HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Madison loves her chair


stacking blocks

stealing my blocks

watching the olympic opening ceremony (she dances every time she hears the olympic music)

JR and I went to Hallmark today to buy each other valentines day cards. We have been reading the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace book and JR had a brilliant idea. We are cutting out any extra spending, so from now on we are going to take each other to Hallmark, pick out a card, show it to each other, and then put it back. We will be doing that with friends and family also :) That way we still get a lovely card, but we don't have to spend the money :) We hope everybody has a wonderful Valentines day with the people they love and that we love you too.

Swaptree - trade books, CDs, DVDs, and video games for free

Swaptree - trade books, CDs, DVDs, and video games for free

Iverson Wedding

Amy Stranger (bridesmaid)



Mic finally eating something

Barb (Bridesmaid.... fellow Peace Corp volunteer)

The beginning stages of the hair

Abbie Ellison (junior bridesmaid)

Mom, Mic, Greg, and me

Madison walking down the aisle

What a beautiful wedding!!!!! Michala Golden and Mark Iverson were married this past saturday the 6th of February. The day ended up being beautiful with some sun and no rain (Friday rained all day). The wedding was at 4 pm and afterwards was the reception from 5 to 11pm. The wedding went off without a hitch. Madison did great, she was so eager to go down the aisle that she almost ran over the ringbearer. It was wonderful to see so many of Michala's friends, Mark's family and friends, and Peace Corp people make it to the wedding. We want to thank everybody for braving the winter weather to attend my baby sisters wedding. Thank you Aunt Monie and Aunt Patti for all of your help (and to everybody else.... the Ellison's, Mom, Dad). Our wonderful friend Greg Sommers officiated the wedding and he promised he'd officiate Madison's wedding in fifty years :)

The reception was a lot of fun. JR got on the dance floor and was so inspiring that Dad even danced some. I received a lap dance (from JR)!!!!! The great part was seeing all of the 19 Peace Corp people dancing to the Bulgarian music..... it was so much fun. We even had a ton of help after to tear down the reception site. All of the wonderful Peace Corp volunteers continued to volunteer, they were so eager they took down things that didn't need to be taken down as well as my aunts, Mom and Dad, the Sommers, and the Ellison's. I will add more photos as I get them.

The happy couple are honeymooning in St. Lucia!!!

Funny Madison

Madison in her Winnie the Pooh box


having tea with her horse



she wants to eat like a big girl (that shirt got tossed)


The new way to carry a toddler

Miss Madison wearing multiple hats

Madison is a character... that's all I can say. I was cleaning out her closet yesterday and pulled out a bunch of hats. A couple minutes later I look down at her and she has three of them on her head. Tonight she sat on Aspen and started to ride him like she does her rocking horse, but she also likes to walk on him so she was put on time out. She also has this Winnie the Pooh box that she loves to carry around and either stand on or she likes to sit in it.

You can tell she is getting close to being two. One minute she is my sweet Miss Madison and the next thing her head is spinning and she's spewing pea soup!!!!! She starts flopping her arms around and throwing things and I just have to set her on the ground and let her throw a tantrum. For the last two months she has been attached to me, not wanting anything to do with JR unless it's sympathy (tonight during timeout she just kept saying "Daddy, Daddy"). It will be intersting to see how she is at Mic and Mark's wedding.

Wedding Shower

Countdown to the Iverson/Golden wedding begins. This weekend Madison and I were in Coeur d'Alene for Michala's wedding shower. The theme was Mrs. Iverson; every guest was assigned a letter for the gift. Everybody was very creative and I want to say thank you for your love and support to Michala. We played name the other half of the celebrity couple ( I realized Mic and I probably read way too much People) and how well do you know the bride (I failed). I will get pictures posted as soon as I can, but I am on Mom and Dad's computer and don't know how they load their pictures.
Madison was sick the beginning of the trip, but she's doing much better now. She calls Grandpa "Pappa", which he says he prefers. We are still working on her saying Grandma, but she does say Mic and Mark. There are engagement photos of Mic and Mark on the firplace and Madison kept pointing to Mark and saying Mark. It was pretty cute. She has become so vocal. She loves Kelty. She keeps coming up to her and kisses her and lays on her, but then she throws the basketball on Kelty. Kelty is getting mixed signals.
We will be back on Sunday for the final week before the wedding. Keep checking the blog I will have more updates and pictures.

Peter Rabbit Organics

I love Peter Rabbit. When I was at Starbucks this past week I noticed they had a snack for babies and toddlers that's called Peter Rabbit Organics, so of course I had to give it a try. Madison loved it. If you have a little one and are interested in a healthy, organic snack for your children give it a try. Unfortuantley, for those of us on the West Coast we can only find it at Starbucks or Amazon. Please visit the website www.peterrabbitorganics.com to learn more.

Snowshoeing

Mopping for Mommy

Madison eating lunch

Carving our own path (Aspen and Demon were in heaven)

Getting ready to go

Patiently waiting as we get ready

Giving Aspen his good night kisses

Doing her hair!!!

Waiting while JR fixes the tire

Our first flat

Crazy hair

We've had many firsts this last week. We had our first flat tire, our first trip snowshoeing with Madison, our first tantrum in the mall, and our first night going to bed without Mommy catering to Madison.

We knew our tire treads were getting low, so it was not a surprise when we got a flat from a rock on the way home from Coeur d'Alene on Monday. Luckily, we were right by a rest area. We went snowshoing yesterday, which was a disaster. My shoes hurt so bad that I wanted to puke, JR insisted we eat lunch after the hike so Madison and I were starving, and Madison completly lost it after lunch because it was waaaay past her naptime (she still didn't fall asleep until 10 min outside of Boise). We went to the mall today to find pants for JR for Mic's wedding and Madison got really mad because we made her hold one of our hands. When she refused we put her in her stroller where she proceded to scream until we left the mall. It's funny how many people tried to make us feel better. One couple said they could remember those days and another lady said she felt like doing the same thing. JR and I just laughed. Lastly, Madison pretty much went to bed without dinner tonight because she only wants to eat tomatoes and fruit so JR and I decided that she needs to eat her dinner before she gets her "dessert" Tonight it was cooked carrots, red potatoes, and chicken. Mommy wanted to give in and give her peaches, but Daddy insisted that we don't give in to her. I hope we aren't being bad parents (not many people have to say no to the 100th serving of fruit for the day or the 20th cherry tomato.

The good news.... I am all caught up on my DVR'd shows and Madison is hilarious!!!