Whoops...

So, I think I forgot that I had a blog. No, the truth is I didn't think I had anything interesting to say. But I have had a couple of people ask me about why I haven't posted so here goes:

Interesting? I don't know but here's a recap of the last 2 months:

1. Went to Phoenix. Okay to start, we decided to save some money and fly out of Springfield, MO airport on a little airline called Alligant Air. Umm...won't do that again. We didn't leave until 10:30 at night (the only flight time!) and arrived 1am our time. My kids were exhausted. Since we really didn't save money, I'll just fly out of KCI. Also, Alligant Air charges for water and food. Well, we spent more money in the airport on food!!! So crazy. But, Phoenix was lovely. We stayed at Valle Del Oro in Mesa, AZ. It is a 55+ active resort! We played in the pool, played tennis, and Bingo! It was a nice week away from Kansas City and the cold, snowy weather we were having! Here are a few pictures: ummm...apparently I deleted some of my favorite pictures from the computer, but they are on snapfish, so I will just order them and put them away in my fancy photo box!

But, we did attend a Royals Spring Training Game and this was an awesome moment. So, we sat about 4 rows back from the Royals dugout. After the 2nd or 3rd inning, Brayan Pena (the catcher) picked Jack out of the crowd (pointed to him and told all of the adults to move!) and threw him the baseball! So, after the game, and being the crazy mom I am, I hunted him down to sign the baseball and get his picture with him. I just love this picture:

Now I can say, Jack loves Royals baseball and Pena is his hero!

Well, after a week, we came home. It was nice to visit, but it was so nice to come home. Phoenix is a great place to visit...now we did way more than I have blogged, so if you want to know more...call me and chat.

Ainsley's Birthday Photos!

It's Ski Time!

On Friday, Jeff, Jack and I along with Matt, Brian, Tom and Jo will make a trek to the mountains of Colorado (Winter Park) for a weekend of skiing. I'm so excited! We haven't been on a trip in a year and half and we are so excited--can you tell?! Ainsley is staying with my mom and dad here in the city. We finished ordering Jack's stuff this weekend and signed him up with Ski School. I'm going to take a lesson when we arrive. I'm also thinking about snowboarding this year. It always looks like fun to me. Jeff and I might try it together. Won't that be a sight! We will post pictures upon our arrival home! Wish us luck!

Santa Claus is Comin to Town!

Santa visited our house last night after we all went to bed, so this morning we awoke to cool gifts and SNOW!!! WE actually celebrated Christmas with snow!! Anyway--Santa brought Jack just what he wanted--a Dinoco hilocopter. Jack also got some movies, CARS stuff, clothes, candy, and a camera. There was other stuff, but there was too much to list. Ainsley got a singing seahorse, a baby doll, and a music table. Great-Grandma Miller got the best gift for Jack--a Piston Cup 500 race track. The cars race around it--it is soooo cool!

After opening gifts, we had pancakes with sprinkles and are now packing for the weekend. I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday week! Much love and Merry Christmas!

Remember Obama Mania? Well, here are my parents on The Daily Show

This link is from my brother-in-law Brian. He helped me find this of my parents at the Obama rally in Rolla. Now my parents are really famous--they made The Daily Show with Jon Stewart! Check around minute 4:10. My mom is in green to the right of the screen and my dad is in a blue polo shirt.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=178307

My parents, the TV Stars!!

Some pictures...

Here are pictures from my brother's wedding weekend. There are so many more I could show you... This picture is of the reception hall--Old Brick.
Jeff made the m and m's into a heart. Each m and m had their name printed on it!

Inside Rob's car...

Looks like Erin Lee is behind all of this decorating!

David, Carrie, and Erin Lee--Rob's best man and family. Jack and Erin played very well together!
Rob and Jack at the rehersal dinner.

At the hotel...
Rob and Laura at the rehearsal--they were practicing getting married!

