Crazy Man

James is keeping me running. Now he goes from room to room, looking for new things to get into. I think he is getting tired of toys in general, and wants ‘other’ stuff to play with. He’ll take anything he can get his grubby cute little paws on, as long it looks new and interesting. Right now he is pushing Jeff’s tool bins back and forth across the floor, grunting as he goes. I guess he wants everyone to know how much work it is to be pushing those things around. He is getting really animated and its quite funny. When we were at Marinda’s, he would talk to and yell at the cat and dogs. One of these days he’ll surprise us with a word or two! That’ll be the day I call everyone in the phonebook…’Guess what?! James just said ____!!!’ Can't wait to see what will be his first REAL word..........

Strange Story

Ahhh, the magic of Google. Out of curiosity, or maybe just plain boredom, I decided to see if I could find any information regarding the Prairie Dog vacuum guy I had heard about. Quite a while back, Jeff told me they hired him out at the farm to see if he could get rid of the evil hoard of rodents. Sure enough, there were quite a few articles on the net about this guy and his crazy idea. It’s a funny story. Apparently, the down-and-out wanna-be inventor prayed that God would provide him with a genius idea to earn himself some much-needed income. He dreamt very specifically of a yellow truck with a green hose, sucking prairie dogs from their homes. He told his significant other, and instead of sending him to the funny farm, she encouraged him to act on his dream. Now they have a very successful business called Dog Gone, making thousands of dollars to rid the world of varmints! For the full story, in all its strange glory, check out this link:
http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/Maisonneuve/2002/11/18/481210?extID=10037&oliID=229

Jeffrey's Masterpiece

For those of you who wonder what the heck Jeff actually does, here is a picture of one of his masterpieces. He designed this condenser for a power plant in Philly. As you can see it is quite large. He has been spending lots of time down there telling the workers what to do and then doing some of it himself! Ain't it nicest lookin' ACC you've ever seen? Makes me proud. Jeff, you rock!

James...the BIG boy?!

Ahhhh! James has upgraded himself to toddler status. I am soooooo not ready for this! Now that he has become more confident walking, he wants to walk….everywhere. Yesterday at church, he all but refused to be held, and insisted on walking up and down the ramp over and over again. He walked down the hall a bit. He climbed up the stairs. He walked just about everywhere. I am excited for this new phase but also sad. Sad that my little bean will want me to hold him less and less as he gains confidence in the world. I know he is only a year old and there is much more change and transition to come, but geeeeeez! Can’t things happen just a little more slowly?!?!

Sentimental Rant

During our visit, we went with the Roush’s for a ride out to the scene of most of our dating career: The Roush Farm. With memories swirling around, we drove past Hiline and up the hill toward the driveway. It still looks the same, only really run down. The John Deere-green mailbox is still there. Weeds have since grown and obscured the once neat driveway. The shop doors hang open, and it looks like nothing has been mowed for months. Jeff commented that apparently they hadn’t figured out how to use the brush-hog yet. Even the yard, which had always been kept so nice, was choked with weeds. We didn’t say much, just commented on how overgrown everything was. I think our heads were too full of all the memories associated with the old farm. I remember staring out at the stars with Jeff and squinting to find ‘our star.’ I remember Meg Folkestad and I taking the Linx on crazy rides no car was meant to take. I remember following coyotes on the 4-wheelers, just to see how far we could trail them. I remember swimming in the pond on a hot summer day. I remember the day we caught a giant catfish out of the pond. That was the same day we decided not to swim there anymore. I remember ice-skating around the hump of steer’s back, frozen in the pond. I remember driving around the center pivot countless times, shooting prairie dogs as we went along. There was the time that we saw a Golden Eagle land in front of us. It looked at us and then picked up the dinner we had just killed for it. That eagle picked up the prairie dog and off it went. I remember the sunsets and the harvest moons, and the clear night sky. So many memories are tied up with that place. It was through these experiences that Jeff and I fell in love. Hard to believe it has been 8 years since it all started. A lot has happened and its unbelievable how many things have been packed into those years. The good experiences and the bad have brought us closer together and we are coming up on six years of marriage. And who can forget, we have our sweet little son James to enjoy it all with us!

I’ll stop now before I get myself in any deeper! ha ha ha

We’re Back From Vacation…

Johnathan, Shelly and James

James with 'Big D'


Tyler and Shelly at the Butterfly Gardens


We're back, and now its time to catch up on some sleep. Isn’t that how vacation always goes? After spending a week in Colorado visiting family and friends we are settling back into our normal routine. Here are just a few highlights of our trip, in no particular order:

*We visited our friends at Loma church, as well as drove back to the old farm. Everything has changed so much! All these rich Californians are moving in and building huge houses. Loma is still a one-horse town, for now. The country store’s still running and that’s about it. No traffic lights…yet. Our little town’s growing up. Kind of sad, but what can you do?

