No! Wait, Emily! Stop!

Yes, this was the phrase that we heard most on our first fishing expedition! Emily was very anxious to reel in her own deadliest catch and was not quite used to being careful with a hook at the end of her pole! Not-to-worry, however, as no one was injured. (Cubby, however, nearly had a heart attack each time she cast though!--It was him who kept saying the above phrase.)



It was a chilly Friday morning and the fish were keeping warm down deep--we did not catch any fish in the 20 minutes of fishing that we did. Both kids had a good time though running around at Walnut Creek and at the playground, our fail-safe for fun and entertainment.



Emily and Christian have been keeping Grandma and Grandpa Lindseth plenty busy and their visit has been a fun one!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Peter!

Yesterday (Sunday) was Peter's 25th birthday! After dinner Emily could barely stand waiting any longer and went and got his present that she'd picked out--a blue fishing pole! Cubby does not like to fish and Peter mentioned to her that he does. Well, she recently became the proud owner of a Princess fishing pole (is there anything that Disney Princess doesn't make???) and Peter can now take her fishing! Peter hasn't been feeling great lately, but he was able to stomach some ice cream cake and we hope that he'll be better by this weekend so that he and Grandpa can take her fishing--oh boy!

Daddy-Daughter Camp-Out!

They're all ready, folks! Cubby and Emily are going on a camp-out...in our backyard! We felt it was a good place for a trial-run. We'll see how the night goes!

The Secret of Happiness

The secret of happiness (well, one of them, at least) must be having an apple orchard. This is a picture of Brother Flynn (for any reader who is not a Latter-day Saint, "Brother" and "Sister" is like saying "Mr." or "Mrs." as a polite title). I wish I would've been able to capture the "twinkle" in his eye--he's one of the happiest people I know--and it's not the happy-go-lucky, make-you-gag happy. He's just figured life out. It has to be the orchard, right??



He and his wife have lived at their home for 25 years and there is just something magical about it all. Their home is situated in a neighborhood of sorts but because it was built before the neighborhood, it has an orchard, barn, silo and such on the property. They have chickens too, but it's not a "farm" with cows or anything though.

In anycase, every year they invite our ward out to come and pick apples and make cider. As I've said before, it's magical. Emily was simply fascinated by everything there and after she picked apples, she and her friend, Holly, ran around and played little made up games all evening, as we were making the cider. At one point, they even laid down on the ground and were looking up at the stars. There IS something magical about the place--it turns soon-to-be 4 yr olds into self-entertaining sweethearts! AWESOME. We loved the evening and hope to make it back out there again when Cubby's parents are visiting...providing there are apples left to pick :-).

Snow White

Even Prince Charming couldn't wake up this little Snow White!

Emily plays with her friend, Anna, on Monday afternoons. She's pretty-much transitioned to napping only every other day now, so it's been fun for her to have a friend to play with in the afternoon. However, they play so hard, that for the past two Mondays, she's totally crashed by 3:30 or 4:00! It works out though because she has soccer practice after dinner on Mondays--plenty of time to get that burst of new energy burned through!

Fall Is In The Air!

We just love this time of year! Here is a slideshow from our trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch this weekend and one of our favorite fall recipes! Happy Fall!

Autumn Pork Chops

4 pork chops
4 T. butter, divided
2 red apples, cored and halved
3 T. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. cinnamon

Arrange pork chops in a 9x13" baking pan; spread one tablespoon butter over each pork chop. Lay one apple half cut-side down on each pork chop; sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 mins or until pork chops are no longer pink. Makes 4 servings.

There's No Place Like Home. Right, Mom???

My mom and grandma had planned on going on a trip to Sweden this past week. However, a situation arose at the last minute and they had to reschedule for June. Needless to say, Mom was sooooo disappointed. But, after a weekend of mourning, she decided to make the best of it and spend a week doing fun things around here! (My mom and grandma have now put the "best" in making the best of a bad situation!)

On Tuesday afternoon, Mom came over to play and transplanted some lilly-of-the-valley from her garden to mine. The kids had a lot of fun digging in the incredibly tough Nebraska "soil" (more like rock). They each liked the great-big shovel, of course.

Then, on Wedesday, we all went to the Children's Museum! We have not been there since Christian was about 7 months old and Emily asks to go about once-a-week. (They charge for adults and also, anyone over 24 months is considered an "adult". It's extortion, but I figured for once or twice a year, just to deal with it. We can't get there often enough to justify buying a pass.) It wasn't crowded and so we pretty much had the run of the place. We had some lunch and then the kiddos crashed all afternoon! So great!

Today, my mom came over while Emily was at school and played with Christian so that I could have some free time! I ran my little heart out at the YMCA, I got some stuff for a Christmas project for the kids at Hobby Lobby, and, what day alone would be complete without a trip to Target? Christian and Grandma had a very busy morning as well--playing trains and playing with the vaccuum and trying out Emily's rollerskates outside!

So, I know Mom was very sad about having to reschedule her trip, but, I'm glad she's been able to have a good time working on projects, shopping, and playing with us! There's no place like home!