I wanna get physical...physical!

Jaycee thinks it's pretty fun to exercise with us. We're teaching her good habits, even at 18 months old!

DLP

We're having issues with our TV. After spending $1000 on a TV you'd expect it to give you much happiness and lots to watch on it. About 2 months ago our lamp (bulb) burnt out---super! We knew it'd happen eventually but kinda weird after 2 years. So we found a bulb online from QUICKSHIPWAY.com. DON'T EVER GO THROUGH THEM! It was $84 + shipping so we thought we got a killer deal. Wrong! Craig installed the bulb...worked perfect...then 2 weeks later---burnt out again! It's been a long 2 months and with trying to contact the company and get a new bulb since it's under warranty. Craig even filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Well we finally heard back from the company and they reimbursed us our money back but only the $84 so we got screwed out of shipping. So we've been watching everything on our 19 inch TV sitting nicely next to our 50 inch TV. We found another bulb online through Samsung for $120 + shipping. We've been holding out because we've been spending any extra money on birthday presents and christmas. I'll tell ya...football isn't the same! I told Craig to go ahead and buy the new bulb today. We're sick of waiting, or maybe just sick of watching TV on a small 19 inch squished into the corner of our living room. I can't wait. So after this experience I don't think I'll ever buy another DLP TV although the picture is great. Buying a replacement lamp is a joke!



We all 3 squish in front of that TV to watch shows. Get's pretty bad when Izzy decides she wants to come sit by us too.

Can't think of a Title

This is Sister Watterson from Nevada. She got transferred on Tuesday so they stopped by Monday night to say good-bye. Her and Jaycee really got to know each other because we go with the missionaries at least once a week. Sister Watterson and Jaycee were "riding buddies" I was sad to see her leave especially since she's been in our area since we moved here. She will be missed for sure! I'm just really glad Sister Hatch is still here. I'll put a picture of her on here soon. She's from Cali/Utah and also found out the other day that her and Jaycee have the same birthday! She's a great friend!


So Jaycee thinks she's a big girl. She now climbs up on the bar stools and wants to eat from the counter like we do. This morning I was eating cereal for breakfast and she kept saying "bite" so I figured she could eat her own. Her very first bowl of cereal with milk. She loved it! I DON'T love it because it makes me realize that she's not a baby anymore.


Jaycee giving a cheesy smile while eating her cereal. That's some major bed hair :)

Jaycee got a surprise in the mail. I decided to let Grandma see her open her special package. Thank you grandma and grandpa!

Halloween?

I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy for 1-changing my background AGAIN or 2-I put Halloween on it. I can't help it. I LOVE HALLOWEEN. It's my most favorite holiday.
So you're just gonna have to deal with it for an extra ten days. Do you all have your costume picked out? I can't decide what we're going to do. Craig hates dressing up, but I'm making him. I'm thinking maybe we'll be gangsters...that could be fun...we will see...

BOSTON!

Our first time in the big city of Boston! What a fun 2 days. We drove down Friday morning with our friends and mostly the trip was so we both could go to the temple and swap babysitting each others' kids. They were able to go to the temple early afternoon on Friday. Jaycee and Dale are such good buds. They play so well together. It's the cutest thing to see her excited to play with Dale. Friday night we headed into Boston to go to Little Italy for some italian food. I felt a little out-of-place pushing a stroller with a little kid since the city was crazy busy and not many little families. We ended up finding a superb restaurant and then Katherine told us about a pastry shop really close. We mangled our way through the crowd on the little cobble stone walks to the shop. It must be the happening place and came to find out that people of Boston love to eat. There is food everywhere and pastry shops all over. But this was "the place" considering everyone was there or walking around with their boxes with pastries in them. Well after our fun it was getting late and the kids were ready to get back. We headed back to our suite hotel and went to sleep for the night. Craig and I planned on sat morning to go to the temple. We were nervous how Jaycee would react since she hates nursery. I'm sure she just needs to get to know people. We left about 730 and ended up at the temple until 10. We got back and she was dressed and ready for the day. Katherine told us how they gave Dale a bath and Jaycee insisted on getting in. So that would be 2 boys Jaycee has taken baths with....ha ha. Silly girl. Good thing they're young. We had such a fun Saturday. First we drove to Fenway Park to find a hat for Kenny. It was quite the experience being there. I wished so bad we could get tickets for a game. It's fun to see people so passionate about teams and there wasn't even a game for at least 6 hours. We headed from there to Quincy Market for lunch, which was an experience. PEOPLE EVERYWHERE and once again...FOOD. It was fun still as we ate lunch and people watched. Then we headed up to The Common, which is a big park in Boston. Little did we know there was a "tobacco fair" going on....aka marijuana. As we were walking through the crowd of young kids by the playground quickly turned into walking through the park with people dressed in tie die, dreadlocks, and sweet smells through the air. Craig and I laughed about it all but after a while the smells and noise of music gave me a headache. We left the "kid friendly" part of the park early then wanted. It was getting late and still had a 3 hour drive back home so we walked back to the car and headed home. We would've enjoyed spending more time but we had Sunday meetings and I had to give a talk so it was time to go. I'd say Boston is a fun place to visit but I'm def not a big city kind of girl. I could handle going in the city maybe once a year or if someone comes out to visit. Other than that, I'm fine with staying up in Pittsfield. Next year hopefully we'll be able to go back for either Fenway Park, The Garden, or to NFL game. Maybe we'll get some people to come with us :)



