A Visit From The Cousins

On Friday we were lucky enough to spend the day with Richard's older brother Nathan, his wife, Nina, and their three girls, Mara, Teia, and Becca.

They are moving across the country so they decided to make a stop in Milwaukee and spend some time with us and we're so glad they did! They didn't get to our place until after midnight on Thursday night, but we still had all day Friday and Saturday morning with them.

Richard had an exam on Friday afternoon so he had to leave early Friday morning to study, but Marshall and I got to stay home and enjoy some good family time.

We began our day with a yummy breakfast of waffles and then we all just relaxed that morning while Marshall took his morning nap. For lunch we had mac n'cheese and then it was off to the park. Marshall was the coolest guy around as all the girls wanted to take turns pushing his stroller and walking by him.

At the park we swung on the swings, which was a hit, we ran around on the grass, and wrapped it all up with the kids playing in the sand volleyball pit-what an afternoon!

After the park we headed back to our place to put Marshall down for a nap and quiet time for the girls.

After that Richard surprised us by getting home earlier then expected from his test...wahoo! So, Richard and Nathan were able to have some good bonding time playing a Batman Lego game, ah, how sweet. :)
That night we enjoyed bar-b-qued hamburgers and an evening outside. After we got all the kids to bed the adults enjoyed watching random and silly videos on YouTube, a typical Nathan and Richard thing to do. :)

So, thanks Nathan, Nina, Mara, Teia, and Becca for the visit! We sure enjoyed having you guys here and Marshall did love all the attention, despite being a little overwhelmed with it all at times. :) We love you guys and wish you the best in finding a house and getting settled!

Good-bye Summer, Hello Fall

The above picture was taken August 22 at about 5:30 and yes, Marshall is wearing a jacket because it was only in the 60s yesterday, ahhh! I am not ready to say good-bye to the summer! This last week all of the splash pools in Milwaukee closed, leaves on our street are already turning yellow and red and yesterday on my run I ran through fallen leaves. Good grief, it is August and I am on the verge of having an emotional breakdown. Well, not really, that was a little melodramatic, but summer is definitely not long enough in Wisconsin!

My wonderful summer has already come and is quickly on its way out the door. I have absolutely loved these last couple of months! I have had so much fun exploring new, summer things with Marshall. I don't think I have ever been so sad to see a summer go, and I'm not even starting school again!

But, fall is also bound to hold new and exciting adventures. We can take Marshall to an apple holler, he can pick out a pumpkin, we can find exciting indoor activities, and of course, there is always BYU football! So, I will continue to enjoy every day of nice weather and remember that this change of seasons does bring exciting things, after all, all three of our birthdays are in the fall!

And on that note here's a video of Marshall. The other night when we were eating dinner we put Marshall in his exersacuer to keep him in one place. One of the toys on his exersacuer is a mirror which he has never really played with before. But, halfway through dinner we looked at him and he was talking to himself in the mirror. It was so funny! We pulled out the camera, which of course distracted him a little bit, but its still pretty cute.



Here are a few other pictures from yesterday. He's becoming such a big boy, he's definitely not a baby any more-time goes so fast!

The Official BYU Football 2009 Commercial [HD]

A Growing and WALKING Boy!

That's right folks, Marshall is WALKING! He still crawls, obviously that is still the fastest thing for him, but he is getting better and better on his feet, check it out!

Well, that's the biggest Marshall news we have to share, but here are some more pictures and videos taken throughout the week...

Marshall on his airplane, doesn't he look so grown up?!

Very clever, Marshall has started carrying his sippy cup, toys, and stuffed animals around the house like this sometimes. You gotta hand it to him; that's some good thinking!

Marshall's hair is getting long again-I love it! But, long hair usually means some crazy hair in the morning!

On Tuesday for playgroup we went to this great splash pad. Once again it was free, which made it even better! Anyway, it didn't really have any standing water, the ground was soft and squishy (perfect for little ones) and it just had all sorts of water arrangements.

Water sprayed up from the ground in all sorts of different patterns, it dropped from buckets, it sprayed out from umbrellas-it was great!

Marshall started out a little unsure at first...

The water was a little cold, and the ground was new to him...

But, eventually he got closer...

And closer...

And then he LOVED it!


He ended up having a great time and was not hesitant about the water at all, as you can tell, he is soaking! It was a fun place, and one that we are sure to visit again!

Here are a couple of other videos of this cute little guy, can you tell our world revolves around him?!

Wisconsin State Fair

On Thursday Marshall and I experienced our first Wisconsin State Fair! We had heard so many great things about this fair and decided to take advantage of the opportunity this year. Richard had no desire to attend the fair so Marshall and I went with several other families from the branch. We had a great time with the company, but the fair was super crowded and so hot! We went on the first day and admission was only $2 if you brought two cans of food, so of course, the entire state was there! Well, not really, but that's what it felt like!

We saw lots and lots of cows, but I didn't really mind because the building they were in was nice and cold!

We also saw pigs, hogs, goats, and horses-so thrilling!





This is how Marshall passed most of his time at the fair-what a lucky guy! I wouldn't have minded taking a nap while being wheeled around! What a sweetie. :)

The fair is known for having amazingly delicious fried food that is served on a stick. I actually did not try any of this food because I couldn't afford to spend $50 to try it all, but I did split an elephant ear with a friend, its just a massive scone, and a gyro with another friend. The gyro was my first time trying lamb which kind of grossed me out at first, but once I tried it it was actually pretty good!

Other foods they had were fried Oreos, fried Snickers, fried cheesecake, and fried macaroni and cheese, all served on a stick! Oh yeah, they also had bacon dipped in chocolate, that sounds disgusting to me!

All in all, I'm glad we went. The company was a blast, the crowds and heat were horrible, but now I can say we've had the experience!

Good Morning!

This is how Marshall woke up yesterday morning, what a cute little guy!

And now a video from Sunday morning...

Marshall's New Toy

On Friday we got Marshall a new toy and it is pretty cool! Its a Mickey Mouse airplane and it does all sorts of neat things. Marshall is in heaven; he just loves it!















Here's a couple of videos of Marshall and the airplane, enjoy!