More fun with Tanner

Tanner's new creation. Thanks Rita, he sure likes playing with this toy. He loves to build all kinds of things even if you can't quite figure out what it is.

Today Tanner connected two of the pieces together to make a ring and when he realized that it fit around his waist, he decided to use it as a hoola-hoop. I wanted to get a video of him trying to hoola-hoop and then have him say the word. The video is so cute, and sorry it's sideways, I couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

A view of the Gonda building.

There are statues everywhere. These statues are on the outside face of one of the buildings, next to the Gonda building.

The Mathews Heritage Dome in the courtyard outside the Gonda building.

You can look down on to the lower level through the dome.

One of the beautiful gardens.

There were gardens everywhere on the Mayo campus. I couldn't check in to our hotel, which was across the street, until 3 pm and we arrived at 8 am, so I walked around the shops and then spent much of the afternoon sitting on one of these wooden benches reading my book and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. The sun was shinning and there was a light breeze, it was pure bliss! I love it when I have a wonderful excuse to read, because there is nothing else for me to do.

Another statue, this one looks like a bunch of birds.

I really liked this statue, it is in the childrens garden.

The statue is a child riding on a dolphin.

The statue on the left is W. W. Mayo, the father of the two brothers (see next picture). He and this nun started the first Mayo hospital together. He provided the money and the doctors and she provided the nurses and facility.

The two brothers/doctors who started the Mayo Clinic.

William Mayo and Charlie Mayo

Last Monday was our 8th anniversary. We had a very busy week, so we just went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. Thursday and Friday, Jon had a conference in Rochester, MN so I decided to join him for a little getaway. It was wonderful! As I said above, we arrived at 8 am and I couldn't check in until 3 pm, so I wandered around the Mayo campus and the many shops nearby. I wandered around some of the buildings on the Mayo Campus taking pictures, and I spent almost an hour wandering through the Mayo Clinic Museum. It was so neat to learn about the history of the Mayo Clinic and how it was started. I loved the feeling I felt, just being on campus. I would love to work for Mayo, but I don't know that that will ever happen. What a great place the Mayo Clinic is.

The shops were all so expensive, which was probably fortunate, because I didn't end up spending any money. However, I did spend some money on food. I had breakfast at Brueggers Bagels, which I love and then I had lunch at this salad and soup shop. I had the yummiest salad, it was spring greens with strawberries and sliced almonds with a strawberry dressing. I loved it so much, I had the same thing for lunch the next day. I also had a cup of their wild rice soup the first day and a cup of clam chowder the second day. While I was wandering around, I discovered a European Chocolate shop that sold all sorts of fine chocolates as well as Gelatto. Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to indulge, so I took Jon back to the shop when his conference was over and each of us picked out three yummy chocolates. Each one cost $1.50 unless you bought five or more, then you paid by the weight. Obviously that is a better deal, so we bought six and shared. What a wonderful treat to have before dinner. We ate at John Hardy's which is a local BBQ joint, recommended to us by Corey Johnson. The food was good, and we left stuffed. We spent the evening walking around at the mall and then relaxing in the hotel. The next day was rainy, so I stayed in our hotel room while Jon was at his conference. Luckily he was finished by 1:00, so we spent the afternoon just having fun. We went to a movie, did a little shopping and then went to dinner at Outback. Later that evening, after our food had settled, we walked back over to the Chocolate shop and had some delicious Gellato. We had a wonderful time in Rochester. I loved downtown Rochester. It's always fun to have a getaway and we sure enjoyed ours.

Fruits of our Labors

Salsa on the left, Spaghetti Sauce on the right

We have really enjoyed all the vegetables from our garden this summer. We got a lot of zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, but especially tomatoes. I planted one beef tomato plant, one Roma tomato and nine regular tomato plants for canning. Our tomatoes went crazy, and we had a lot. I made 10 pints of salsa with the Roma tomatoes and 19 pints of spaghetti sauce with regular tomatoes. We are still getting plenty of tomatoes, but I am now sharing the wealth. After two days of canning, I don't want to do anymore. I think we will be set on salsa and spaghetti sauce for a while. I just had to share, because this is the first time I've ever made anything like this, and I was quite pleased with how they turned out.

