Granddaddy's Garden

Hannah had fun in Granddaddy's garden yesterday. They lathered up the bug spray (and had one of the cool Off fans) and headed down to the garden together. They picked the ripe blueberries. Granddaddy collected them in his bucket while Hannah stuffed them into her mouth! She absolutely loves them!


Next, they headed over to the vegetables. Once again, Granddaddy collected into his basket, while Hannah collected into her mouth. Granddaddy pointed out the ones that were ripe (and small enough for Hannah to just eat) and Hannah pulled them right off. There was also a cucumber ready, so Hannah got to hold it and examine it's prickly skin.


It was a fun summer (although hot) day in the garden, and not a single bug bite!!!!

Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry pancakes are my favorite food (waffles come a close second). They are infinitely better with blueberries grown on my parents bushes of course.

We got back to SC Sunday around midnight after traveling alllllll weekend. On Monday after I got out of a riveting PBIS conference (first day of four), we headed over to Irmo in the truck to pick up our buddy Kodak. While there I picked cherry tomatoes and blueberries from my dad's garden. We came home and got started on dinner....blueberry pancakes! Hannah snacked on the blueberries in the car on the way home, and couldn't get enough. She LOVES them. So, now Hannah gets to eat blueberry pancakes with Mommy, while Daddy gets his chocolate chip ones. Everyone is happy! The blueberry crop isn't as big this year, so we may end up going and picking elsewhere this year, but we must have more!

(Notice the big fork in her hand, that is her new favorite thing to eat with. She is much more successful with the fork than the spoon, so I bought her some kiddie forks today!)

Animals, Adventures, Anniversary

What adventures Hannah has had in the tiny town of Platte, SD! There is a new park in town and it puts the parks back home to shame. Hannah (and Mommy and Daddy) had a wonderful time playing for quite a while on the big playground, and the little one too. The playgrounds had so much to do, and lots of details that made the park fantastic. We went back last night after dinner to play for a little bit before bed. Another adventure Hannah had was riding the four-wheeler around with Daddy. This is one of Justin's favorite SD pastimes, and he was eager to share it with his daughter. She really enjoyed riding around with Daddy.

Animals, animals everywhere. Hannah is loving it! We went to the animal auction house nearby and watch some cows and calves get auctioned off. Hannah didn't move, except to point, and turn her head toward the door where the next group of cows were heading in. She was mesmerized, and Justin and I enjoyed it to. It was a great experience for all of us.

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There is a horse coral next door to Jan and Chuck's house, and Hannah is drawn to them. She either says "woof, woof" or "mooooo" at them, we haven't gotten the whole concept of horse down yet. We're doing pretty good though, considering "cow and moo" are new too. Some horses were on a walk and Hannah and I got to meet them up close.

For 3 of our 4 anniversaries, Justin and I have been traveling somewhere in the mid-west. Last year we had a barely two month old, so we stayed home. The year before we were traveling home from Nebraska for a family reunion. This year and our first year we were here in Platte. Last night Jan made us a special "anniversary cake" to help us celebrate. It tasted as good as the first one, 3 years ago. Happy 4th anniversary Justin!

Family

Here are a few more pictures of Hannah and her cousins. We'll see them again Friday evening as we stop by there on our way back home. I'm sure Hannah will be super excited to see them again. They really did have a blast together. Thank you Becky and Rowdy for putting up with us all weekend and for your wonderful "southern hospitality"! We really appreciate all the trouble you guys went through.

Yesterday Justin and I packed up with Chuck and spent the day fishing. Jan (Judy's sister) volunteered to keep Hannah and they had a great day together! Hannah didn't even know Mommy and Daddy were gone. She and Jan walked down the road to visit neighbors and good family friends. They played with animals and spent lots of time outside (if finally stopped raining!). Grandma came by and Renea came to visit (she didn't get enough of Hannah when they stopped by earlier). All in all, Hannah had a fantastic day. She was worn out by bedtime.

Monday night Lona (Justin's cousin) came to eat dinner. Hannah warmed up to her right away, as Lona and Keith came to Sioux Falls Sunday as well. Lona is now Hannah's favorite. Lona is a professional and Hannah actually sat still for hand messages and "X marks the spot". Lona is coming back tonight right around bedtime, and I'm sure Hannah will get some special treatment again.

The Farm

We left Sioux Falls Monday mid-morning and headed off to the small town of Platte. On the way there we made a few stops. We stopped in Freeman to buy some SD honey, made by a relative of Justin. Then we headed to the famous farm of Justin's childhood. It is empty right now, as his Grandma lives in Platte, but we always have to stop by and play for a while. It's a shame nobody lives there anymore as it is beautiful and so much fun. Hannah had a blast while we were there and would have loved it more if the "moos" and "eows" were still there. After the farm we stopped by Grandpas grave to visit for a few minutes. Then it was on to Platte. Apparently we were lucky to get there on the roads, as they are now closed due to the James River overflowing onto them! (there has been soooooooooo much rain here).

