Baca's 60th Birthday Party

As you have read in previous posts, last weekend was Baca's 60th Birthday party. Since my computer is fixed, here are some pictures from that day!

--Two lovely ladies, Mac and Grandma Great--

--Here is Grandpa Great making Mac laugh--

--Hanging out with Gona in her pink skirt, white tights and boots, all dressed up for Baca--

--Quite the feast aunti em prepared!--

--Baca got a funny card with George Bush on it, only two more years!!!--

--Really neat book that Emmi and Josh got Baca for his bday. Journal to log fishing trips--

Snowboarding

So - last weekend we went snowboarding, that's right, snowboarding in Iowa. I know that all my northwest friends are laughing at such a statement, but it was really fun!

There is a place called sundown mountain (as much of a mountain as you can get in Iowa) in Dubuque. It is about a 3 hour drive, and wasn't that bad! It lies in an old riverbed, and is about 400ft from top to bottom. It would take us about 5 minutes to get all the way down, and was good for a snowboarding fix! The strangest part was driving to the lodge, which was at the TOP of the hill, and then snowboarding down to the bottom to catch the chairlift back up....totally backwards!

McKenna stayed with Aunti Em. Emmi along with Kade and Tali came over on Friday night. They stayed at our house and ate takeout, watched movies, and took a bath in the jacuzzi tub. Then on Saturday they went to Aunti Ems until we picked her up. It sounds like they had a good time with the baby! Although McKenna was a stinker and woke everyone up at night....guess we are used to it!

We left Friday after Shelly got off of work. We drove the 3 hours to Dubuque and stayed at the Hampton. We got in a game of Settlers before we hit the hay then got up early the next morning, ate breakfast and skied/snowboarded from 9-4ish. During lunch we managed to get another game of settlers in. There were 4 lifts and we tried all of them but the bunny hill. Damon was pretty good, and Shelly did great for only having gone a few times prior. I did hear that she was pretty sore the next day :( I got a chance to use my own snowboard. I am not used to the clicker bindings, and the icy snow. So, I spent most of the day riding my back edge for fear of wiping out on the ice. By lunch my toes had had it! I wound up with two bruised big toes, but it was well worth it!

Overall a great trip! It isn't even close to what I am used to, but we had so much fun nonetheless!

Pictures to come when my computer gets fixed!

Dead computer and Sunday Dinner

I was so planning on catching up on blogs this week - very behind. So, as I am formatting pictures and getting ready to start - my hard drive fails. Thanks to a perfectly timed best buy gift card at christmas, we had an external hard drive, and everything backed up. But, I am sure that Josh is not enjoying me using his computer :)

We did have a great time yesterday at Aunti Ems. It was Bacas 60th bday. Josh and Emmi picked out a really neat engraved leather journal for him. It has places to put photos, and to write about them. They got it for his fishing trips each year, so he can log who wins contests, and add captions to photos. Gona got him a last minute trip to Florida; they leave next week.

We had the party at Aunti Ems house. She made turkey breasts in her roaster, along with stuffing, potatoes, and salads. McKenna wore her pink skirt for the occasion and I made Denny's favorite cake, german chocolate. We also got to taste homemade ice cream made in the kitchenaid mixer!

Halfway through an otherwise uneventful day, the sink stopped draining. Mark spent the rest of his day plunging, snaking and cursing the sink. At this point it is still clogged somewhere, but he hasn't given up....of course this happened while I was doing dishes....just my luck!

I promise updated blogs on snowboarding, longest wait at a restaurant ever (Outback) and Minneapolis meetings soon!

The black plague.....

As promised - here is the story on the black plague of death!

So, McKenna was sick prior to flying home over Christmas. She got a flu shot, and we thought she was getting better. The whole time there she was happy and outgoing - no signs of sickness. When we got home, she started having diarrhea and throwing up a lot. We waited through a few days of this, then called Tara (Josh's good friend from high school who is a doctor.) She talked us through how to keep her hydrated and when it would be too much throwing up. Well, the next morning (early morning, 1AM ish) I woke up with the same thing. Every 15 minutes I was running to the bathroom. After 16 trips to the bathroom (I'll spare you the details) the worst was over for me. But I felt like every ounce of water had been drained from my body. I could barely move, let alone take care of McKenna. And just minutes prior to McKenna getting up, Josh started throwing up as well. We called gona and baca and asked if they could take McKenna for the day. Baca came over bringing gatorade and sprite, and left with the baby. We sat on the couch all day. McKenna spent the night so we could get caught up on sleep.

