Men and women

There are times when women are completely clueless about things, and then there are times when men are completely clueless.

For example...

Nathan has a lot tools in his tool box and I only know of maybe two--a wrench and a screw driver. I have no clue what everything else does which means I would be in a heap of trouble if I had to fix something around the house or on the car. But when it comes to taking care of Hannah I have it down.

This morning I was dressing Hannah for the day and I was putting on a fresh diaper. Nathan came walking in and I decided to test him. I asked "Nathan, do you know what size of diaper does Hannah wears?"

He paused for about a second and replied "9 months?"

That brought me a big smile on my face. Men...they make me laugh. :)

For Grandma...

Hi Mom,

These videos are too big for email, so I'm posting them on the blog for you. The first video is of her laughing before bed time. It's a little wobbly because I was holding the camera and waving a dish towel around to get her laugh. Sorry. The second video is of her making her scrunchy nose. She does this every time she gets the sippy cup. Enjoy. :)

Let me tell ya 'bout the birds (not the bees)

As many of you are aware I love to bird watch. So when spring comes around in Iowa it is one of my favorite seasons because all the birds come out to play. But this year we have had more visitors than usual. There are times when I look out at my porch and this picture comes to mind:

Here are some of the visitors we have had this month.

We see several finches (these are Nathan's favorite birds to watch). The male finches are our favorites because they are SO BRIGHT!

We have a plethora of sparrows and a few chickadees stop by. There was one time I counted 13 sparrows on the bird feeder!

A few of the big birds that we have seen are doves and common grackles.

My favorite birds are the cardinals! I love to look at these birds because I never saw any growing up in California.

But the coolest birds that have come to our home are the red-bellied woodpecker and downy woodpecker.

Kronk's favorite creature that the bird feeders attract are actually not birds. He likes the chipmunks that come and stuff their face full of nuts.

With all of these creatures coming to our porch it keeps Kronk entertained pretty much all day long. There are many times throughout the week where you will hear a distinct 'thud' because he hits the window trying to go after the birds or chipmunk--but mainly the chipmunk. And when he is not running into the window he just sits right in front of it stalking anything that moves.

Sleeping beauty picture courtesy of Google images

Visitors from Utah

The state of Iowa has had several visitors from Utah this past week.

On June 11th, Silvia H. Allred came to Des Moines for a stake Relief Society conference. Me and four other friends drove to Des Moines to hear her speak and it was wonderful! She encouraged us to be kind and friendly to all who come into the church--members and non-members. She also talked about the history of the church in Africa and how it just started with a few people reading the Book of Mormon, and how it changed their lives. And we got to meet her afterwards too. She is such a wonderful and spunky woman. I cannot believe she is a mother of 8! What an incredible woman.

And this weekend we had 5 general authorities come to the Iowa City Area! They were Elder Richard G. Scott, Elder Claudio R. Costa, Elder Randall K. Bennett, Elder Larry Y. Wilson, and Elder Reall (I don't have a picture for him).

They came and did a leadership training meeting with Stake Presidencies and Bishops from the surrounding area on Saturday. And one of the best parts is that I got to help serve the dinner for those brethren. It was an honor and privilege to do such a wonderful service for them.

Then on Sunday, our stake had Elder Wilson and Elder Costa speak at our meeting (Elders Scott, Bennett and Reall went up to the Cedar Rapids stake). It was so neat to hear their personal stories.

Elder Wilson attended Harvard with my current Bishop and his wife back in the day. What a small world! And Elder Costa--WOW! He shared stories about when he was a mission president in Manaus, and the wonderful dedication of the members there. Their nearest Temple used to be 7½ days away. DAYS!!! Four of those days were on a run down boat, and 3½ days on a run down bus. And I complain that Nauvoo is so far away. It made me realize how blessed I really am.

It was a great week and I am sad that it's over with.

Pictures of Sister Allred, Elder Scott, Elder Costa, Elder Bennett, and Elder Wilson are courtesy of lds.org.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Nathan!

This year was Nathan's first "real" Father's Day and I wanted to make it special for him. I started planning for it several weeks ago and have been super giddy about it ever since.

Hannah and I went to a local ceramic shop last week and made a plate for Nathan. I had so much fun making it and was super excited to give it to Nathan. I wanted to tell him about it so bad but I didn't want to ruin the surprise. Finally...Father's day arrived and I gave him the plate.

Nathan LOVED it! It was actually a neat experience to watch him open a gift that Hannah and I made together. Upon opening the gift he started to get teary eyed and then we both got emotional about it. We have waited several years to have Hannah come into our lives and it was a very touching experience.

I also made him an awesome dinner and I got his favorite ice-cream from Heyns. We invited a few friends over for dinner and played a some games which was a lot of fun too. The horrible part about that day was my absent minded brain. I forgot to take pictures with the 3 of us, of the dinner, and our friends. GRRR! I think it had something to do with our insane weekend (I'll blog about that on another day). Oh well. At least I got pictures of Nathan opening his gift.

6 months

It's so hard to believe that my baby girl is 6 months old. It seems like yesterday that I was just holding her for the first time.

I love my little bald baby.

Our meal time song

I'm a little munchkin short and stout.

Here is my hand and here is my mouth.

When I get all hungry hear me shout!

Spoon it in and I'll spit it out.

**Lyrics by Nathan