Butterfly House

(Gavin - 10 mos; Hannah-13 mos; Savannah - 3 in August)

Today after all three kids napped (at the same time, can you believe it?) we went to the Sioux Falls Butterfly House. It was awesome. Hannah, Justin, and I all loved it. I wish we had one closer to home. It would be so perfect for our second graders!!!!! We would also have a membership to it. Hannah could have stayed in it all day long, and would have stayed longer if it wasn't time to close up. She walked all over, had to look at all the butterflies, and she even tried to talk to them. One landed on her arm briefly and she kept touching that spot over and over again. She had the absolute best time. This will certainly make the "must go" list for our next trip to SD!

Who Knew?

Who knew Hannah would love the trip?!? Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. It obviously worked. We started our trip Thursday morning as soon as Hannah woke up. She was super happy and silly and stayed that way the entire morning! She laughed and giggled and played and even got back into the car seat each time without fussing. She slept for about 30 minutes in the morning and then again for about 40 minutes that afternoon. Not long enough, but she was in surprisingly good spirits. I didn't have to get into my "surprise bag" until around 5:00. She had her first breakdown around bedtime when she couldn't stretch out and go to slept. We pushed on though and made it to our goal, the other side of St. Louis. She didn't sleep well in the hotel, or for very long and was very unhappy, but surprisingly she was fine getting back into the car Friday morning, thanks to her new favorite thing...duck. The is actually the word she uses for "truck". She LOVES semi-trucks and had a blast finding them all over the road. She didn't know where to look when we stopped at rest areas or gas stations. She was thrilled. Friday's journey went well and she even enjoyed watching some Praise Baby and eating some Dairy Queen ice cream. We arrived in Sioux Falls, SC right at 9:00 pm. She immediately fell in love with her cousin Savannah and all of her wonderful toys. We are thankful for our trip, that everything went smoothly and we were able to stay safe while traveling such a great distance. Thanks again for all of your prayers!

South Dakota Bound

I am writing this post to ask for your prayers. We are in the process of packing the car (well Justin's packing the car, as I packed everything that goes in it already) and early tomorrow morning (time yet to be determined...do we let her get a full nights sleep...or wake her up early and start off with a cranky girl?) we are starting the trek to South Dakota. This is not a new adventure for us; however, traveling 23 hours with a 1 year old certainly is. We are breaking the trip up during 2 days, but I'm still anxious about how it's going to go. We've been told we're "three quarters crazy" but I would like to argue that we're 100% crazy. I am asking for your prayers that we will first of all have safe travels up there and back (yes, that's 46 hours total in a car) and secondly please pray for Hannah, that she will enjoy her adventure, stay healthy, not get too ticked off by the car seat, and that she won't drive her parents to insanity.


I have my Dad's laptop, so I will try to post updates if wireless is available and hopefully a picture or two every now and then. For once, some of our faithful long distance followers will get to see the real thing, and our local followers will have to rely on the blog. Until the next picture post, here is a sweet picture I took yesterday in our front yard.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

June 2009
June 2010

Kitchen Fun

While I was making dinner Friday evening, Hannah decided to read a book (no surprises there). She took all of the dish towels she could find and pulled them down to the floor. Then she went into the family room and got her favorite book (Tickle, Tickle). She brought it into the kitchen and then got herself comfortable on the towels. She opened the book and turned the pages back and forth (she really does love books). She even stayed while I went and got the camera and snapped a few pictures. Silly girl.

On Memorial Day Monday, we headed to spend the day at the lake. Thanks to some wonderful family friends, we had a great docking place for the boat, which was perfect, especially with all the rain. Hannah was able to take naps, we were all able to eat and stay dry. We had a wonderful time. Hannah had a blast. She met two of Jaime's friends (and loved to flirt with Henry) and got to have most of her "fan club" around for the day. During breaks in the rain we headed out on the boat. It was Hannah's first boat experience. She really wasn't sure what to make of it. The first ride out she stayed completely still and only moved her eyeballs. She was overwhelmed and maybe scared? It was hard to say. She didn't figure out she could move in the life jacket until much later. She did like when Justin took her to the back and she got to put her feet in the water and see/make bubbles (bubble is one of her words right now). The second ride later that evening was a little more successful. She loves "driving" the boat with Daddy and actually smiled a few times. That afternoon we blew up her new float and she got to play in the lake. As usual, she enjoyed splashing around. Overall it was a very successful day. We had good company (most of the Millers and Vitters), good food (Thanks Mimi), and a few hours of good weather. What more could you ask for?

Twins

Hannah and "MaaMaa" finally got the opportunity to wear their matching outfits. Madeline gave Hannah the outfit for her birthday. Saturday night we got together with our Sunday School Class to watch the movie Fireproof (our new class study). The girls were the only little ones there and we tried to get a few shots. It was pretty difficult to get them both looking at the same time, but we tried anyway.