*We drove over the Grand Mesa with Marinda and John. How beautiful!! There was a bit of snow on the ground, and the colors were fabulous!

*Jeff took me on a little tour of all the places he used to live. We finished up at Reed Park in Fruita, where we both remember playing as children. We took James to play in the park, his first real experience with playground equipment. He seemed to really have fun, and we did too. Later that week, we met Jeff’s childhood friend Rowdy, and his family at the park. It was really funny to see them both with their little babies, playing on the swings.

*Speaking of childhood friends, we got to see Meg Folkestad (Sears) and her family. That was pretty cool to see our kids playing together…who’d-a-thought???

*We enjoyed playing with our four nephews and our niece. They are growing up too fast! They spent a lot of time trying to entertain their cousin James.

*We visited with our friends Mike and Erin, enjoyed some great buffalo chili and took a gorgeous hike up to Devil’s Kitchen on the Monument.

Thanks everyone for a great time!! We enjoyed seeing everyone and wish we had more time to visit with everyone.

Picture Perfect

Mesa Lakes

Colorado National Monument


Here are a few pictures from our trip. We'll post
more pictures and stories soon!

Our Visit to the Philadelphia Zoo

Random Updates

Jeff always teases me when I say "This is really random, but...". Apparently I begin a lot of sentences that way, but that's just the way my brain works. I could go from thinking about what I am going to have for lunch to who sat next to me in second grade to 'Oh, no! I put my favorite sweater in the dryer!' And on the way to the dryer I would stop to pick up a toy and remember that I had to call so-and-so and never get to the dryer until my sweater shrunk to the size of a washcloth. For better or worse, that is just how I operate. At least I am in good company though. Mom and Rach also start many sentences with 'this is totally random, but...". But enough of my random rambling, all that to explain why I called this entry 'Random Updates.' (I guess the greater issue I just made clear was that I am crazy!!!!) So, here it is. Sorry its probably anti-climactic.

1. James is really getting better at walking! He got his first pair of 'real' shoes today. Yipee!

2. Check out this link to Mike and Erin's blog for a picture and story including us:
http://mcwigginses.blogspot.com/2006/09/making-good-on-promise.html
I like how they refer to James as our 'drooling mascot.' He'll appreciate that when he's older!

3. We will be flying to Colorado on Saturday for a little over a week to visit Marinda and family.We'll post pictures when we get back. Hopefully James only learns 'good' stuff from all his older cousins! :)

We have a climber...

Although James isn't quite confident walking yet, he thinks quite highly of himself in the climbing arena. Case in point: today he flipped over the laundry basket and slid it in front of the chair. He climbed on top of the laundry basket and made a leap to the chair. Yes, I said leap. He actually jumped, not far, but he JUMPED! Once on the chair he proceeded to climb up on the arm of the chair and onto my old steamer trunk. From there he realized that it would be even more fun to climb into the bay windowsill. There sat James with quite a look of pride on his face, in the windowsill. Boy, are we in for it. I am waiting for the day that I find him on the top of the bookcase or someplace high up. Hopefully he is just as good descending as he is ascending!

Party Time!?

James had a birthday party on Sunday he'll never forget. Everything was set for Sunday afternoon, a normal family b-day party. (You know...pony rides, a hired clown, magician, etc....just kidding) Well, plans changed quickly when Dad had to take a weekend trip at the hospital. To make a long story short: racing heart, 'electrical' problems, and needs an outpatient something-or-other to fix the issue. Fortunately all is well, especially considering he made the cardiologist's record books for highest heartrate in 24 years! Needless to say we are all very happy that he is OK. So, back to the reason James will never forget his first birthday party. Since Dad was obviously out of commision, we took the party on the road, complete with confetti, and went to the hospital so he could be a part of the festivities. It was definetly the most interesting birthday party I've been at and one I'm sure we'll never forget!! We all crammed in to the little curtained room and made the best of it. Someday we can all reminicse and tell James all about the day he turned one.

Big Change

Here is James one year ago today.

Here's our man now!!!! What a difference the year has made. We are so grateful that he is here with us healthy, strong and curious as ever! We love you James!

Random Pics

Here is James practicing his newly acquired skill.



James and his first experience with spagetti. Apparently he thought it was dental floss. Why can't adults have this much fun with their food?!



James thinks he is pretty cool sporting Daddy's safety glasses.



Cute!

The Big O-N-E

Can't believe it's here already...James' very first birthday!

The year has gone so quickly and its hard to believe he has gone from such a tiny little baby to the curious and energetic little boy that is now getting into everything. It has been so much fun to watch him grow and learn. Can't wait see what the next year brings!

California Flashback

All us kids are growin' up!

