Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

Here we are at our favorite ice cream parlor. Or should I say "frozen custard" parlor! It's called Liberty Frozen Custard and it's on Nicollet and 54th, just a few blocks from our place (making it IMPOSSIBLE for me to be on any kind of diet). It's an old remodeled auto garage with vintage vinal chairs and pinball machines and the like. When Jon and I decided winter was (or should be) finished, we walked over for a frozen treat! Here are some cute pictures of Abigail in a classic hot rod trying her tiny hand at the wheel! You can see in the video that she was babbling away and loving it!! By the way, the video doesn't have any sound so I will provide a dialogue for you at the bottom of the post.








"babababababababa...boom boom boom...AAAH! Hmm...where's the shifter on this thing? "

"Abi, be careful, don't fall!"

"MOM! NO, MOM!! Watch out, mom! Don't touch me; Mom, I'm driving, be careful!"

Catching Up #3: Baby Isaiah!

Well, this catching up blog has nothing to do with my late film development, but rather it has to do with the fact that we lost Jon's digital camera shortly after we moved. Speaking of losing things, has anyone seen my cell phone? Or my BRAIN?! I can't even blame pregnancy for these silly situations; I can only blame myself ;-)

Anyway, about a month ago we had a little friend over for the day! His name is Isaiah and I am convinced he is the one who taught Abi to crawl. Never have I met such polar opposites enjoying themselves despite their differences. Isaiah is a go-getter, high-energy, in-your-face, smiley-pants, always on the verge of a laughing fit, curiosity killed the cat kind of baby. This was a high contrast to Abi who is pretty low-key, laid back, mild-tempered, laissez-faire, sweet, gentle, cuddly, content-to-just-sit-here-and-watch kind of baby. But they shared toys and floor space pretty well considering we still had boxes everywhere from the move. We loved having him here and we'd love to set up another playdate soon!! :-)

Here's Isaiah showing Abi the moves. Abi watches in awe...

Abi is showing him her toys. Like Abi, he tastes it to see if it's safe.

Both babies look up from their play to give me a big grin!

Isaiah is getting ready to leave Abi in the dust...

Zoom! There he goes!

Catching Up #2: The Gunflint - Abi's First Winter Adventure!

I know the last thing everyone wants to see is a bunch of snow, but like I said, I'm catching up some photos! Please bear with me :) To anyone who has the opportunity to take kids on a winter adventure: DO IT! Plan, plan, plan, and then enjoy! I think Abigail wore 3 or 4 layers of clothes most days and 5 or 6 layers at night. But she didn't freeze and we had a great time!
Brenda cross-country skiing up on the bluff! It's a lot easier to do this run when you're not 4 months pregnant!
Jon the crazy man getting excited for broomball!
Out for a walk on the frozen lake.
Mama and baby - oh precious!
Glorious!!
The girls walking back to the lodge.
Yeah! No diving!

Sometimes the best toys aren't toys at all! Pink baby with pink cheeks equals HUGGABLE!

Polka-dot princess!


Climbing up to Honeymoon Bluff!Aw, she's close at hand :)

The family watching the sunset at Honeymoon Bluff.Don't worry she wasn't THAT close to the edge! Baby at the boundary waters!

Catching Up #1: Superbowl XLII Party!

So I'm the kind of person who gets about 12 rolls of film developed all at once, so here's some pictures from waaaaaay back at Superbowl time!
We spick-and-spanned the apartment for our guests to arrive :) And they came! Here is one of them playing with Abigail!








When we wrote out our limited guest list (only 4 couples because we had a teensy apartment) we didn't realize we had invited the Larson family plus spouses! Here are 3 men on a couch: Parnell, Jon, and Chris.

Michelle and her friend Trin pretend to enjoy football while Brenda and Becky raid the food!!!











It's past Sammy-pants's bedtime so daddy-Dale comforts him with deep-fried wings :) mmmm wings...


Sammy isn't the only sleepy one. Joelle tried to watch the Pats kick themselves but the ZZZZs won out...














Abi was the MVP!!
I think I'll clean tomorrow.





















One lone pizza slice. I think I shall have it for breakfast tomorrow. All-in-all a great party! Thanks for coming, friends :)

Remembering Andijon...

Some of you may remember back in 2005 when I was working with the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan, a terrible event took place. Maybe many of you never heard the story about WHY the Peace Corps (and all Western organizations) was sent packing. It was to cover up what happened in Andijon (a city in Uzbekistan) on May 13: a massacre where many were killed by the government during a peaceful protest (men, women, children alike). I was teaching about 250 miles away in Jizzax at the time.

Seeing as how tomorrow is the 3-year anniversary of this massacre I just wanted to remind everyone to take a moment to pray for the country, its administration (President Islam Karimov), and the salvation of its people.

Here's an article from the International Herald Tribune:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/09/opinion/edbukharbaeva.php