From mud puddles to stitches

If its not one thing its another with little Miss Addie!

First mud puddles to throw mom for a loop...then

stitches in the head to really throw mom for a loop!

I'm telling you by the time we have another kid

I think I might be almost prepared. Addie has

done well to prep this mom for sicknesses,

dirty mud puddles, owies, urgent care visits

and more to come i'm sure!

Addie took a spill at the playground here at our

complex. She was making her way out of the

playground when she tripped and with no hands

to brace the fall her forehead took it all when it

smacked right into the cement barrier dead on.

It did not sound good neither did it look good.

Luckily for us Daddy was there to take immediate

action to the situation. Mom has come to the

conclusion that she does not to very well in these

types of situations. I feel very blessed that Tyler has

had experience and was there with us. Addie really

took it like a champ and handled it probably better

then her mom did! I guess you could say im a wuss.

I hope that by the 2nd child i will be cured of getting

so emotional in these types of moments!

Heres my little champ! This was the morning after. I

had to play doctor and clean the stitches and put

a new bandage on it. I did it while she ate breakfast

so she would be confined, it worked out pretty well.

I even managed to get some pics.

I managed to still get a smile out of her even though i had just ripped the bandage off her head, if you didn't already notice the red squares on each side of her owie! It even ripped out some of her eyebrows. I felt so bad!

So here it is upclose and personal. Poor thing!

And this is what she goes around looking like during the day! She does not bother the bandage at all. I almost think she likes to have it on! Oh my little sweetheart!

Girls will be boys!

Finished Product!

So we were out at the playground as usual

and this puddle has never intrigued

Addie until the day her friend Luke

introduced it to her!! And what fun they had!

So i don't think my daughter has ever

been this dirty. This was quite a shock

for me and a lesson to hold back and let

them have fun! Good thing my friend

Jenn was there, because as i was about

to snatch addie out of this dirty muddy puddle

she had just stepped into Jenn said,

"Jamie...just let her go!"

Addie and Luke enjoying life to the fullest!

I have to admit this was really hard for me

at first because i had just dressed Addie in a

BRAND NEW pair of jeans, BRAND NEW

shirt, and BRAND NEW pair of WHITE socks.

And of course she'd chose this day to

have some fun in a mud puddle!

Embracing this wonderful moment when our
moms sat back and let us go!

Addie trying to clean off her hands on the grass.

(thanks to Jenn who grabbed her camera to

capture this muddy moment!)

So here are those once WHITE socks i was

telling you about. Lets just say they are not

white anymore and will never be again.

Addie is breaking me in if we ever

have a little boy. I mean she's not

the girliest girl you'll ever meet but

this experience was a new one for me. In

the mist of all this i reflected back to Joseph B. Worthlin's

talk in Conference when he said, "Come what

may and loveth." So thats exactly what i had to do!

What I LOVE Most!

Let it be known that although I love biking, my wife Jamie and girl Addie are what I love most. I would not want to cause any misconceptions out there (Jamie!).

THE THING I LOVE

I love this sport. I am missing this and my bros soooo much right now. Jamie has made the point to me several times that she would love it if I made a post on this blog. So this is technically for her, but yet for me as I get to watch this sweet video each time I visit the blog while in lecture at med school. It reminds me of the sick trip that my bros and I took to Whistler during the summer. We rode trails like this one and had the best time ever. I am just crossing my fingers for a repeat in Colorado, Summer of 2009.

Aunt Amy, Pumpkin Patches & A Hockey Game!

Yeah! Aunt Amy came to visit! We had

so much fun hanging out with Amy

and showing her around Des Moines.

Here are some highlights of her visit.

We jumped in the car Saturday morning and

headed to the Red Rooster Pumpkin Patch.

This was located about 30 min from our house

in a little town called Winterset (a.k.a John Waynes Birth Place)

The first thing we did when we got there

was go for a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.

