Halloween '08

I was sad that we were to late to go to the pumpkin patch this year.  I thought Haven would have a lot of fun, but they were all out of pumpkins and so I knew I couldn't get the great pics and they didn't have all of the fun stuff to do either.  We did have a pumpkin to carve though and so we spent our evening carving a pumpkin and handing out candy.  Jonathan cleaned the pumpkin out and I carved it.  This was only the second time I had carved a pumpkin.  Haven really didn't have much interest and we had to round her up to take pics.  I accidently downloaded the pictures in the wrong order, but you will get the idea.

Haven and mommy carving...okay Haven posing and mommy carving. 

Haven did help clean a tiny bit...at least she tried.

Haven is helping dump the insides into the bowl.

The bowl before the pumpkin guts were put in it.

Daddy cutting the top off.

Daddy's little flower.

Mommy's little flower too!

Every time I look at her in the costume it just makes me smile.  I was sad we didn't get her to smile in the costume.

I wanted a happy pumpkin, so ours has a smile not a scowl.

Our little flower

These pictures do not do the outfit justice.  It is SO CUTE on her.  I would just stare at her all night long she was just so adorable.  I will try to get better ones tomorrow.

Art Museum

For my birthday outing I wanted to go to the St. Louis Art Museum.  So we headed to St. Louis Friday.  I am not one to branch out, so I wanted to be brave and try a new restaurant while we are there.  The unknown kinda scares me.  We heard about this buffet that had a Mongolian BBQ section, so we decided to go there.  It was great.  It was a huge Chinese/Mongolain buffet that was just enough different from most buffets.  They even had a chocolate fountain..not chinese, but sure good!  If you are ever in the Chesterfield area try out Emperor's Palace.  The museum was great, but I was disappointed in the lack of impressionist paintings!  They had a ton of paintings I just didn't get, like an orange canvas with a strip of white.  Or a black canvas with pin stripes.  In my way of thinking anyone can do that.  Too many of those and not enough good ol' classics.  The other displays were very good though.  I still prefer the Nelson Atkins in KC....sorry St. Louis.

The grounds were beautiful!  They had two lines of trees that were turning a gorgeous red color.  And the paths would be peaceful to walk or sit and contemplate.

The view of the grounds were wonderful.  It reminded me of the grounds on the South Carolina plantations. 

And of course the building itself was beautiful.  I was surprised that there was a lot of space that had nothing on display.

Haven was as good as can be for an 18 month old that was not allowed to run around!  Her little voice echoed around the place when she decided she wanted to talk loud and proud.  She is getting to the stage where she says "Hi" to people when we pass by.  It is so fun.  It was a great day.

Away from Home

 Jonathan and I went to Branson this past week for the Ministry team retreat.  Dr. Diehl, one of the Nazarene GSs was our speaker.  He was funny and I enjoyed his talks.  We dropped off Haven in Eldon Tuesday afternoon and then headed to the Lodge of the Ozarks in Branson.  They had remodeled the rooms so they were nice and clean.  The only complaint I had was that we could only access wireless internet if we sat on the floor by the door.  So we ended up watching our Dancing with the Stars on the floor.  We really enjoyed our time there.  Haven was congested when we left and I became sick when I got there, but I still enjoyed myself.  This was the very first time we have left her and we started with a bang.  Four days and three nights.  According to mom the first day for Haven was rough, but it got a little better after that.  She really bonded with Paw Paw.  It was nice for Jonathan and I to spend some quality time together.  We needed it after 18 months of have the three of us, but we did miss her.  I tried to only call morning and night.  I think if I would have been at home without her it would have been harder, but we were distracted most of the time and we were out of a routine, so I did better than I thought I would.  I was more worried about her feeling abandoned than anything.  I knew though that she was being loved and that is the most important thing.

This picture is out of order.  It is supposed to be at the end.  Haven loves pushing her big stroller and since mom and dad's house is to small for that, mom went out and got Haven her own stroller that is a bit more her size.   According to mom she pushed it around all week long.  

We started the trip to Grandma and Grandpa's with a small nap.  She is just so cute when she sleeps. I was looking at the photo's later and realized this was from a different time.  Oh well, she did nap on the way, so we will pretend this is the right day.

One of the days we went shopping.  One thing Branson has is a lot of shopping!  We found some winter clothes for Haven and Jonathan found $50 suits!  We bought three for that price!  At the suit store my friend Kiley pointed out how uncomfortable she thought this mannequin might be :o)  The picture just cracked me up!

One of the main things we did of course was eat out and gain weight.  We couldn't go to Branson and not eat at Famous Dave's.  We also ate at the Hard Luck Diner.  It was fun.  The waiters and waitresses go around and sing songs.  They sing Christian songs too.  They actually have good voices and the food was yummy.  I would recommend the experience.  Jonathan got sauced at Famous Daves :o)

Our whole group went to see Noah the musical.  This amazing statue was out front.  The theater itself was amazingly beautiful and HUGE.  We enjoyed the musical.  Because I wasn't feeling the best I got a bit antsy, but it was still a great experience.  The props were spectacular.  At one point they had a 180 degree view of the inside of the ark.  Amazing.