Anniversary

Monday September 21st was our 8th anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for eight years. Time has just flown by. It doesn't seem that long ago that these pictures were taken, but if you look closely you can tell it really has been a few years, we look a little older and have less hair. We have had our ups and downs, mostly ups and we have traveled, played, worked and enjoyed being married these past eight years. If you had asked us eight years ago, where we thought we would be today, living in Mankato with no kids isn't what I would have said. We long to have children, but we have truly enjoyed the journey that has brought us where we are today. We have had many fun adventures and we have made many wonderful friends along the way. We couldn't make it without our friends, they have become our family since we aren't able to live close to our families. Now we are waiting and hoping that someday soon we will be blessed with a beautiful baby to join our family.




I wanted to say a few things about my wonderful husband. First I wanted to tell him how much I love him. I have the best husband in the world. I know many of you think the same thing for yourselves, and that is how it should be. Jon is my best friend, my confidant, my companion, the love of my life, my shoulder to cry on and he is a great support to me. I'm sure that I'm not the easiest person to live with, but that doesn't stop Jon from loving me. He is patient and kind and he does his best to try and understand me. I appreciate all of his hard work and I am so grateful that he works so hard, so that even now while I don't have kids, I don't have to work. It will be wonderful someday, when I can be home with my own kids. Thanks for eight wonderful years. I look forward to spending the next eight years and eternity with you. I love you lots!

My sweetheart!

Watching Tanner

Tanner doing a puzzle

The past three weeks, I have been watching my friends little boy, Tanner. She is taking some classes this semester for the nursing program, so I offered to watch Tanner while she is at school. Tanner is my little buddy. He sits with us almost every Sunday during Sacrament Meeting and he is in nursery with me, as I am one of the nursery leaders. I watch Tanner Monday, Wednesday and Friday and we sure have fun together. The first thing he does when he gets here, after taking off his shoes, is turn on Jon's big TV while saying "watch". He loves to watch movies, so we watch a movie every morning. We go for walks, read stories, play with toys, have snack/lunch and of course take a nap. It's been a lot of fun having Tanner with me during the day. He's getting me prepared for what it will be like when we have a baby. Life will definitely be different. For now, I am content on spending time with my little buddy.

Pulling a big cheeser grin

My friend Rita let us borrow this cranium set for kids. The pieces are foamy, like the swim noodles. Tanner and I built a fort and he loved it until I left the room. I thought he would stay and play and not want to leave, but of course that wasn't the case. He likes to be wherever I am, or at least off exploring other things in our house, like the computer. Needless to say I don't get a lot accomplished while he is here, but I sure have fun with him. He is really good about taking naps, so I usually have an hour and a half to shower or get other things done.

Tanner in the fort

Labor Day

We had a fun but busy Labor Day. It started with breakfast at Seven Mile Park with our ward. Our bishopric makes breakfast for the ward every year and this year, we had french toast and sausage. It was rather yummy! We stayed and visited with everyone for a couple of hours while all the kids played and then we headed home for some more fun. Jon invited his two counselors (by the way Jon is the Elders Quorum President now) and their families over for the afternoon to play the Wii. Boy did they have a great time. They were yelling and cheering and acting just like little kids. It was sure fun to watch them play because they really get in to it. Around 4:30 Jon and I headed over to the Anderson's for dutch oven dinner. We had a great time, and they have the perfect yard for dutch oven cooking. We had excellent food and I ate more than I should. Now that the holiday is over, it is time to get in gear and stop eating so much food. We hope all of you had a fun filled holiday too. Once again, I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures.

Minnesota State Fair

We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Saturday morning, Jon and I got up and ventured up to the Minnesota State Fair. I have heard that Minnesota has a really good fair, so we decided to see for ourselves. I am the one who wanted to go, Jon hates big crowds, so he wasn't too anxious to go, but he knew that I really wanted to go. He was a great sport and went with me. The weather was beautiful and not very hot. We parked at a park and ride, which helped to spare Jon's nerves, so he could deal with the crowd. We walked through many of the exhibits where we watched some men harvest honey. We tried different fair food from pork chops on a stick to french fries, corn on the cob and all you can drink milk for a $1.00. The milk was by far the best deal. Once we had seen all we could handle, we went to the horse stables and walked around and then we waited in the arena for the horse show. Jon's favorite event was the horse drill team, and I would have to agree. I love horses though, so it was all fascinating to me. I enjoyed the fair, and I am so glad that we didn't have any kids with us. I don't think I will ever take kids to the fair, it's just too crazy. There were thousands of people everywhere you look. Thanks Jon for being so sweet and taking me. I didn't take my camera, so there are no pictures to share.