OK, just one more.

Thanks to the Howards who gave this to Addy for her birthday. She loves it, but I am not sure she knows how to breath while she is playing with it! And as expected, she is trying to eat the water.

Enjoy the multitude of posts! Make sure you make it all the way to the Taos picture!

Our little Sumo...

One More.

We had such a great weekend. It started as we invaded the Trotters house while the Jehles were staying there and the Trotters were coming back from Chanute with a great new puppy, Louis! They will have to send pics, because this could be one of the cutest puppies ever. We spent Friday night outside on thier great wrap-around porch and back yard. Addy's face took a real hit. Can you count all 6 bug bites!?!?!?

Here we are at our weekly outing to City Park Jazz. For those who never visit- we take snacks, a blanket, usually some fun friends, and a bottle of wine to the park and listen to great bands. Addy's favorite part is feeding Dad blueberries. Seriously, she is addicted.

Wow, if I could spend a million days...

It would be in the Outerbanks, in Rodanthe, North Carolina with some of my favorite people in the world. First, I should say that we should all give Dr. Alex Jehle the biggest round of applause ever. He has really busted his tail and has spent the last... well, I don't know how long... maybe a total of 32 years... learning, studying, and becoming really smart. That does include Kindergarten I should add. Second, to add that to celebrate, Alex and Stacy honored us all (Cotter, the Trotters, the Coors, the Bakers and the Hayes') with a fun week in NC. It was truly splendid. One of those perfect weeks that would drive others crazy and yet speaks to the kindred spirits that went on this trip. It involved sleeping in, spending an hour or so at the beach, nap times which corresponded to pool time for moms, eating, cooking, drinking, laughing, playing, sand, saline pool, hot tub, kayak... etc. It involved very little beyond 100 yards of the house. One lighthouse and one trip to the grocery store was about as touristy as we got. The Bakers did some exploring, hopefully that counts for the rest of us.

Here are some pics. They don't really do it justice. For other accounts, see Stacy, Kelly andHeathers blogs. They helped me overcome the post-vacation blues. I got them pretty intensely. I am pretty sure anyone at work would agree that I still suffer from them.

Thanks for all the pictures guys! I was too busy enjoying the coastal life to take pictures of my own, apparently.

Everyone minus Cotter. 17 people in one house. And I think we all really liked each other. Who would have thought that was possible!

Elsa and Stacy

Pool, hot tub and a hammock. Who could ask for more?!?!?

The funny thing about this picture, is that Elsa really likes Addy, and Addy is pretty much head butting her away. They became much better friends by the end of the week.

Cute little butts...

The Coors really got good at Kadima (west-coasters call it Smashball). I think their record was 21 hits.

She lived on sand and blueberries. I am not sure which wreaked havoc on her digestive tract, but either way- she ate a lot of sand.

The view off the balcony, and Eric fishing. Unbelievable.

Really... she ate a lot of sand. Buckets-full- as you can see here.

Thanks Jehles! It really was such a treat spending time with your family and friends! Good luck in Montana!

The last 6 months...

It seems like forever since we have posted. It has been a pretty busy month - full of vacations, funerals, outings, the flu, work, etc.

It started in mid-June with a trip to Taos for my Uncle Larry's funeral. It was bitter sweet- good time with family, although sad for our family who has spent too much times at funerals in the last few years. It is unfortunate that time spent reminiscing, story telling and creating new memories comes at such a price. It was good to see family- it has been a couple of years since we have seen everyone, and much has changed in the last couple of years, needless to say. In an effort to get to vacation pics, see Leigh Ann's blog for Taos pics. You will note the overarching theme to that post is the stomach flu... You can take that story, change the name to Addy, Meredith, Eric, Karen, Lynd, Cori, Tracee, Kelly or Liz. We all got sick over about 10 days, although I am still pleading the 5th for Liz and Kelly- I really don't think Addy was contagious! Sorry anyway! I know the flu isn't fun.

This picture kind of epitomized our trip- Jackie spent hours and hours walking with Addy, playing with her, entertaining her, etc. Chloe was sick and spent hours and hours puking, pooping and contaminating. I love Chloe. She is adorable, and teaches Addy lots of things like how to talk on the phone, how to share, and how wonderful Mimi is. It was fun to see her despite the days and days and days of sickness that followed.