Jaycee hanging out in the hotel room



While in Little Italy we were looking for a yummy restaurant and came across the dentist office. I had to take a picture. That's the way they roll in the heart of Boston.


BOSTON!



A very happy Craig. He hearts italian food!



This sign was on a garage door in the street of Boston. It made me laugh.



Boston City Hall



City Hall Again



Jaycee playing with the ducks at the park by The Common. We were safe to let the kiddos play until the breeze started making the air smell smokey!

PS>Just want to mention to Kenny how it makes my heart melt that you take time to read our blog :) Oh and I laughed really hard when Craig said you're concerned for his hairline.....SO AM I! ha ha Hope we really do get to go to Fenway with you guys sometime!

York Beach

Saturday we decided to meet up with Dathan and Kellie for our last summer get together. Dathan will be going to India and then winter will be coming so might be harder to meet up. We decided to go to York Beach, which is close to the Maine/New Hampshire border. We had heard from our friends that it was a fun beach. They had a nice playground right on the beach for the kids to play and tons of little shops. The water was pretty cold so no one really got in...except for Brayden who couldn't pass up playing in the waves. It was about 73 degrees with a nice breeze so it was perfect!
While on the playground there was an african-american guy that Craig and I both noticed. He had ripped arms, wearing a NC jersey, and had on a LA dodgers hat. When I first saw him I thought-he's gotta be a sports player. Craig came up to me and said he was thinking the same thing! Then it really gave it away that he had a NFL shield tattoo on the back of one of those ripped arms. He followed us over to the beach area and we all just sat and watched him trying to guess who he was, or what is life story was (he was there with his 2 kids alone) As we were people watching and laughing we noticed some lady go up to him and shake his hand. WE KNEW IT. Craig asked the lady when she left, and in a round-about way she told us he played for the New England Patriots and was "in cognito" We were too chicken and didn't want to bug him to go up and ask for his name. We still to this day are stumped who he was. Some other guy went up to talk to him and the guy said his name was Marlon Evans. I googled it and can't find it. I don't know if he gave a "fake" name. At least he gave us some fun by guessing who he was. We gave him fun by not bugging him.
We ended the night by going through some of the shops and eating some yummy Mexican at a costa-vida type restaurant. We had so much fun with them :) We're glad we have some family close to hang out with. Here are some pics of the day:



CRAIG AND JAYCEE HANGING OUT-I DON'T KNOW HOW I GOT HER TO POSE LIKE THAT



JAYCEE LOVES FRUIT; ESPECIALLY APPLES. SHE'S TRYING TO SHARE WITH DADDY


THE BEACH WE PLAYED AT. WHEN WE GOT HERE THE WATER WAS ALMOST UP TO THE DRY AREA OF THE SAND; NOW THE TIDE IS WAY LOW AND CAN GO WALK OUT FOREVER


LOW TIDE; YORK BEACH


CRAIG AND DATHAN WALKING OUT. WE THOUGHT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO FIND A SAND DOLLAR OR SOMETHING, BUT WE ONLY FOUND SHELLS


OUR LITTLE FAMILY


SMILE BOYS


I LOVE MY JAYCEE


MY CLASSIC "WHAT'S THAT" POSE


A LIGHTHOUSE WE DROVE TO




JAYCEE PLAYING AROUND WITH HAYLIE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE


TRYING TO GET A CLOSE-UP OF THAT CUTE LITTLE FACE



JAYCEE PLAYING ON THE ROCKS

Sorry I may ramble...

