Summer Pictures

Well I am on Facebook now so lots of our pics are on there and I don't know which are where...! But some of our friends and family are not on Facebook so here are some of our happenings.

Spring is Here

Finally, New Pictures

Happy Spring! We've been going through a lot of changes the past few months. Jim was very sick this winter but appears to have stabilized. Colleen is now working at UW Hospital, which she really enjoys. Josie attends daycare and loves it. Here is what we've been up to most recently (you know we have about 200 photos from the past few months, but here is what I have with me at work!)






A visit from our friends in Chicago! (Their mom was a bridesmaid in our wedding 14 years ago.)



Josie LOVES umbrellas! Last week when it was raining, we would drive on campus and she would point out each and every umbrella: "She has a green umbrella. I have an umbrella at home. She has a spot umbrella. She has a blue umbrella...."

Josie's "new friend Masee." (That's a hug, not a chokehold.) His parents just adopted him and returned from China less than 2 weeks ago. His name is Mason, but to Josie he is Masee.

Brave new parents go out to eat with us!



Sunday we went to "Breakfast on the Farm" sponsored by Women in Agriculture at the UW Stock Pavilion. Josie like the little chick the best.

Troubles in China

If you don't already know, China is experiencing heavy snowstorms and severe power outages last week and this week. An organization that does great work for the orphanages in China is called Half the Sky. They have been in touch with as many orphanages as possible trying to find out how the children are doing and what their needs are. It has been very trying time for many, and in some cases there is no water or diapers or basic care for these tiny ones who already have so little. Some of the nannies are using their personal funds (of which there are little) to buy items for the children. We never want to forget where our family began, or the ones that we left behind. If you are interested in helping out these children, or just finding out more about their situation or the ongoing work of Half the Sky, you can go to www.halfthesky.org/work/littlemouse.php




Here is our sweet Josie last week. She still loves to help mom in the kitchen!

Winter Wonderland

We have enjoyed a lot of snow here in Wisconsin this winter. I haven't had a chance to post in awhile, so here are pics of our winter so far. These first two pictures were taken from inside our dining room...some of the icicles were 4 feet long!




Josie's Christmas present was this pony - She loves it

























I like to be most comfortable when I read.








Walking to the park with daddy.

This is the closest she would get to Santa...and it was by accident.

With her friend. This girl's daddy was the Santa Claus.
















This is my "Baby Marcia" I am a good momma and take great care of her.

With my homemade gingerbread man.






























Josie was a shepard in the church Christmas play.

With her friend Abbey. Abbey is a mother's helper (she practices babysitting on Josie while Colleen does housework and is available for assistance.)

A Little Taste of Norway for the Holidays

In these parts there are lots of Norwegians, and we love to shop at their stores! Well, our friend Dustin's great-grandmother gave him her Norwegian-baking equipment, and when he and his wife Heather came over for dinner last week he brought some delicious homemade desserts. In the picture, starting from the left, he made krummkake, sand tarts, and lefse. They were delicious, so I say “Velkommen!” (and that’s all the Norwegian I know.)


As you can see, Heather and Dustin are some of Josie’s favorite people. (His name is not Dustin, its "Josie's Dustin.") She is in for a huge shock when they come home from China with their little one!

Badger Hockey Game

We took Josie to a Badger hockey game last Saturday and she did GREAT! She had so much fun, and was very well behaved. She really loved the crowds and the cheering, and *espeically* the clapping! What fun to get to clap every few minutes with hundreds of other people!!!

Look Mom!

I never knew that it started so young, but Josie has gotten into the habit of asking me to “Look Mom!” whenever she finds something interesting. It is SO fun! And eye opening, because it’s sometimes surprising the things she wants me to look at (“big boooger” or piece of dirt.) She also says, “Mommy come see?” when she finds something interesting in a book, and calls me “Mommy tell her?” when one of the other daycare girls is misbehaving! But my favorite is “Look mom!” It’s just the best!

Ever since daddy went back to work after paternity leave, if we find something interesting during the day, I will say, “We need to tell Daddy about that when he gets home from work.” About 8 months ago Josie started asking “Tell Daddy ….?” when she experienced something during the day. Again, some unexpected things she wants to tell him: “Tell Daddy owie?” “Tell Daddy fall down?” “Tell Daddy music?” (if she enjoyed listening to music that day.) Now she is speaking very full sentences and paragraphs, and has a large vocabulary. “Tell Daddy I made Ainsley cry?” “Tell Daddy I made a big mess?” “Tell Daddy I saw Elmo?”

We Got to go to the Mall

Those of you who know me well know that I hate going to the mall. I don’t like shopping, except with my mom in cute little towns with cute little stores. But Sunday we went to the mall, and it was a wonderful experience, one which I had never really expected. We just happened to be at JC Penney getting our Christmas pictures taken and decided to walk through the mall.

We have spent a number of years watching families: watching our best friends have children; watching our siblings have children and get very busy; going places and watching kids with their parents. Several years ago I made a decision to spend less time where I would run into families with small children, as sometimes it was just too painful. Infertility has its own special brand of torture…And even when the raw ache seemed to be lessening, it was only being slowly replaced by dark emptiness. But this Sunday, we walked through the mall, proud as you please, with our own little child. I didn't expect to feel anything special, we were just on an errand. But it was an unexpected experience, to feel like a normal family, to do a normal thing. The raw ache was magically replaced with inexpressible bliss. There is my strong husband, and there is my adorable child.

Perhaps you don't think much of shopping with your children. Or perhaps you are like we were, wandering the hallways, watching little children run up to their parents, and asking yourself, “Can I ever have this?” and sometimes thinking "I will never have this," or wonder….what would that feel like? What would it possibly be like if *we* had a little one who refused to hold our hand in a crowd, or begged for ice cream? Well, now we know, and it is amazing.

A preteen walked by with an ice cream cone. I hardly noticed her, but Josie began to bounce excitedly (she's been bouncing for 3 weeks straight) and say, through the bounces so it took me a minute to understand: “ICE CREAM! ICE cream!” I said, “Ask your daddy.” So she RAN as fast as her little legs could go into the store to find daddy, wrapped herself around him and said, “ICE CREAM!” Of course you can have ice cream, doll! Anything you want. Don’t be surprised if we have a pony in our yard someday. We get to take this little one home with us. And she calls us “Daddy and Mommy.”




Our sleepy angel.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had lots of fun at Ammi and Poppa's house for Thanksgiving. It snowed the night before Thanksgiving. Josie loves to "walk in da snow!" It was melted by Monday and she keeps looking for it every time she goes outside.