We found out later that day that Emmi, Tali, and Kade all got it as well! Probably from playing with McKenna the previous day....sorry guys :(

The next day gona called us and said she was going to take McKenna to Heathers while she went to court (she's a lawyer.) Around noon that day Heather called us saying that McKenna was throwing up again. So, I threw a coat on and went to pick her up. I told Heather I would call in to work the next day and keep McKenna home. Good thing I did, because Heather got the plague as well!!!

Needless to say after a week of re cooperating, I think we are all back to normal. Definitely the sickest I have ever been in my life! Just glad it is over!!!

Dinner party

On Saturday the 6th we had everyone over for turkey dinner. I wanted to try my new roaster oven that I got for Christmas. So I made turkey, potatoes, broccoli, and deviled eggs. Emmi, Kade, Tali, Baca and Gona came. The kids brought guitar hero 2 and Gona and Baca brought pie! We had a good time, and even got a game of settlers in!

Gona and Baca couldn't stay long, because they were picture shopping for their montana room. They found a neat picture of a cabin and mountain scene, very pretty! It was also their anniversary and they had dinner plans with their neighbors.

Emmi and the kids stayed until dark and then went home. Somehow Josh tricked them into leaving guitar hero 2 behind!

Little did we know when we went to bed that night that we had all gotten sick with what I refer to as the black plague of death - but more on that in my next post!

Christmas #4, also entitled our trek across the world

I was so excited to visit home. My family all got to see McKenna over labor day, but Uncle Brandon, Uncle Tim and Aunt Trisha as well as cousin Andrew had never met her.

Being the OCD planaholic that I am, I checked in for our 6am flight from Des Moines to Denver then Denver to the tri-cities. Then I went to sleep. I got up at 3am and checked the status of our flight (to ensure it wasn't delayed.) To my horror it was cancelled! And if you read Christmas #3 blog you know that there was a huge storm in Denver just days earlier. I called United and they said they couldn't get the plane that we were supposed to leave on out of Denver, and the earliest that we could make it Pasco was the 27th! That was 4 days later!!! I went ahead and booked that flight, and Josh got on the internet. He found a flight leaving the next day from Minneapolis to Seattle - this could work! We planned on renting a car to drive to Minneapolis, then renting a car in Seattle to drive over the treacherous Snoqualmie pass in the middle of Christmas morning.

Gona and Baca were so sweet and volunteered to take us to Minneapolis (so very amazing!) There we got on a plane around 7pm. That was actually great timing, because McKenna usually goes to sleep around then. She slept almost the whole 4 hour flight. Once we made it to Seattle we got our bags, and the car and I called the Wa DOT pass hotline. Snoqualmie was closed...NOOOOO. We decided to drive to North Bend (last city before the pass) and check again. If it was still closed we would spend the night. Once we got to the pass we decided to press forward (keep in mind this is around 10 pm, midnight our time.) McKenna was zonked in the backseat and we stocked up on energy drinks and snacks. Josh was white knuckled for 2 hours while we drove through horrible snowy weather. We called my family once we got over the pass to find out that they were up baking and delivering papers at 2 in the morning waiting for us!

So long story short we made it home at 3am, 5 am our time, then McKenna got up two hours later and didn't even know what happened!

So we had a delayed Christmas so we could all sleep in a little. I got to meet my little nephew Andrew and my sister in law Trisha. It was so good to see Tim, Don's son; it had been way too long!

--Andrew opening presents--

--Andrew a little sleepy eyed, isn't he a cutie?--

We proceeded to open presents and catch up and tell our crazy travel around the world story. I think in retrospect we may not fly through Denver during winter again! McKenna sported her santa suit one last time. She got a singing animal train, a wiggly ball, a plush elmo book, and a crazy reverse vacuum toy that spits balls everywhere - too fun!

