Body Parts

Will is getting to know his body parts and he's so smart! At least we think so. His newest body part is "belly" - He lifts up his shirt and pats his belly. Here's a disclaimer though: he has a cold, so try to see past the runny nose... and also, I forgot that if I turn the camera, you see it sideways when we replay it... DUH!

The Minnesota Get Together

This is Will's new friend Marcus. They came to the fair with us. Marcus, his parents, and baby brother just moved to MN from LOGAN! We are so excited to have them here and Will walks around asking "Marcus?" He likes his new friend - they are only 3 months apart. A family picture in the birthing barn. We are standing in front of a cow and calf who had just been born.
Petting a duck in the birthing barn. Will said "cak cak (quack quack)" the whole time...

For those who don't know, the Minnesota state fair is BIG time. They call it the Minnesota get together because EVERYBODY - literally EVERYBODY goes. Even people from out of state. On the radio, they talk about the fair all year long and when the fair is going on, it's a must see. I've been to a few state fairs in my life but nothing like this. It's huge. On Thursday, my friend (Monica) and I fentured out to the fair. We got there at 8:30am and stayed for much of the day. I came home for naptime and to change clothes since we got caught in a down pour - then Scott and I headed back for some more fair fun. It was crazy, even at 8:30 in the morning, people were eating food on a stick (that's what is so cool about the fair - you can get anything and everything deep fried and on a stick!). We saw the animals of course, and stopped by the birthing barn to watch 14 piglets be born! Then we made our rounds through all the free stuff - samples, key chains, t-shirts, the usual. It was great. We had deep fried Wisconsin cheese curds - SO YUMMY! - deep fried pickles - I think I can wait until next year to have these again - homemade spud nuts - these were Will's favorite - and ALL the milk you can drink for a dollar! They have white and chocolate and you can get your cup refilled as much as you want. So, we like to get our donuts and then stand by the milk stand and eat our donuts and milk. Unfortunately, we had to leave before we could ride the giant slide.... maybe next year! We can't wait, fair time is a blast in MN!

TOMATOES

This past week I decided to bottle some tomatoes. I have never ever once in my life bottled tomatoes. I've seen it done many times, so I figured I could do it. So, I got out my Ball Blue Book of Canning and went to work! Before I knew it, I had 16 jars of tomatoes bottled and sealed! I was SO excited. We've even eaten some already and they are great. I'll be excited to take on a little more canning next summer!

A MUST READ....

Wow. what a fun book this was to read. If you havn't read any of the "Twilight" series by Stephanie Meyer, I highly recommend them. I just finished the 3rd book and I'm "thirsty" for more! Hehehe ... I can't wait for the rest to come out next year. If there was a word like "chick flick" for books, I would use it to describe this book. It is one of those books that your husband will be laughing at you while you read it. Then when you're done, you'll be wishing you had a husband like the main character in the book.... hahahaha. Seriously though, they were really fun to read, and to me, that is what reading is all about - ENJOYMENT and FUN.

Petting Zoo

Here's a little video of our petting zoo action. Notice Will making the noise of a horse - it sounds like he's crying. Also, when he sees the llama, he points at it and says "goat!"

PETTING ZOO

On Monday night, our student housing had a petting zoo! Will was in hog heaven! He went right inside the fence and started chasing the chickens and ducks. Of course he never caught any of them, but he sure did have fun trying. He also really liked the little goats. He walked around going "goat! goat!" and then he would see a cow and say "cow! MOOOO!" and then he would see the ducks and start saying "quack quack!" It was hilarious, we could barely keep up with him.

Will - digging in!

This is a video from months ago. I had forgotten how cute it was, and we didn't have a blog when Will turned 1. So, thought I would share it with everyone, he LOVED his cake, he went to town, both hands and everything. Afterward, he was such a mess we all (Will, Mom, and highchair) took a shower! They grow up too fast!

TURTLE MAN TRIATHALON

What a man - on Saturday, Scott ran the Turtle Man Triathalon. It was here in a suburb of Mpls, called Shoreview. He swam a mile through Snail Lake, biked 23 miles around the lake and neighborhood, and then ran a 10K. He did awesome, he was 13th in his age group, and 197th out of 1200. He even beat his goal (to finish in 2 hrs. 30 min.) and came in at 2 hrs. and 22 min. Will and I were there to cheer him on, but missed pictures of him on the bike - TWICE! ARRGGGH. We enjoyed watching him and glad he enjoyed it and did it safely. Way to go Scott, we LOVE YOU!!


