Thanksgiving in Kansas!

I know that I have been a big slacker when it comes to blogging... but I'm back! We all know time just flies by around this time of year. Hey, I'm proud that I'm getting Thanksgiving up before Christmas! :o)

We got to go to Kansas City for Thanksgiving this year to see Jeff's mom and step-dad and his sister (and lots of other fabulous people!) Here are some pictures of our super trip!

EmJ with Grandma Chuck and Grandpa Greg - let's just say she had a BLAST with them!
Super cute cowboy boots from Grandma Chuck!
Uh... there are 2 hats on my head! That's silly!
With Great-Gram and Great-Aunt Di
Aww... kissing Grandma Chuck
Laughing with Aunt Stacey - these 2 couldn't get enough of each other!
She loved this rocking chair!

And this rocking horse...!
With Aunt Stacey...

EmJ has "Socko" on her hand - a game Aunt Stacey taught her that she still loves and plays all the time - especially in the car! :o)

Jammin' out
So precious with cousin Colton

We just landed... and this was how she spent the whole flight. YES!

We had a fabulous trip and are excited for Christmas to see Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Stacey again! Yipee!!!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!!

As most of you know, we're pretty avid Jayhawk fans around here, to say the least. We're very excited to say that #1 - basketball season has begun, and #2 - our football team ROCKS and is undefeated so far!!!!!! Look out BIG 12 - here come the Jayhawks! This picture of EmJ made me laugh cause she looks just like her daddy when he's playing ball!
Here's our "official first day of basketball season" family picture :o)

Notice the awesome bruise on EmJ's head... she's quite the toddler - figuring out how to climb on everything and run everywhere!
"HI!!!"
She has discovered pockets... and it makes me laugh every time!
I just like this picture... not really sure what she's doing, but it's silly EmJ!

We're leaving for Kansas (in just a few hours, actually - how I have time to blog right now, I don't know!!!) for Thanksgiving so there will be a new blog soon... stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you... we are thankful you are in our lives!

fall fun!

Here's a video of EmJ "reading" to herself. This always makes me laugh - sometimes she just babbles, and other times she throws in words she knows in between babbles. She has been amazing me with her vocabulary - it grows daily! But sometimes I forget that her words aren't as clear as they sound to me - you know, just being around her all the time - I know that "mo - ju" means "more juice," but not everybody can decipher all her words yet. :o)

EmJ got to play in the leaves at Nana and Papa's the other day and had a blast!

These are EmJ's fun camo pants from Grandma Chuck. Stinkin' cute!

This is EmJ with her great-grandpa - she loves to stand on his chair and push the buttons - especially the horn. :o) They have a great time together!

I think this picture is pretty cute - thanks to Kir for the cute clothes!

I had to stifle a laugh the other day when I came in to EmJ's room to wake her up from nap (which doesn't need to happen often, but she wouldn't have slept that night cause she had slept so long!!) and she was sleeping like this. I ran down and got the camera and was able to get a picture! Hee hee!

"Boo!"

Happy Halloween!!!

EmJ was Boo from Monsters Inc for Halloween this year... and super cute, if you ask me! :o)

We went to Jeff's work so everyone could see her dressed up (although it almost doesn't seem like she is if you don't know the movie) - she got tons of attention and loved every minute of it!

We also went to my grandparents with Janae and Jonah to show off Halloween costumes. It was a fun day - we were a little sad that our church didn't do their annual Harvest Party because I think EmJ would have just loved it this year. But, that's ok... we'll do more next year when she starts really wanting to, but for now we had a super fun Halloween!

We "carved" a pumpkin with EmJ - really, we just let her gut it and she loved it! :o) I thought she would get super messy, but she didn't really. She pretty much just used her right hand to take the seeds and slime out. She definitely had a good time, though!

Wow! Check this out, Mom and Dad!

Ohh... did you see what I did?

One more cute picture of Boo and Sully.

