Texas Times!

Here are a few moments from the last few months down here in Irving, Texas!

I got a little sick when I first got here and my sisters sent this sweet cookie with frosting that actually says "you need frosting" on it! Kade and I ate half the cookie within about 30 minutes!

I thought this was funny...Kade fell asleep and only then did I notice he had a fruit snack stuck under his chubby neck!

Kade is really starting to like to color...he's totally a lefty!

This moment seriously brought me to tears! So I put an old post of the Blue Rhino that Kaden has been obsessed with since he was a little baby. The nasty thing had been chewed on, was missing an eye, and would get all sorts of crap stuck in it no matter how much I washed it but he loved it. I brought it to the airport with us when we were flying out here to Texas and when I got on the plane, the Blue Rhino was MIA. I panicked and realized we must have dropped it just outside the gate. So I took off back up the ramp and started looking around. I got my head ripped off by the staff and was escorted back on the plane. I was holding back the tears! The Blue Rhino was gone forever! After we'd been here for a few weeks, Drew said he had a surprise coming in the mail. It was a smaller replica of the Blue Rhino! But Kade was so excited and really doesn't know the difference. Drew didn't know it was so much smaller so he ordered a bigger one too and now Kade has a mom and baby blue rhino that he is obsessed with. They are both on their way to looking as ragged and germ infested as the last one!

We also got to have our nephews come stay for a night and play video games with Drew! Kade was loving them!

This was the probably the geekiest day of my life...we went to some video game event and Drew was stoked out of his mind! But my little sis was here and we still had a good time!

We needed a second car and Kade had a great time doing a little car shopping!

The last week or so we've had some crazy rain storms! It's actually been really fun for the most part...good thing we're on the third floor!

And my favorite thing in the whole world to do...go to a good concert! Drew got us tickets to the Brad Paisley concert in Dallas. It was sooo fun! It poured that night and we went home soaking wet!

I love this...Kade has learned how to pray and this is how he tries to fold his chubby arms! And such a serious look on his face!

Fun Pics from Summer

I can't believe it's almost October! I'm so behind but want to post some fun pictures from our crazy summer!

Silver Lake in Michigan with some of our bestest Notre Dame buddies...we miss you guys!

Mall of America in Minnesota...pretty much the best place on earth!

Real soccer game back in Utah.

Hangin with some good friends at the Yergensen home!

Having fun with cousins after Knox's blessing!

Such cute cousins...almost exactly 1 year apart! Kade is wearing this sweet little boy blue outfit that we found and thought would look funny on him.

Swinging at the park with some of our favorite friends..Abe & Jess!

Swimming at the Murray Rec Center with the Smith cousins...

..and coming home to make some sweet treats!

Going shopping with Suz & Knox, Mom, Grandma, & Kristine.

This picture is slightly inappropriate but too funny to not include.

We had a great time in Utah...I need to find a picture but an important part of the trip was the Wasatch Back Relay that Drew and his family completed! Way to go guys! After that, I flew to Texas to find us an apartment and then back to South Bend to get ready to move. The movers came and we had a week to kill in an empty apartment before our stuff would there for us in Texas!

We hung out and said good-bye to friends...

..cleaned up the apartment (Kade was clearly a big help)...

played with the girls upstairs..they helped keep Kade entertained!

and took a road trip to Niagara Falls! It was soooo beautiful.

We stopped and took a tour at the Kirtland Temple which was really cool too. After that..we came back to South Bend and Drew flew out to Connecticut to start training at his new job and Kade and I flew down here to get moved in. We stayed in a hotel until our stuff got here and then met the movers at our new place. It took some time to get settled but we're really enjoying Texas!

Our Big Graduate!

So the most important thing to blog is Drew's big accomplishment...graduating from Notre Dame's MBA program!

We were so excited and grateful to have his parents, Sean & Jess, and Tineka & Tim for coming out!

More to come from our fun week...we went to Nauvoo and Chicago and had such a great time!

We're Here!

We made it to the big TX and are finally getting settled! And trying to adjust to this crazy heat! Drew accepted a job with GE and just started a few weeks ago. We will be moving every 8 months for the first few years and Texas is the first stop! So far, Kade's favorite things are the pool & climbing in the oven.

I am so behind on my blogging activities but we'll do our best to summarize the last three months.

No More Curls!

And one more post...it's an important one. We cut off Kade's curls and it was kind of sad! Yesterday morning he bonked his head and we decided to trim the hair down so we could get a look at the cut. Well, we went a little crazy and now he's pretty much bald. I don't even recognize the kid anymore. But I think he looks cute and kind of old!

This picture of him wanting me to pick him off shows the new cut pretty good.

Kade's totally GQin it up in the photo. This is the little girl we hang out with three times a week and he's really going to miss playing with her!

They are so cute together!

I promise Kade's not trying to suffocate her here. He loves to play peek-a-boo with the curtains and it was really funny to watch them laughing at each other.

Easter 2009

We had a great Easter this year and Kade had fun hunting for eggs at the community center here at the Villages.

Here he is showing off a good find.

He also got to meet the Easter Bunny and was a little unsure about this furry creature.

And we had a fun Easter celebration with friends...good food and more eggs to hunt for.

We fed the ducks at the lake on campus and took some time to relect on Easter Sunday.

And I have to throw this in because it was so funny...I'm taking a cake decorating class and was working on a cake for Easter. I let Kade lick some frosting off this spatula, turned around to get something, and turned back to see that he decided he wanted some more. So he must have got up on his toes and stuck the spatula into the cake (as you can see in the background). He was so excited and is just like his mom...he loves frosting! And p.s...he was a total monster after that. I totally belief sugar makes kids more hyper. I don't care who says it's a myth.

But it still tasted good and was fun to make. This class has been my great excuse to eat cake.

Latest Happenings

I just wanted to update the blog with a few of the latest happenings...

Big event for Drew...a trip to South America! He went with the MBA group to Chile and Argentina and had a blast! He didn't take many great pics but he did get one of him chillin in first class for the flight there. Him and his buddy lucked out somehow and had to be upgraded to first class. He brought me home a lot of fun candy, funny little toys, and a few cute soccer jerseys for Kade.

Kaden's blue rhino has kind of been a standing joke. He's had it forever and won't go to sleep without it. I'm guessing that most of the time I think he's sleeping he's actually knawing on this guys ears. As you can see, they've really taken a beating...as well as his nose. I have to wash this thing most everyday and it probably needs to be quarantined. We brought it to Utah and think it may have left a slew of germs for Knox to pick up.

Playing with our buddy Polina at the South Bend Chocolate Company!

We had a fun night watching some Notre Dame basketball with Cat and the Penrose's.

And our exciting family nights....going to dinner & running errands!

I came around the corner at the grocery store to this....

and then Drew tossed me into the box of stuffed easter animals!

We got to meet Cat's cute buddy, Hester, for brunch. Kade felt like such a big boy on top of the car...

And when he got to stand on this thing at a football game last weekend!