"My town to Chi Town"...Josh's bike series-Part II

Actually it ended up being "Chi town to my town", but my crazy husband decided to do another bike trip with one of his buddies. Since it was raining the day they planned on leaving they decided to drive to Chicago and start the next day and bike back. They did 100 + miles a day, and during that time, Josh only had one beer can thrown at him! You'd better believe they followed the biker hatin', beer throwin', truck to the gas station down the road for a "friendly chat". Don't worry, just a couple kids up to no good, whom Josh called in for a DUI...that's my hubby, makin the world a safer place one drunk at a time :) Anyways, Josh forgot his sunglasses (kind of important), so after dinner when they got to Chicago, they went to the nickel arcade where Josh's friends were kind enough to donate all their tickets to furnish Josh with a pair of sweet 80's style glasses, florescent green sides and all! Without much training they were able to make it back home and accomplished yet another awesome feat!

Dancing Queen

Nothing is cuter than a couple three year olds runnin around in tutu's. Just like any other little girl, Bai loves to dance, especially ballet. A girl from our ward taught a little ballet class a couple months ago and Bailee loved it. They had a little recital and it was so funny to see how Bai responded to performing in front of a "crowd". She turned into shy, silly Bailee, but still did a great job! The funniest part is when Gabe (who was running around behind where we were seated) somehow snuck up on the stage, ran to the front, and with the biggest grin on his face started waving with both hands. He stole the show for a couple seconds, but it was pretty funny, and boy, was he proud of himself. All her friends in the class have moved, or moved previous to the recital so I am glad she was able to do this with them before we move as well.

Accomplishments...

Bailee and her little co-op preschool class had their graduation a couple weeks ago. We took turns teaching and it ended up being a great experience for Bailee and I have a greater respect for teachers! (especially teachers of toddlers!) The students wore their dad's white shirts/gown and a yellow construction paper hat/caps (poor Bai has such a large noggin that I actually had to rip her hat in the back in order for it to fit on her head...sad, I know, I just have to keep reminding her, "Big head, big brains" and that seems to make it okay :) They walked down the stairs to "Pomp and Circumstance" and were awarded their diplomas. They really had no idea what was going on, but knew there were treats on the table that were soon to be eaten. A lot of things seem to be coming to an end as our days here in Ohio get fewer and fewer. Lots of last time this, and last day that, but I managed to sneak a first in yesterday. Josh and I ran the Capital City Half Marathon. I have run quite a few races, but never a half, and figured it was now or never. My father in law paid for us to run it, which was even greater incentive (it was either that or pay back the $). So, we headed out in the rain to run, and it wasn't too bad ("too" being the key word). As I was running, I realized I consider myself a "casual" runner (running a couple miles a few times a week) and at about mile 8 I realized I didn't train as good as I probably should have. But that was no excuse cause there was Josh (who didn't train a stitch) running next to me the whole race and I had to keep telling him to slow down...annoying! Bless his heart for staying with me though. All in all, I reached my two goals of not stopping to walk, and finishing in under two hours. It really wasn't too bad, and I think it's kind of like having a baby, give it some time for me to forget all the unpleasant, uncomfortable parts, and I just might do another one.
Oh, and just so Gabe doesn't get left out, this is his latest accomplishment...

Class of 2010 Signing Day!

So, it's official we FINALLY made the decision as to where we are moving! Josh and I are still trying to figure out how the two most indecisive people ended up together...but after much pondering, praying, and possibly even a few ulcers, we are excited about our decision! Also, a special thanks to Josh's bro. Jacob who came up with the ingenius, yet extremely cheesy idea of a press conference. Of course, I think Josh wanted to do this because he missed the opportunity of becoming a professional athlete, but also he needed something of this magnitude to make the decision concrete. Anyways, this is it, and as one of the last in his class to make our decision, we are goin' to...

Spring Break Cont'd...