:o)

i know, it's about time!!!

I just love this picture of EmJ... obviously a super cute outfit from Grandma Chuck... and I also think it looks like EmJ's trying to wink. Stinkin' cute!!!
It's getting cold here and that means we bust out the winter coat. Obviously, this is a tad big, but EmJ doesn't seem to mind.
Just thought we'd let you all know that we're sad about the World Series loss... but we still love our Colorado Rockies!!!
KU ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Our good friends Scott and Deb got to come out this weekend with their adorable daughter, Emmerly (and baby on the way). Here we are with Sarah and the Melvin's. We miss them terribly and were so glad to be able to hang out!!!
It was a tiring weekend... this is so unusual now that EmJ is older, so we thought we'd capture her cat-nap in the car yesterday.
Thanks to Auntie Linda for these super cute jammies. Halloween is soon, so be sure to check back for more cute pictures of EmJ! :o) I promise, I'll try to be better about blogging!

We love you all!

World Series...

Go Rockies!!!

Stay tuned for more EmJ pictures soon... :o)

the kid... :o)

Here's a little video of EmJ (and mama) reciting one of her favorite books (Moo, Baa, La La La!)... she's hilarious!!!

And some pictures...

I really like this picture... but I'm pretty sure she's looking at the tv... stinkin' kid!

As you can see, EmJ loves to climb on any and everything she can.

And she's obviously proud of herself!

This is EmJ's favorite lego... she does this all the time and it makes me laugh every time. She also loves to play under our table because it's tall and she can walk around under it. Sometimes she even takes books under there and will just sit and read... :o)

This is EmJ saying "Where's Mama?" She'll do it with anybody she can think of, especially Daddy once he's left for work. Love it!

Here she is waiting for Daddy to get home from work...

And one more little video of a semi-new skill EmJ is mastering...

Tomorrow is Jeff's birthday... so hopefully we'll have more pictures soon. :o)

Just saying hello!

Just a few new pictures of EmJ... :o)

Just saying hello...

This is a calendar of EmJ's cousins (Janae and Jonah) and her Auntie Amy and Uncle Ken. One of her most favorite things to do is look at the pictures and say "Hi Nae-Nae" and "Hi No-Na!"

Smile for the camera! (She's such a ham!!!)

"Just waving while I'm walking!"

As you can see, she's getting super steady on her feet now and it's so fabulous!

She's looking at her daddy... and you can see how much she just loves him! :o)

I got a super cute video of EmJ the other day, but it's just a tad to big to upload! Dang it! I'll try to take another one soon to post - so stay tuned!

Crazy Fun Weekend!

Well... we've had quite the weekend! It's been crazy around here, but we've had lots and lots of fun! Here a glimpse of what we did...

The park is one of EmJ's favorite places to go... so I thought I'd share a couple pictures.

Woo-hoo for the slide! :o)
Just playin' around - gotta love those dimples!
This weekend Grandma Chuck and Grandpa Greg (Jeff's mom and stepdad) came out to visit. Here's EmJ with Grandma Chuck - learning about the finer things in life (like KU basketball!)
Grandpa Greg helping EmJ play catch
Too cute...
Just playin around with Grandpa Greg

On Sunday, we went to Aurora to visit Jeff's family - but I forgot the camera! Darn it! EmJ had lots of fun - especially playing in the water with Great-Aunt Pam!

On Monday we hung out at Nana and Papa's house (Maren's parents) with lots of family. EmJ is becoming a sidewalk chalk artist! :o)

Hey guys! Did you see what I drew?

Jeff smoked brisket and ribs for everyone for Labor Day... let me just say - the BEST BBQ I've EVER had!!! We all loved it - including EmJ!

We had a great weekend - but this picture sums up how we feel - in need of a nap! This picture was taken last weekend. EmJ had woken up from her nap and Jeff went to get her - he came downstairs with her and this is what happened... apparently, neither of them were really ready to be awake yet! :o)