I can't believe how fast time flies! These weeks, let alone days, just fly by! We had quite a fun weekend and thought I'd share some pics and stuff.

Labor Day weekend to me reminds me of 2 things: Park City and 4 wheeling! Now that we aren't in Utah with family to do those 2 things, we decided that maybe it's time to start a new tradition. I'm all about starting traditions for my family to look back on. We were going to go camping for the whole weekend, but didn't go because 1-procrastinated getting a spot and was a lot of $ per night and 2-HURRICANE EARL decided to come RAIN on our weekend! Friday we got coupons in the mail for Subway, and since it's healthy and close to home off we went. We then just hung out at home...Craig had to get his Fantasy Football set up and I worked on my lesson for Sunday. It was midnight and we had started a movie and the power went out! Many probably wouldn't care because they would just go to sleep. NOT ME! I wasn't tired! I went and watched Eagle Eye then had a fun conversation on Facebook until 4 in the morning....yes 4:00 AM!!! I was laughing and it was good to talk to Dalynne. We are so much alike it's crazyness.
Saturday we planned on going to the Harmony Fair and play the day by ear. Let's just say the fair was as redneck as it comes! Craig and I felt so out-of-place but hey, Jaycee got to see farm animals. We only stayed for 30 minutes. On the way back we decided to roam Wal-Mart. Kyle is the king of Wal-Mart roaming. Bad thing is, you find so many things to buy! We did get some christmas gifts, groceries, baby shower gifts, and other things I don't quite remember. We decided on the way home to swing by Subway again for dinner...gotta use those coupons. Can't beat $7 for subs to feed a family of 3!
Sunday was a typical Sunday. Not many people at church because of the holiday, and only had 1 young woman to teach my lesson to. As we were leaving we found out the missionaries' dinner plans has canceled as well as someone to go with them for their lesson that night. I quickly forced them to come eat with us and we'd go teach with them. Can't let them go without a good dinner! We went and taught 3 Guatamalian guys. They don't speak English very well so Craig translated the best he could with his Portuguese to Spanish. It was fun to meet these guys and what DRIVE they have for the gospel. It's just too bad we can't communicate better. They work on Sundays during church hours but are so eager to go to church. So next Sunday night they're having another lesson at the church house. What an example! They also gave Jaycee a little necklace to play with and keep. She hasn't let it leave her side. LOVE IT!
Monday was Labor Day and Craig had got sick the night before when we got home. We had a chill morning and slept it, but still wanted to go and play. We made a yummy breakfast and headed to Greenville (Moosehead Lake) to play. We ended up renting a canoe for the day and brought along our fishing gear. Jaycee did SO good in the canoe. She wanted to play in the water so I let her put her hands out as we rowed. She's really into singing songs so we sang songs & made up a song...Row, Row, Row your canoe, gently in the lake; Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, isn't Maine great! I know, it's cheesy---the things we do to make our kids happy :) We canoed to a beach area, had lunch, and fished. We didn't catch anything, but sure was fun spin casting. Now I'm itching to go fishing. I'm sure Craig loves that! On our way home we were thinking of what to do for dinner, and decided to drive even further to go to Texas Roadhouse. They have the best rolls, salad & onion blossom! It was super tasty. I found out recently that there is a Target in Bangor so we had to stop on the way home to Clearance shop. I love finding a good deal. We got 4 shirts, 2 pair of shorts, 1 capri, a sweat shirt, and sweat pants for Jaycee all for $22.
So pretty much it was a great weekend again. I have the best husband and best friend ever! I question how I got so lucky to snag him up! :) Life is great and wouldn't want it any other way!

Maine=4 Wheeling country!

Going for a ride on a trail near our house. Jaycee loved it!


She kept saying "ride" until we finally took it out on the trail


She loved the ride so much she fell asleep between Craig and I. We had dirt all in our hair and clothes. Ew, Yuck...as Jaycee would say


Craig taking more pictures...no more!


What a day! We're so glad we are keeping it and hope to take it out more especially with the leaves turning colors.