It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

When we were in Utah, my Dad bought this cute shirt for Sophie. It says The cutest pumpkin in the patch. We were supposed to go pick pumpkins the day she wore this shirt but it ended up raining all day, so we didn't go. I had to get a picture of her in the shirt but she didn't want me to take her picture as you can see. I don't know what was wrong, but she was like that for about an hour after her nap. Normally she wakes up happy, but not today. I don't think she was quite ready to wake up.
There is a local pumpkin patch about 6 blocks from our house and we decided to support the locals and buy our pumpkins from them. Sophie had so much fun wandering around looking at all of the pumpkins. She's so funny because she liked the big huge pumpkins the best.

Sitting next to the cute little scarecrow. She didn't want to sit and have her picture taken, but Daddy was able to get her sit still and look at the camera. She refuses to look at me when I have the camera, so I have to ask Jon to get Sophie to look up at him instead. What a little stinker!

She had fun playing with the wheelbarrow too. She's ready to take off with her load of pumpkins.

My strong girl! It was so funny watching her try to carry the pumpkins, she'd only hold them by the stem and they got a little too heavy.

Trying to find the perfect pumpkin. "Maybe this is the one."

"If I tap on this one I'll be able to tell if this is the perfect pumpkin."

I took so many pictures trying to get one with her looking at the camera, and this is what I got. This is a typical Sophie expression.

"Here it is! This is the perfect one."

My happy little pumpkin! She had so much fun with all of the pumpkins. She didn't want to leave, but her nose was red and her hands were getting cold. It was a beautiful day, but windy and the wind was a bit chilly. We didn't end up buying that big pumpkin. I didn't want to have to gut it and carve it. We got two medium pumpkins for carving and then two small pumpkins. We are going to carve the pumpkins next week, so we'll see how much Sophie likes carving the pumpkins.

Happy Birthday Jon!

Jon had a wonderful birthday this year. Sophie was my big helper all day. We went to the mall that morning and got Jon's popcorn bucket filled with his favorite cheese corn and then we stopped and got some balloons. Sophie loved the balloons! They kept her happy while we were in the car. We stopped by Jon's office and dropped off the popcorn and balloons. Sophie loves going to Daddy's office. She likes to play with all of his pens. Because Jon walks home, he asked us to take the balloons and popcorn with us, but not before he snitched some popcorn. He had to taste it. I made one of Jon's favorite meals for dinner, meatballs and mashed potatoes. While we waited for the potatoes to finish cooking, I let Jon open his presents.

Sophie was Daddy's big helper, she helped him open all of his presents. He had to get it started for her, but once he did she had fun pulling all the paper off. She isn't quite as experienced with opening presents. She didn't really have any interest in opening her own presents on her birthday, she had more fun playing with the actual toys.
Daddy's big helper!

Holding Dad's new ear buds and opening another present.

Jon got the new X-Men movie and the Harry Potter Legos Wii game.

He also got Thor.

She's getting to be such a big girl. She loves to help with things and she loves her daddy so much.

Jon received the best present of all, he had his last radiation treatment on his birthday. He is now officially done with all of his treatments and he's on his way to getting back to normal. He has felt fatigued and he feels like something is stuck in his esophagus and his feet still tingle, but the worst of it is over. We are so happy that he has made it through all of his treatments and we are anxious for him to feel like himself once again.

Happy Birthday Jon!

Grandpa Reeds Birthday Surprise!

Sophie and I surprised my dad for his birthday this year. We bought plane tickets back in July, to fly out on my dad's birthday and surprise him. My sister Nicole was in on the surprise with us, so she came and picked us up from the airport. We landed around 10:20 am, and Nicole was on her way. Sophie and I got off the plane and headed for the baggage claim. Well, I was on the cell phone talking to Jon and I missed the sign for baggage claim in terminal 2 and we ended up at the baggage claim for terminal 1. Nicole called and told me which carousel our luggage was supposed to be on and it was carousel 8, and I was near carousels 1-4. I realized we were in the wrong place, so we walked outside to terminal 2. By the time we got there, the carousel was empty and no one was around. I looked at my watch and it was 11:00 am. I figured the luggage had already come and gone and I missed it. I went to the Delta luggage claim area and sure enough, they had pulled our bags because we hadn't shown up to claim them. Once we got our luggage, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Reed's for the surprise.