Addie was thrilled beyong measure to be

on this tractor ride. She never took

her eyes off of it. After about a half mile ride

down a dirt road we arrived a their

pumpkin patch where they let us roam

and actually pick out our very own

pumpkins straight off the vine!

This was awesome! I've never done this

before so i was stoked. How fun is that to get

to pick your own pumpkin from the vine!

We found Addie the perfect little

pumpkin just her size! She was so excited

to get a "pump-pa" (a.k.a Pumpkin).

Amy and Addie with her cute

new pumpkin! Notice the plane

in the backround coming down for

a landing. Addie was all eyes on this one too!

We found a big pumpkin for Addie to sit

on to get a picture of her while showing

off the 6 acre pumpkin patch in the backround!

Farmer Joe! Taking a break after a long day of

hard work! These petal tractors were such a hit!

Unfortunately, Addies feet didn't reach the

petals so we had to push her all around!

Work with me here! We were trying to get her

to pose for a cute pic. But for those that know

Addie she just kinda does her own thing! So this

is what we ended up with!

My little organizer. She placed many of these

pumpkins in a single row on the back porch of

the red barn. This is her in the process of

getting more pumpkins to organize.

Addie and Amy in the hay bale castle.

Almost 3 feet tall! Shes growing up too fast!

The traditional picture!

Having fun with Aunt Amy!

Unfortunately, Tyler wasn't able to join

us on this fun adventure. He was home studying

for a test of course!

The Winterset town is know for their historic

covered bridges. So on our way out we stopped

at one of the bridges called Hogback Bridge

as seen below!

They don't use this bridge anymore but it still

has all of the old bumpy wood and old nails.

It was so fun to see. I wan't to go back a do a tour

of all the bridges in the area.

Addie smiling....need i say more!

Tyler did take a break saturday evening

to go to a Buccaneers Hockey game. This is

Des Moines local team. Ty and I have never

been to a hockey game and even though

they lost in a shoot out it was still really fun!

We were able to get some good seats. 2nd row

on the ice level which made for a great view!

We had such a fun weekend with Amy being here. We

were so glad she could come out to visit us. Thanks

for the visit Amy! Addie was also so sad to see

her leave. Now its back to just boring mom!

Sharing the Beauty

Saturday night the doorbell rang, so Addie and I of course ran to the door to see who was there. As i opened the door there stood my hansome husband dressed up in his suit with this BEAUTIFUL fall colored bouquet of flowers in hand. He was just getting home from the priesthood session of Conference. What a wonderful surprise! I love having fresh flowers displayed in our home! Thank you Tyler. I love you!

Pumpkin Patch and Orchard Adventure

Its Fall...get excited!

This is my favorite time of year!

I think my oldest sister, Kelly, got me addicted to

pumpkin patches. Addie and I were able to

go with her family to several in California last October.

Ever since then i've been looking forward to Fall so

we could start going to them again.

Iowa has a lot so we will probably go to quite a

few while the weather is still nice.

This particular pumpkin patch and

apple orchard wasn't huge but the kids

still had a lot of fun.

Gotta have a pic like this every year! It's tradition!

Me and my Buddy! Of course we had to get one together too!

Addie and Rykker

Addie and her friends: Luke, Mattson, and Rykker.

(Addie's thoughts): "Nope not quite the right angle lets try another one".........

"Ahh, there we go! Now i can get a good look at him!"

My curious little george. Whats the point of looking

from a distance when you could get up close and personal!

And of course we found the love of her

life....another tractor.This girl smiles

from ear to ear when she gets to

get close to orsit on a tractor!

The Apple orchard is in the backround.

They've already picked the apples so

we were only able to walk through and look.

Heres Mattson, king of the tractor!

Saying goodbye to her furry little

friend saying, "shoft shoft,"

as she stroked the kitty's back.

Although this pumpkin patch wasn't

to thrilling, being there with good

friends, Jen, Mindy, Jamie Cook and their kids

made for a fun morning!