Mr. Jack Comes to Visit

Lilly & Max

Our niece Lilly Turns 1 on Nov.11 but her birthday party was last weekend because Aaron, Lindsey , & L. are moving to Laredo, TX this week. Brad, A. & I were unable to attend the party, but my folks went down to St.Louis for a few days -- and ended up helping with a plugged sewer line crisis! Dad to the rescue. And Aaron came out of it with a new wrench. By the way, this photo is my all-time favorite picture of Lilly.

She didn't like the party hat so much...

Oh, our nephew Max -- he's so cute. We've only seen him once -- when he was just born. We can't wait until our new little one is born and we are able to go down for a visit.

Brian, Kara & Max

Style tips from his big cousin Atticus (-:.
Doesn't Max have such a big-person face?

Grandma Nancy Park Day Redux

Some photos Grandma Nancy sent this week from our day in Albert Lea awhile back. To let you know about Atticus' 18-month doctor check-up: He hasn't gained any weight (25 lbs.) for a couple check-ups now. He's a inch or so taller than his 15-month and still right in the 50% for both weight & height. Our doctor thinks A. is developing some food allergies which we will need to get tested after he turns 2. But other than that, he is very healthy and right where he's supposed to be developmentally. He passed the autism screening just fine -- so no worries there. I finally decided to go ahead and get him the flu shot, so he'll need a booster in another couple weeks. Then at his 2-year appt. he'll have his last series of immunizations until he's 5.

He's getting great at throwing, catching & kicking balls...

He loves kicking crunchy leaves...

Play Dates

Playing and Eating at the Millers' -- Jess, Sammy & Freddy left early; Lisa, Hannah & Matthew stayed for lunch. Here are the younger guys: Isaac, Matthew & Atticus.

Calvin & Hannah

The next day we were invited to our friends' Wendy, Ron-Jana, & Oliver's house for brunch. Look at this tree...oh how I love the way God paints light and color...
[Oh, for those who'd like to know: Our car was fixed this day -- It ended up being the water pump going out. Sad that this $650 bill ended up being the same month as our new appliances but we are thankful to have our car back and glad we only have one car to take care of. Thank you to our friends the Harralsons who lended us a car for Brad's off-site work meeting. ]

Wendy, our chef (-:

Ranjana (Wendy's daughter), Christopher (Ju-Ju's son), and Atticus

Oliver (Wendy's son sitting on Ju-Ju's lap) -- usually he is all smiles...but here he gives a good match for his big sister's intense serious face...

See the face? Atticus' hair is the result of yogurt from the night before (yes, I didn't give him a bath -- we had company and it got too late and then we needed to drop Brad off at our friend's house, drop the car off at the mechanic's and get to Wendy's by 8:45am -- so he is really sticky and kinda dirty...but we kept our schedule (-:).

Playing with Wendy, Ranjana, & Christopher at the
Big Bunny statue over along Minnehaha Creek

Ranjana & her mama, Wendy

One last picture of these lovely "sunset" colors...

Brand Spankin' New!!!!

Behold -- ugly old appliances -- served me just fine, but...
The handle always fell off the stove and I couldn't get it clean
no matter how hard I tried.

And the fridge always leaked across the floor so
I kept a towel under it that I changed once a week.

Presto! Brad gives me a beautiful Kenmore set.
The stove is self-cleaning with sealed burners.
t lets me know when it's heated up to the right temperature
and has an oven light -- maybe simple things,
but I don't take them for granted. (-:

Non-leaking, enormous fridge with door shelves
wide enough for a gallon of milk.