I was so nervous and excited as we got closer to my parent's home. I had Nicole drop us off at the end of the street so that Sophie and I could walk, while Nicole went in the house to make sure they were home. By the time we walked up the driveway, Nicole had come out to tell us that mom and dad weren't home. Nicole talked to them an hour earlier and she told them that she would be there within the hour so they could go to lunch for Dad's birthday. I figured they probably decided to run to the grocery store for a few minutes, so we took our luggage inside and changed clothes. It was cold when we left Minnesota, but it was warm and sunny in Utah. About the time that we were ready to head upstairs and feed Sophie some lunch, we heard the garage door open. Nicole went upstairs first and I sat and listened, waiting for both of my parents to get in the house. Once I could tell that they were inside, I had Sophie start walking up the stairs. She wasn't quite sure what was going on. Nicole wished Dad a Happy Birthday and then she told him that someone else wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday. At that time he looked toward the stairs just as I lifted Sophie up to the top step. When Grandpa saw Sophie, he yelled. He was so excited to see her, he just couldn't hold it in. He wanted to scream some more, but he was worried about scaring Sophie, so he picked her up and cried instead. It was wonderful! My mom was in the kitchen trying to figure out who Grandpa was holding. Once she saw me, she knew exactly who it was and she started to cry. It was truly wonderful! Their reactions were the best. Dad told me later, when he saw Sophie he thought he was seeing things. He said "I wanted it to be her so bad, I thought I was imagining her." It was the best birthday present Grandpa could have ever wished for.

We didn't end up going to lunch, because Sophie needed to take a nap. By this time she had been up for almost 8 hours and she was sleepy. After her nap, we went to the park at the end of the street. It's perfect, because it's half a block away so Sophie could walk to the park. She had so much fun swinging, but most of all she had fun playing with the wood chips and finding dead dandelions. Sophie loves picking dandelions that have died. She shakes them to make all the seeds blow away. Poor Grandma, she has really bad allergies, so Sophie shaking dandelion seeds didn't help much.
My cute little girl! She had so much fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa Reed. She loved that they have a park so close to their house. She got to walk down to the park everyday while we were there. She also got to see lots of airplanes. There is a small airport near my parent's house, so there were planes constantly in the air. Sophie got so excited any time she heard a plane, she'd stop whatever she was doing and look for the plane. If we were inside, she'd run to the nearest window to try and see the plane. I was amazed at how well she can hear and see. We'd be outside and she'd start pointing to something and I'd look and sure enough off in the distance was a large commercial airplane way up in the sky. Aunt Nicole went outside with Sophie and anytime Sophie heard a plane she'd run to Nicole and try climbing up aunt Nicole so she could see the plane better. What a silly girl! I never knew she likes airplanes so much. It truly amazes me the things that she notices. I realize how much I tune out or take for granted. Sophie sees the smallest thing and thinks it's truly amazing and I never even noticed that it was there. The same thing with the airplanes, we tune them out so much, we don't even realize they are flying right above us. Thanks to my Sophie, I notice things I never noticed before.
Sophie playing with Grandma Reed. Doesn't she look so cute with her little pig tails? I realized one day that her hair looked a little shaggy. I told her that she looked like a little orphan, so I decided to try putting some pig tails in and she held so still. I was amazed! She does really well while I put them in, but once she realizes they are there, she pulls them out. I usually end up putting them in at least two to three times a day.

Sunday afternoon Nick and Ashley and the girls (Ashtyn and Avery) came over for dinner. Aunt Nicole stayed over night the night before, and uncle Scott came over just before church. After dinner Sophie went outside with Grandma and the girls and they found uncle Nick's skateboards, and of course Sophie had to try it out.
We also went to the park with Grandma and the girls. The swing that Ashtynwas swinging on was so high, I had to lift her up so she could swing. Luckily Grandma was close by, because Ashtyn fell off the swing, but she hung on until Grandma got to her and helped her down. Sophie and Avery got to swing in the baby swings, so they were safe.