Just after the bike - heading out on the run. He even had enough energy to give us a smile!
















At the finish line - whew!

















This old man took our picture - nice job, huh?

NAUVOO

I wrote about our trip to Nauvoo couple months ago, but now I can finally share pictures. I can't wait to go back next summer, it is worth the 6 hour drive!!

SWIM LESSONS

Will screamed all through his first bath when we brought him home from the hospital. But, ever since then, he has LOVED water. This summer we did a "water babies" swim class. It was a lot of fun and Will loved it. He is doing great, he learned to kick his legs, blow bubbles, and put his face in. Now when we go to the pool, he just jumps right in. This last picture is after our class, I just love it, it is a classic WILL shot - doesn't he look like his daddy?? I think so.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

One night while we were living in Rochester, we decided to have some friends over for dinner. Well, about 20 minutes before company was to arrive, Scott had left a bowl of fettucini somewhere, and Will found it. He is getting to be such a big boy, he tries to use forks and spoons constantly. He carries around a bowl of food (usually raisins) and mixes them, dumps them, tries to put them on a spoon and get them to his mouth, all day long. I thought Scott was watching him, but I couldn't figure out why it was so quiet.... silence is never a good sign, right? So, when we found him, we just laughed, he was so determined to eat that fettucini!

ZOO TIME

Will loves animals, on Tuesday me and a couple friends took a trip to the zoo with our youngins' . We went to the Minnesota Zoo. They had a dolphin show, and full working farm. Will got to pet a bunny (he loved it - but he kept trying to poke it's eyes), ride on a tractor, see a cow get milked, and see lots of other great animals. Plus the company was superb! It was a great day, lots of cool stuff to see, and Will did amazing for not having napped ALL day!

Will and Mom before the dolphin show... don't worry Will

got really excited (I think he was trying to figure out why someone

other than dad or mom was taking his picture.

Will being a chicken
Our friend Lucas... what a cutie

Will leading the music

Here's Will doing his little shake for us! He is quite a site - especially when he does this at church!

ROCHESTER HIGHLIGHTS

Home at last - what a great feeling. Now that I'm home, I finally got to download our pictures from the summer! Yay! So, here you go for picture overload... I'd thought I'd start with some of our highlights in Rochester - mostly things that happened at our apt. Hope you enjoy! Check back soon if you want to see the rest!!

What a stud - he actually likes having these goggles on!

Will's homemade vacuum

Ready for a ride - I wonder who taught him how to climb up here?

Will's first sloppy joe experience

All babies love to stare at themselves - Will included.

he was pretty fascinated with his reflection in the tub...

What do you wish with a bumb on your head? Will's first BIG bump -

the pic doesn't do justice, and the next day, it looked even worse, all black and blue

Will absolutely LOVES playing in water. He loves it even more if it's the

shower and somebody's in there! Who let him in? And whose behind the curtain?

We'll keep you guessing...

(you have to look closely to see two little legs from behind the curtain)

YUMMY

There's nothing like a great recipe! I love cooking and reading cookbooks, so I'm always on the lookout for a great recipe. I had this recipe at a Relief Society training mtg. and loved it, then they sent out the recipe in a newsletter and I was so excited. It is great for a summer meal, no heating up your house with the oven - and the ingredients are different, but SO good. Let me know if you try it and like it!!

Chicken Strawberry
Wild Rice Salad
This serves about 6-8 people

2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 cup halved strawberries
¾ cup cooked wild rice
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
½ cup blanched (not cooked) broccoli (small) flowerets
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup slivered almonds
½ cup crumbled bacon
1 tablespoon white onion, very thinly sliced

Dressing
Using a blender, blend the following together:
1 bunch of chopped green onions
½ cup sugar
¾ cup canola or vegetable oil
(do not use olive oil, it is too strong a flavor)
1 tablespoon prepared honey mustard
¼ cup white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon lime juice

Once blended, add in:
1 heaping tablespoon poppy seeds
Pour prepared dressing over top just before serving. Pour to
moisten, do not drench.
Served at the May Auxiliary Training Meeting.