My posts are out of order, but we actually started our little vacation off in Rexburg. We were greeted by Grandpa who showed Bailee her "special drawer" which contained all sorts of treats, including, but not limited to the infamous cheese balls. (Last time there he bought a giant container and that is all Bailee wanted to eat for a week). We lucked out and had great weather, perhaps the nicest it had been all year. Josh and I took advantage and went running a couple times, jogging our old routes we've done hundreds of times...I must say, having so many different places and terrain to run is something I really miss. Anyways, it was good to spend time with Grandpa and Great Grandma Lora and to watch her face light up as she watched her great grandchildren destroy her not so child proof house...oops. It seemed my dad was in the garage fixing and gluing one thing after another without Grandma finding out, I guess we've learned our lesson. We had lots of fun bowling, playing at a bounce place, beautiful drive to W. Yellowstone, I-MAX, watching lots of basketball, eating good food and being with great company. The time always goes too fast, and I never take enough pictures, but we had a great visit and hopefully it won't be too long before we visit again!

Dad of course killed us bowling, but I think as a fair and legitimate excuse, the kiddies were highly distracting!!

Bailee and Gabe loved this place, but I think Josh and I had even more fun...what can I say, we're easily entertained.

The IMAX was a break through. Gabe never ever watches any type of television, etc. He loved the movie and sat and watched to whole thing, pointing with wide eyes the entire time. I must admit I enjoyed watching Gabe and his reactions more than the actual film. Oh, and as you can see, I think Gabe's favorite part was the popcorn.

Sweet Grandma Lora, 94 years old, can maneuver her Jazzy like you couldn't believe. I loved this picture of her watching Bailee, I think she really did find watching them quite entertaining.

Baltimore

Graduating from Dental school means we're on the job hunt. Josh's most recent interview took us to the Baltimore area. We turned our short trip into a mini vacation and found some fun things to do. The kids loved the National Aquarium, as Ohio doesn't provide much of a marine life, they found it very amusing. However, Josh and I got a kick out of the National Dental Museum (yes there is such a thing). Believe it or not, we were the only ones there ;) and took full advantage of the many photo ops we were presented. In all honesty and all things considered, it was actually a pretty impressive museum. It was a fun little family road trip, but only time will tell if we will be returning again sometime in the near future.

I know in this picture Bailee is just thinking..."Payback time"...(she hates getting her teeth brushed, although not half as bad as Gabe)

Ah, look at the smile on Josh's face, that's a proud father who's finally taught his son the correct way to brush. Now if only he can figure out how to get rid of that binky!

As a Dentist who secretly wants to be a cowboy, Josh has seriously vocalized his dream to one day ride his horse to work (He was kidding...I think). The fact that I caught him reading this makes me just a little nervous, hopefully it didn't stir up any new bright ideas.

Only Josh and his big mouth (and I mean that in the nicest way possible :) could fit that toothbrush in his mouth. When he says open wide...he means it!
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What does the fishy do?

How come I'm the one that looks afraid of the shark behind the glass...maybe it was the many viewings of Jaws as a child.

Tea Party

We were so excited to be able to celebrate Grandma Peterson's Birthday with a special tea party. In her travels around the world and through the years, she has collected many, many beautiful and unique tea sets. She obviously doesn't use them for anything more than a display, but we've all enjoyed grandma's company more than once at our own little tea parties growing up. As a matter of fact, one of the first things she did when we arrived at her house was pull up a chair and chat with Bailee over crumpets and tea (aka pretzels and Sprite:). I thoroughly enjoyed watching them, and I couldn't tell who was actually enjoying it the most. Trish did a great job throwing it together, everyone came dressed the part, and the food was yummy! I think Grandma appreciated being able to actually use some of the china and see it all laid out (good job Cic). Minus the disgusting herbal tea that I promised I'd try (Cicelie made a smart move in smuggling her Diet Coke in a tea cup..ha) it couldn't have been a more perfect way to celebrate the birthday of such a sweet, adorable little lady!