While we were in Utah, we spent a day with Grandma and Grandpa Harper. Grandma fixed a yummy lunch and invited aunt Jenny, aunt Jesse and aunt Amber over for lunch. Sophie got to play with some of her cousins and they had a great time. She especially liked playing with Dustin. He knew just how to make Sophie laugh. Before we left, Sophie and Grandpa walked over to Jeff and Jesse's so that I could buy some pumpkins. Our nephews Braden and Dustin grew pumpkins at Grandpa's and now they are trying to sell their pumpkins. I wanted to buy a pumpkin, but I didn't think it would be very easy to take on the plane with us. Instead I bought a few gourds and some small pumpkins for my Mom to decorate with. Before we left I laid Sophie down so I could change her diaper and I noticed a big goose egg on her head. When I showed it to Grandpa he told me that Sophie tripped while they were walking over. He said she cried, but he didn't see anything. She must of have hit her head on the pavement when she tripped. I think it looked worse than it felt, because it didn't seem to bother her.

Snuggling with Grandpa Reed. She loves him so much! She learned how to say "papa" while we were in Utah, which made Grandpa so happy. She also started saying "bye, bye". We had such a fun week! Grandpa Reed was able to take some time off, so he got to stay home and play with Sophie. It was a busy week, but a great week. I got to meet up with four friends, two from high school, Jaynee and Sheri and two from college, Julie and April. It was so good to see each of them. Thanks ladies for taking the time to meet up with us. I sure had a great time!

Ten Wonderful Years!

I can't believe it was 10 years ago today that I had to wake up before the crack of dawn and get myself looking beautiful for my wedding day. It was 10 years ago that our poor guests had to arrive at the Salt Lake Temple by 7:10 am. Sorry it was so early, but we appreciate your love and support and willingness to be there with us so early in the morning. It was 10 years ago that I sat iin the Celestial Room with Jon and he asked me if I was going to say "yes" or "no". I told him I was planning to wait until we were kneeling at the alter to say "no". It was a beautiful sunny day and it was the best day of my life, I got to marry my best friend. He is now my eternal companion and I am so grateful the gospel and the priesthood power which makes it possible for our marriage to go on for eternity. I am so grateful that he is here with me today to celebrate 10 wonderful years and I pray that he will be around 10 more years and many more beyond that. I am grateful for all the prayers that have blessed Jon and helped him to be here today. He is doing well and looking great. He is my best friend, my lover, my companion, the one who loves me and accepts me for who I am and he is the father of my beautiful little girl. I love you so much Jon and I look forward to many more adventures in the future.

Labor Day Weekend Fun

We planned a fun weekend getaway with our friends the Andersons. Originally we planned to head up North to Duluth, but it would have been a little more than we wanted to pay, so we chose to go to Rochester instead. We left Friday afternoon after Jon's class, and we met the Andersons at the hotel. When we got to the hotel we went right to dinner. We ate at Newts, a yummy burger joint. We ordered some mac and cheese for Sophie and Elsie to share and Sophie just went to town. I was so surprised! She doesn't eat a lot these days, so I was so happy that she liked the noodles.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to swim. The pool was a little too cold, so we ended up in the hot tub instead. Sophie wasn't too sure about the hot tub and the bubbles at first, but once she got used to it she loved it. I was worried that she'd get too hot, so we kept her up on the stairs most of the time. When we finished we gave the girls a bath and then we put them to bed in our room. The rooms were right next to one another and there was a door joining the two rooms. Since the girls were in our room sleeping, Jon and I went to the Anderson's room to play games. The Anderson's room was a handicap room and it was huge. We played a few rounds of Uno and then we played a game of Dixit. Around 10:00 Jon, Adam and Claire made a late night run to Wendy's for frostys. It was a great late night treat!

The next day we planned to go fishing, but on the way to Whitewater State Park it began to rain and it rained pretty hard, so we decided to head back to Rochester until the rain stopped. We went downtown Rochester near the Mayo Clinic and we spent some time in the shops. While we were there it just so happened that they were having Irishfest. Ada got to play some miniature golf.

Two best friends. Elsie loves to give Sophie hugs, but Sophie isn't always a fan of the hugs. Until a month or so ago, Sophie would hit Elsie in the face any time Elsie came close. Now she has learned to be soft and give hugs too. It's so cute to watch them, because Sophie will give Elsie hugs now and Elsie doesn't always like the hugs. Silly little girls!
Sophie and Elsie with some of the people dressed up for the Irishfest.