Cheyney Tradition

It all started out when Phil started hanging around our family. (Phil was Rachel's boyfriend...now husband!) In order to make him feel welcome in our quirky family, for his birthday I made him a giant rice crispie treat the shape of Texas. The next time his birthday rolled around, I had to do something funny. So, I made him a Barbie cake, complete with a real Barbie torso and a cake dress. Pink, too! Well, the strange cake-making became tradition and now every time a birthday rolls around Rachel and I brainstorm a new design. So far, we have crafted a Rubix Cube, an elephant, a turntable, Mt. St. Helens, an air-cooled condenser, a sombero, a chocolate mousse armadillo and more. Can you guess who got each cake? Anyway, Dad's birthday rolled around again and Rachel and I decided to make a chaps cake in honor of "Chappy." We have affectionately dubbed him "Chappy" in lieu of Grandpa (Jeff's idea). Here is a picture of our latest creation. This new tradition is lots of fun, but don't worry. We haven't abandoned the old and emmensely popular Cheyney tradition of singing horrendously off-key. We still carry on, much to the chagrin of the neighbors. Soon we will be able to pass on these fun traditions to James, starting with his first birthday on Sunday. Yikes! Can't believe it's Sunday....ahhh! Where has the time gone?! More on that later...

There's a cheerio stuck to my foot

Mr. Independent has now decided that feeding himself is tons of fun. Way more fun, in fact, than someone else shoveling mushy cereal in with a spoon. So, now we are on to new and interesting things: chunk of 'REAL' food! James' method of operations is to first visually examine the food. I don't know exactly he is checking for as he has never turned down anything put in front of him. After a quick visual inspection, he proceeds to pick up a piece and smash it in his hand. This is particularly fun with bananas and sweet potatoes. Mmmmmm.....squishy!! After making sure that the food meets the proper viscosity specifications, James then proceeds to smash the squishy mess somewhere in the general vicinity of his mouth. He has a fairly good aim and manages to get most of it down. It's fun to watch him get so messy, until it comes time to clean up. He hates that part. No matter how well I clean up, James inevitably finds some discarded morsel on the floor and promptly sticks it in his mouth. Speaking of gross, I think I have a Cheerio stuck to my foot.

Mrs. Haffly: If you’re reading this…..

Dad said you had checked out the blog and immediately I started to wonder how many spelling errors and grammatical mistakes I made. Geeez! It’s been quite a while since 8th grade, yet I am still worried about you reading my ‘papers.’ Ha! Ha! I guess its time I should just get over it. I was reminiscing this week about 7th grade, thinking of all the fun we had and all the jokes we played on Dr. Haffly. I remember us piling into the big van to go and pick up the hearing aids he always seemed to ‘forget.’ Of course, we would have to stop along the way and pick up the official snacks of the 7th grade class: Whoppers and Dr. Pepper. Of course, the Dr. Pepper went hand in hand with our class belching contests. And how can I forget the time I beat out the resident champion Jon Hess to be crowned belching champion of ACC! I think one of my favorite memories was when Dr. Haffly said we didn’t have to do class one day. We pushed all the desks out to the side, and built an enormous Lincoln Log village across the room. Of course, I can’t leave out the reason I passed Algebra that year: Dr. Haffly’s brownies. I still make those ‘famous’ brownies. For those of you reading this and wondering what kind of a teacher this guy was, well, he was the best teacher I ever had. Unconventional, yes, but somehow he seemed to make the biggest impression on me. He wanted us to learn, but not because we had to. I think he wanted us to learn just to learn, and not because we were getting a grade for it. He also put up with my unusual Algebra methods. For a long time, Mrs. H., I’ve wanted to write you and tell you what Dr. Haffly meant to me, but I never really knew what to say. This is only a glimpse of the memories of that strange and fun 7th grade year, but hopefully it’ll let you know that we won’t forget him any time soon. And sorry, I still can’t bring myself to call you Fanchion!

Down the Shore

This past Sunday we took James "down the shore" for a nice afternoon together. We played hooky from church (yes...we ditched church) and packed it up for a trip to the beach. It's amazing how much stuff needs to be packed when there is a kid on board. Anyway, we finally got on the road by 10:30 and arrived to find a beautiful, warm and sunny day. When we staked out our spot the first thing we did was plop James down in the sand.We couldn't wait to see what he would do. At first, he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. After a few minutes, he started to grab handfuls of the nifty new stuff. Then, he did what he always does with any new object: he put some in his mouth. Pretty gross, but I guess its just sand. He thought it was pretty gross too, and learned very quickly that sand does not go in the mouth. Once he had that settled, he set to filling a cup with sand, one pinch at a time. We spent the afternoon watching him explore this new world, and taking a zillion pictures with our new digital camera. What fun!