would have gotten some fun leaf pile pictures with Esther. :)
As it was, we still managed to have fun. :)

This next picture is how Esther looks most of the day. She will open her mouth as wide as it will go and then yell as loud as she can. It is so funny, but makes it hard to get pictures sometimes!