We walked around the Mayo Clinic grounds, and they are just as beautiful as I remembered them from three years ago. Sophie liked running around and playing in the water from the fountain.

After we walked around the Mayo Clinic, we went to lunch at Canadian Honkers. What a name! Even though the name is a little crazy, the food was really good. I had the best French Dip sandwich. As we were walking back to our cars after lunch it began to rain. Once again, it didn't just rain a little, it was a down pour. I couldn't believe it, the drains in the streets couldn't keep up with the amount of water, so the streets were flooding. Thank goodness we have a car that is high up. When we finished lunch, it was nap time and Sophie fell asleep as soon as I got her all buckled in her carseat. She slept like this for about an hour. She woke up when we got to the state park.

When we got to Whitewater State Park, it was still raining, but it wasn't a down pour. Most of the Andersons really wanted to fish, so we bought passes and went in to the state park. We waited for 20 minutes or so for the rain to die down and then we all got out for a fun adventure. Adam and the kids fished, while Rita and Elsie and Jon, Sophie and I walked around. Sophie and Elsie were having a great time running around splashing in the puddles. Both girls had on their new tennis shoes, which they have the same shoes just different colors. Rita and Jon told me not to worry about Sophie's new shoes getting wet. I want them to stay looking new, but of course they aren't going to, she's 15 months old.

I took several pictures of Sophie and the butterfly, trying to get this picture with the butterfly's wings open. I thought it was a really good picture. She isn't actually touching the butterfly, if she were the butterfly would be gone.

Sophie and Elsie enjoying their Nutrigrain bars. They loved sitting on the curb, because it made the perfect seat for these cute girls. I sure love these girls. They keep us busy, but they are so fun to be around. When Rita and I have been out with the girls, we've had several people ask us if they are twins. We tell them no, but they are like sisters, they see each other several times a week ususally.

Mandy's Photos

Our good friend Mandy took some amazing pictures of Sophie and our family. I fore warned Mandy that Sophie is quite busy and she told me not to worry about it, but she found out that Sophie is a little faster than what she originally thought, but she was able to capture some amazing photos of Sophie. It was fun for Sophie to be able to run around the park instead of having to sit and pose for her pictures. Mandy just followed Sophie around and took pictures of everything she did. Sophie was so busy until we came upon some big boulders. We set Sophie on the boulders and she had a great time on them and she actually held still enough that Mandy was able to get some great pictures. These are only a few of the pictures Mandy took, she ended up giving me 87 photos. I think this was the best photo shoot we've ever had and we got some amazing pictures. Thanks Mandy!

This is my most favorite picture. I just love those beautiful blue eyes and she just looks like a little angel, so sweet and innocent.

I just love this picture!

Mommy and Sophie
Doesn't she look just like me?

My two sweethearts! Sophie just loves her daddy.

Love those blue eyes and that cute smile.

Our cute family! What a silly girl!

Weekend Getaway

The first week of August we got to go on our first vacation since Jon was diagnosed with cancer. It was a much needed get away and we had a great time. Our bishop and his family have a cabin in Wisconsin, and they invited us to go and stay with them for a week. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay the entire week, we had to come home early for Jon's last chemo treatment. Also his mom and dad were coming to see us. We drove up Friday afternoon and came home Monday night. We had a wonderful time! It was so rejuvenating to get away and forget about cancer and chemo for a few days.

The cabin is right on the lake. We could walk out into the yard, down the stairs and be right on the dock. It was absolutely beautiful! Bishop Cragun has a boat, so he took us out on the boat several times. He took a few photos of Sophie all decked out and ready for boating. She looked so cute in her life jacket. I know it wasn't her favorite thing to wear, but she was such a sport about wearing it, she never cried or complained.
Jon wasn't quite feeling up to getting in the lake, so Sophie and I jumped in. This time, bishop stopped in the middle of the lake and we swam around. Sophie wasn't quite sure about being in the water with her life jacket on at first, but it didn't take her long to realize it was still fun just being int he water. I laid her on her back, so that she could float and she just giggled. Look at that cute smiley girl. She truly is my little fish. She loves to play in the water no matter where it is.

Enjoying a leisurely ride on the boat.