We were glad to be home safe and sound with Haven.  We appreciate Mom and dad watching her so that we could have some time before the new baby comes.

"Strollers"

One of Haven's newer ways to play is below.  She is so cute when she puts her bear in the push toy and pushes the bear around the house.  The push toy is supposed to have a panel where the bear is, but she takes that off and uses it as a stroller.  She also likes to stand on the platform where the bear is.  As I type this blog, she brought the toy in and put a different bear in it...along with two of my fuzzy socks.  The bear looks very warm and cozy.

I think she has something in her mouth.

I love it when she "cheese"s.  If you look behind her, yesterday she started putter her bear on the scooter and will push it around.

Last night she decided to stand on the scooter.  First time for that!  I think I need to get her some new PJ's.  She has some high water pants going on.

Play Date

If you look at the link on the right hand side, you will see my friend April's blog.  Click on that link and it will take you to a blog where her daughter Ella and Haven had a play date last Friday.  There are some really cute pictures.

Centennial Celebration

We had a church picnic today to celebrate the Nazarene Centennial.  Wonderful weather, good food, fun and friendship, oh and a lot of work, but it was worth it.  Here Haven is getting a ride from Stan.  Stan and Norma were missionaries for over 30 years and moved from California to be close to their daughter.

Jonathan has been running around crazy for weeks preparing, but finally got to relax a bit and play horse shoes.  Andrew is one of our college students.  He was playing hooky from studying, but we didn't mind!

Lorena and Taryn are Haven's little mother hens.  They watch over her and play with her.

Michael said this was my redneck husband drinking tea out of the jug.  He came from California, but is midwest at heart.

Jonathan played tug-o-war.

He participated in the sack race too,  He was everywhere having fun.

Haven called a football a ball ball.

Jonathan and I doing the three legged race.  We were second.  We also did the egg toss and would have won if it didn't break the very last throw.  Well, duh, but hopefully you know what I mean.

Zoo Surprises

We finally made it to the St. Louis Zoo with Haven!  It was the PERFECT day!  The sun was out, but it was cool enough out that we never got hot.  I actually wore a sweater part of the time.  The ant eaters are such weird looking animals.  Actually there were a lot of unique animals.  It is amazing how creative God was when creating the world!  What an imagination.

One thing I love about the St. Louis Zoo is how beautiful it is.  There are so many paths that are just full of wonderful plants, flowers and bushes.  It is actually very peaceful in so many places.

What a surprise it was when we rounded a corner and this woman was looking at me like she knew me and waved.  I was even more shocked when I realized it was my cousin from Olathe Kansas.  We had just gotten there and so we were able to spend the day with the cousins.  What a pleasure it was!  Jenna loved spending time with Haven.  At the end of the evening we went out for supper and Haven was a bit slap happy after a long day without much of a nap and Jenna was so cute making Haven crack up for at least five minutes straight.

The hippos came extremely close, but the picture was bad due to the murkiness of the water.

Jenna just loved Haven riding in the stroller with her.  It was so cute how she put her arm around her.

Logan is only a couple of weeks younger than Haven.  He has a full set of teeth to Haven's six.  Logan had the greatest smile.  You could tell it even under the pacifier.

Daddy carried Haven a lot and held her up to look at the animals.  He sacrificed a sore back for his daughter.  What a daddy!

The elephants were amazing to watch.  This one was drinking and eating.  The way they use their noses is just fascinating.  

Haven loved to push her stroller.  She ended up riding in the Sparks's Zoo stroller more than her own, so she pushed hers when she wasn't riding.

She watched the animals.....but

mainly she watched Jenna and the kids.  She was so tired since it was nap time.

Logan and Radford were tired too, so they took a small nap.

This was a strange beast.  It's tongue is like a giraffe's and its legs are like a zebra.  The plaque said that it was closer to the giraffe than a zebra.

It was such a wonderful thing to spend the day with cousins.  I don't think I got a picture of Ericka though.  Here are all the kids.  Tyler, Austin, Jenna, Logan and Haven.

Like I said Haven was a bit tired, so there was not all that much excitement on her face.  At first I don't think she knew what to think of riding up and down and in circles.

We got to see the feeding of the penguins.  There was a statue of one that Haven hugged.

This was a rescued brown stork that had an amputated wing.  He was really close to the glass.

Haven and daddy watching the penguins swim and splash.  I never did warm up after being in there!

We also got to see the feeding of the bears.

We really have to run after Haven now if we put her down.  I need a leash!  Aunt Amie this is the outfit you got her MONTHS ago.  It fits perfectly now that she is actually starting to grow a bit.

Look at that double chin.  This was one large animal.  He was sticking his food out at us.

Haven fell asleep on the way to the car.  Long day, but a very amazing one.