We got family portraits from Tim and Trish, a DVD video camera and accessory kit, a Seattle picture, and I got a cookbook, gift card while Josh got a really need woodworking book. Of course in true LaRue style, we had to take the camcorder back because we already had one :( It was a really thoughtful gift dad! And we already had the Seattle photo. But it worked out great because we got a gift card for the camera, and mom gave us money to pay for the picture as well as buy a nice frame. We put the gift cards to good use already buying a harmony remote (so amazing) and a little picture printer from HP. We are planning on getting an external hard drive to backup our thousands of McKenna photos with the rest :) Dad got mom a DVR (and man is that thing complicated!) And he got his three gifts that he posted on the fridge on a napkin :)

--the aftermath of the LaRue Christmas--

--McKenna's not sure what to think about this person that can crawl--

--Here is the only time I have ever seen Brandon hold a baby, besides Chelsey--

--I think McKenna preferred paper as her favorite gift--

After Christmas presents were open we couldn't wait for Aunti April to come over. She had flown into Portland a few days prior and had to leave that day to fly back to California. I am just glad that we got to see her, and that she got to meet McKenna, even if the time wasn't long enough :(

--It was passed nap time, she loves April I promise!--

We got to see a lot of our other friends that week as well! Corinne (my college roommate) drove down from her hometown in Quincy. She is getting her PhD in Neuroscience (I fondly refer to her as my smartest friend.)

Jason came down the last day we were there from Yakima. He was sporting a FULL BEARD! I little warning next time! He spent the night and slowly became addicted to Settlers of Catan. Tim and Trish introduced us to this highly addictive board game, and we have since gotten many Iowans addicted as well!

On Thursday we went snowboarding. We brought Chelsey, her friends Mason and Ian, and Josh and I. We went to Bluewood and the weather was just perfect. I think I only fell maybe once! After some pointers on skiing from Josh Chelsey did really well as well! Chuck and Sam drove over to Bluewood with Sam's two nieces and one nephew. They played in the snow then we headed to our place for dinner and you guessed it, Settlers of Catan :) It was really good to see everyone!

I also got a chance to see Maren, meet her baby girl Jocelyn and catch up with her mom. As usual the time went too quickly, but we had a good time seeing everyone!

We got some family photos taken of everyone of which I will post when I scan them!

--McKenna took her first bath in the sink at gramma and grampa rues, I will never bathe her anything ever again (well until she gets too big) She obviously loved it!--

--Who would have known that a Johnny Jump up from my baby years would have been such a hoot!--

--Here is a cute one of her beautiful aunti chelsey while pulling daddy's hair--

We flew home on New Years Eve. I thought by now all the problems would be over. Think again! We flew into the very last gate in the B terminal (75th gate!) Our plan left from the A terminal. So we are hustling with baby, stroller, car seat, bags, etc through 75 gates, people movers, crowded airport, train ride, and make it just when we thought we would board. Well - come to find out the windshield was broken (of course.) So we were delayed just an hour and finally made it home! Needless to say we went to bed early, and there were no New Years festivities at the Skinner household!

Christmas #3 atG & G Great's

Sorry I am so behind on blogging!!

--McKenna's favorite toys: measuring cups at Grandma and Grandpa Greats--

On December 22nd, Josh took the day off work, and I was lucky enough to start my vacation that day. We packed up McKenna and gifts and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Great's. As usual Edna said that we would just be having finger foods, but of course there was a feast! Geoff, Chantel and Dick finally all made it from California. I won't even try to quote Dick's crazy story of getting through Denver, but they all made it with only slight delays. For those of you who don't know, don't ever watch TV or for future me who is reading this - Denver had a horrible snowstorm; they closed the airport for a whole day. And, flying around Christmas is already hectic without that mess!

--Here is McKenna eating Baca's head--

--And now a turn pulling Gona's hair--

We started with dinner. I brought fudge and peanut butter balls. Because we were running so late, I made ham roll ups in the car on the way there - and no one even knew ;) Everyone came at different times, but everyone was there by about 6 to open presents! We started with the gag gifts. We all draw numbers, and then choose from a pile of gifts that people have wrapped anonymously. This year I was the proud recipient of soap - one side says face, one says butt - I am sure that will come in quite useful. Josh got some bug spray. Some of the funnier gifts were a funky pot with a face on it, 3 feet of licorice, a metal piece off some piece of farm machinery, really old barbies, just to name a few. McKenna was spoiled rotten receiving clothes, toys, a gift card to baby gap and a fun laughing doll from grandma great.

--Colton choosing the crazy bowl with a face, and getting barbies, so lucky! And Emmi and Kade have robot eyes (oops)--

--The girls got purple and pink funky chairs that Bridgot ran through stores to get!--

--Tali opening her chair--

--Kaathy got a sign that says "A fisherman lives here with the catch of his life" and some funky Bush bashing cards--

--All the adults over 18 draw names for gifts, Josh drew grandma great and made her this birdhouse (she LOVES birds!)--

--Grandpa Great opening a gift (I think it was a batteryless flashlight!)--

Such a wonderful Christmas. Its nice that the whole family could make it!