Jon felt pretty good over the weekend. He wasn't feeling up to getting in the water or to water ski, but he sure enjoyed riding in the boat, especially since it was over cast most of the time we were out. Jon doesn't like the sun too much, so he loved the cloudy days. Even though it was cloudy and cooler weather, the water temp was perfect. It only took about 3 seconds to acclimate to the temperature of the water and then it was all fun.

I am definitely not a water skiier, but I did actually get up. It took a few tries before I actually got up but I did get up. I've never gotten up and stayed up, so once I realized I wasn't going to fall, I got scared, because I've never gotten this far and I didn't know what to do or think, so I let the fear take over and I let go. I did get up again and again the same thing, more fear, so I didn't ski for much more than 20 seconds or so, but here is proof that I did actually get up. I would like to try again some other time to see if I can stay up and actually ski for a couple of minutes. The Craguns make it look so easy, and believe me, it isn't as easy at it looks. I was so sore that afternoon from skiing, I didn't try again the rest of the trip. I probably should have, but Jon kept reminding me that he had chemo coming up which meant me taking care of Sophie without his help and I wasn't too anxious to do that with sore muscles.

Our natural born boater. Sophie loved being on the boat. The first ride we went on, she was a little nervous when we'd turn, but otherwise she loved it. I think she loved feeling the wind on her face.

It's a little hard to tell from this picture that she was having a good time. I don't know why, but any time we had a camera around, she had this stone faced look. She actually looked like this most of the trip, but I know she had fun.

Yes, we did take her for a couple of rides on the waverunner. We didn't take any sharp turns although Jon did get up to 40 mph. I didn't go quite as fast when I drove, I only got up 32 mph. I must be a wimp, but it made me nervous having Sophie on the waverunner with us. Again, it was hard to tell if she was having fun, but she didn't cry so we assumed she was enjoying herself.

Monday, we took the tube out and Amy and Briana got quite a wild ride. Briana ended up falling off the tube. Bishop promised me that if I went with Sophie he wouldn't take us on quite as wild a ride. I couldn't tell if Sophie was having fun until the bishop sped up a little. Once he did that, Sophie wasn't too happy. She didn't cry but she began to wimper, so I signaled for him to slow down and once he did, Sophie started laughing. She seemed to really enjoy anything we did on the water. My arms got tired from holding myself up and keeping Sophie secure on the tube. I went for a bit of a quicker ride on my own once Sophie got off the tube. I didn't want to fall in, so we didn't take any crazy turns.

Playing in the lake close to the dock. Sophie had so much fun just splashing in the water. She splashed so hard she got both of us right in the face, but she thought it was funny. She's a brave girl, she doesn't let a little water in the face upset her. I've been amazed at how well she has done at the pool. She has fallen in the water a couple of times and it hasn't seemed to bother her. I've even dunked her a few times and she never gets water up her nose. I didn't dunk her in the lake, although she did try and stick her face in the lake. I didn't want lake water getting in her ears since she has ear tubes.

Bishop Cragun took this picture of Sophie and I just love it. This was the classic look for her the entire trip. I'm surprised he even got a picture of her looking at the camera. Lately if you try and take a picture of Sophie and she sees the camera she will look the other way and she won't look at you again until you put the camera away. Silly girl!

Relaxing in the hammock. We went to the little branch that was about 20 minutes away for church on Sunday. That afternoon we relaxed around the cabin and enjoyed the beauty around us. The weather was perfect and Sophie loved being outside. Later that evening we went for a walk and I think Jon was the only one who got mosquito bites. He said his only consolation is that he hopes the mosquitos will get his chemo blood and die. Maybe they are attracted to chemo blood, because Sophie and I didn't get any bites.

Swining in the hammock. I just love that little smile. Truly a picture perfect moment when you can catch your child experiencing true joy. She was having so much fun.

Sunday evening the sunset was so pretty and the sky was orange and pink. I just had to take some pictures, so I hurried and ran down to the dock and took a few pictures of the sunset over the lake. I didn't notice until I finished taking pictures, the bishop was sitting on one of the waverunners. He looked like he was busy looking at something, because he never even knew I was there. When he came in, we gave him a hard time about sitting on the waverunner on the Sabbath. He told us he was conducting church business. He was emailing the Relief Society president and his counselors.

Bishop Cragun also took these two pictures, but I loved them so much I had to share. The lodge pole pines reminded me of Island Park. It was so beautiful!

Just another picture of the lake.