Home Sweet Home

We made it home from a whirlwind weekend at my brother's wedding! We had an absolute blast! We played with friends and family, stayed up way to late at night and Jack has a new girlfriend, Erin. Erin is David and Carrie Lee's little girl and David was the best man in the wedding. Jack loved Erin. This morning, he went to Bible School for the first time and asked if Erin was attending. I said, no, but there would be other girls and boys there for him to play with!

Congratulations Rob and Laura and have a blast on your honeymoon! I will try and post some pictures of the festivities later this week. I am teaching Bible School tomorrow and Thursday along with the refridgerator repairman coming to fix the freezer, take Jeff's car to get a car inspection and wash and dry the mountain of laundry in my laundry room. Oh yea--I also must go to the grocery store sometime too! Oh it will be a crazy week!

A Camel, a kid, and Iowa

Tonight, Jeff, Ainsley, and I will leave for Iowa for my brother's wedding to Laura Conlee. This wedding has been in the plans for a year and we are super excited! Jeff and I are both in the wedding party and the kids will be hanging out, but with Papa and Grandma Arnold (Thanks a bunch for watching them!)

My parents left this morning from our house with Jack. Their car was packed full as will ours. I never knew how hard it was to pack for a family of four for a couple of days in Iowa. From the clothes to the snacks to the car seat arrangements it has been crazy! Roxy unfortunately had to go to the kennel for the weekend. When I left her, all I heard was a howl! Poor Baby!

The rest of the family will arrive tomorrow sometime. When I mean the family, I mean the family! I have an amazing family and they travel everywhere! I love it!

I hope to have good pictures next week of the wedding. Wish us luck on the drive. I have a feeling we will need it.

If you were wondering about the camel, a kids and Iowa--as my parents were pulling out of town, Jack informed them that I would be traveling to Iowa on a camel. I think it was, "Mommy will ride a camel to Iowa." Hummm...I wonder how long that would take and if I could actually find a camel!

Happy Birthday Annie!

Happy Birthday Aunt Annie! We hope you have a fun trip in Roachport!

Family Fun on the Farm

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Shatto Family Farm this morning. After a quiet week at home--except from a good visit from Aunt Joan, Aunt Nola, Kristen, and Katie, we decided we could all go to the Shatto Dairy Farm for awhile. It is located just north of KC in a little town called Osborn.

This place was packed--there was a tour bus there! It opened at 11 and we arrived around 11:45am. We had to wait to do everything. Since it was so full, we decided to only see the baby cows and milk a cow. Luckily the wait for this was like 20-30 minutes. Jack and Ainsley both loved looking at the baby calves. Most were between a couple of days old to a couple of weeks old. However, we were fortunate to see a calf born TODAY! It still had the umbilical cord attached! There was a lady just standing in the pen holding the calf up--so it wouldn't fall! That was pretty cool!

After seeing the baby calves, we walked to the milking area. We thought for sure Jack would at least touch the cow, but we were WRONG! Jeff ended up milking the cows and petting the cows while Ainsley and I took pictures. We milked a cow named Bambi and petted a cow names Patches. We then walked to the milking stalls and out of the barn!

After seeing the cows, Jack wanted to go bounce in the big bouncer. This did not go well because he wanted to do what the big kids did, and he ended up getting bounced around too much! After some huge tears, we decided to go home. I think the line for lunch was around 45 minutes long and the hayride was about the same. To sample a few products, the wait was around 20 minutes. It was fun, but incredibly busy! I would recommend this adventure to anyone, but maybe go during the week when they are actually using the farm instead of showing it off!

Bandwagon and just for Fun

So, I've been on maternity leave long enough to realize I wanted to blog like everyone else and to help save on the phone bills and to share my (our) exciting (NOT!) time here at home! So here it is--nothing special, just random thoughts, big events, and just everyday happenings in our world. I will try to update as much as possible so check back every so often to see what is happening in our world. Please feel free to comment--I would love to hear your thoughts! Here we go!