After the festivities we hurried home to pack and get ready to leave for our journey to Kennewick Washington to spend Christmas with my family...little did we know!

Christmas at Gona and Baca's

--Here we are minus Mark (he snuck out to take the picture)--

On Thursday the 21st we went to Christmas #2 at Gona and Baca's. We went there after work for a feast that Gona had made. The Miller-Christians came as well. McKenna got clothes, toys, a Leapster Learning center and a small harley skull cap (wonder who that was from.) Josh got woodworking books, cologne, clothes, and a router table. I got a 22qt roaster oven, clothes, perfume, a necklace, a purse and a book about herbs. Josh made me an herb garden for Christmas that can hang in the basement. I can grow my own basil, fennel, thyme, rosemary, dill, and anything else I can dream of! I got him a drill and some funny tshrits from a website dedicated to geeks! He has a lot to live up to with all the woodworking paraphernalia he got this year!

--Skinner Family--

We got the kids guitar hero 2...according to Emmi they haven't left the basement for the entire Christmas break - so I guess it was a hit! We also gave both families pictures of McKenna in her bumble bee costume in frames that Josh made. We made our infamous calendar, and gave Mark and Emmi a knife set and ice cream maker. Baca and Gona are the proud owners of a Hawkeye steak brander, and some new CDs. Gona got a new bose stereo for the kitchen, and Denny gave himself a Harley wall hanging that will go well with the picture of labs that Gona got him :) If I am forgetting anything I am sorry, I wrote this all down and have since misplaced it :(

--Miller-Christians after they were told that Santa wasn't bringing them anything--

--Here they are after they were told we were just kidding--

--Kade cheesin for the camera--

Daycare Christmas

I am so behind on blogging - tis the season. I will do my best to catch up without leaving anything out! On December 15th we attended the daycare christmas. We got to meet Braden and Abby's parents, along with their brothers and sisters. Braden is 6 weeks younger than McKenna, and Abby is 6 weeks older. We had snacks, drinks and watched the kids open their presents! McKenna got a zebra bouncer sit and spin. She is still a little young for it, but it is really cute! She opened the present almost all by herself!

--Here is what Nanny Heather got McKenna for Christmas--

--Everyone opening their presents at once!--

--Braden is 6 weeks younger than McKenna, he is just watching--

--Abby is the other baby Heather watches, 6 weeks older than McKenna--

--Here is McKenna opening her first present ever!--

Promised Pictures

Here are the pictures from the Mowrer reunion as promised:

--Family portrait, sans crazy glasses--

--Oh boy.....what a picture--

Reunion

On Sunday we went to a family reunion at Gona and Baca's house. There we got to meet lots of family from Edna's side (Mowrers.) Her brothers children and their children were in attendance. We snacked on finger foods and mingled. McKenna took just an hour nap for the entire day (she was a tired girl that night.) There were fabulous door prizes; I took home a Christmas ornament and fan from China. Gona also bought what seemed like hundreds of those goofy glasses with plastic noses and mustaches. Everyone wore one (including McKenna) for pictures. As soon as I receive the photo I will post it. Poor Kade scalded his tongue on hot cocoa. After layering on a mound of marshmallows and whipped cream, there was no way to tell how hot it was. He actually got blisters in his mouth from it! I've had that happen from soup before - no fun!

Work is becoming more crazy as the days go by. It seems that many people have lost the sense of what Christmas is supposed to be. Everyone hustling, spending money, arguing over prices, or items in stock. I wish I could put it in perspective for them.......sigh.

We are counting down the days until we get to see gramma and grampa rue. Less than two weeks left and we can hardly wait! I shipped a few packages of presents home. I ordered one for my mom and had it shipped UPS. Because I was hurrying to submit the order, I transposed two numbers in our address. I shipped it in my name. When the UPS guy couldn't find the address I wrote, he accessed his database (who knows what is in there) and it told them that the resident had moved to Pullman! Somehow they (a) thought Brandi = Brandon and (b) thought it would be better to ship the package, hoping that it was me, rather than call me to verify the address. Silly UPS. Long story short - the package made it to Brandon in Pullman - guess he will bring it home when he comes home for Christmas!

McKenna and Santa

Two days ago we ran errands ALL day. McKenna was quite the trooper. After the post office, grocery store, Target, the mall, and Kohls, we stopped to visit Santa. While most kids sat on his lap, watched mom walk away, and then freak out, McKenna just sat there and looked bored. She watched me walk away, pulled at his beard, then looked on like she had better things to do.

--McKenna expressionless...next year will be a little more scary I think--

If you want to see some other funny Christmas pictures with santa, check out this link:

Funny Santa Pics

Smallville

In case you have never met me - I am a HUGE superman fan. This season of Smallville is just starting to get exciting, right before they take 4 weeks off for Christmas break. Here is a teaser that I can't help but get really excited about!

Funny Games

--Here she is sitting all by herself--

Lately McKenna is learning all sorts of fun games. She laughs anytime you zerbert her tummy; she thinks peek a boo is hilarious; can play in her sit n spin for hours; and she invents games of her own. One of her favorites (since she can sit on her own now) fall back and look at you. She will sit in front of someone, then fall onto your lap and giggle. Very cute.

--McKenna in her sit n spin--

She is also very much enjoying her cousin Kade's jumper. We hook it to the doorframe in the kitchen and she jumps while watching Rylee run around. I will try and upload a movie of it soon. Very fun!

--Here she is playing her favorite fall down and look up game--

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful thanksgiving. I was lucky enough to have Wednesday off. So, I made rolls and apple crisp. Then on Thursday I went to kickboxing, came home and made a new recipe: butter squash risotto. I loved it. You saute the squash, onions, butter, garlic and rice. Then you simmer it in white wine, and slowly add chicken broth and water. It was yum.

We went to Gona's around 11. Grandma and Grandpa Great, Emmi, Mark, and Kade all came as well. Damon and Shelly came for dinner because Shelly had to work at 3 on Thanksgiving. She is a pharmacist at Walgreens, and they are open on Thanksgiving, so they couldn't get home to Rockwell City and back in time to eat.

There was a pool tournament and Josh and Kade were the champions. Then we ate a wonderful dinner. Everything was quite yummy. And after a farkel tournament (of which I was the winner) we ate dessert and played with McKenna. A very fun day. I went home and went to bed at 8pm, and Josh and McKenna stayed over at Gona and Baca's so I could get a good night's sleep - since I had to get up at 1:30am the next morning.

The day after Thanksgiving (aka black Friday, aka the busiest retail day of the year) was nuts. People started lining up at 5pm on Thanksgiving night. They slept overnight. I got there at 3am to set up for opening at 5am. The line wrapped around our building, along the side, all along the back and around the other side again. There had to be at least 300 people there....what is wrong with people??!!?!?!?

Needless to say, by the time we opened the line was very long. It took half an hour just to get all those people in the store. Mad rush, craziness. We did about 6-7 times the revenue we do on a typical weekend day....it was nuts! But it was a lot of fun - my favorite day of the year to work.

Here are some pictures from Turkey Day:

--Damon and Shelly--

--Josh, Brandi and McKenna--

--Gona, Baca, Kade and McKenna--

--Grandpa and Grandma Great--

--Mark, Emmi and Kade--

What a wonderful family!!

Token bum picture

I have to put this on here to publicly humiliate my little girl. As everyone knows you have to take the token 6 month bum picture. I am sure that many boyfriends in years to come will very much enjoy this picture. It is too cute not to share with everyone :) It was difficult to take because McKenna hates being on her tummy. Enjoy!


And in this second shot you will see that Rylee felt the need to show off her bum as well in the background. I think she's jealous.

PS3 - crazy people

I had to dedicate a blog to the infamous PS3. Let me tell you the extent of the crazy people. We launched the PS3 (playstation 3) on Friday this week. On Wednesday....WEDNESDAY, people were asking if they could line up, and sleep in 20 degree weather overnight for two days. We told them that the earliest we would allow a lineup would be at midnight. Here is a video showing the initial lineup that had to be facilitated by a cop to avoid riots, stabbings, death...etc.



We had 26 units, and people slept for many hours in order to get them. Some posted on ebay in an attempt to make $1000. Some are just crazy.

Then, we launched the Nintendo Wii on Sunday. Again, a line formed 24 hours in advance for the 45 units that we received. People, I have determined, are crazy.

On the homefront - everyone is sick. Josh has been coughing for a week, and now McKenna is as well. We have been pumping them full of drugs, and I think the little one is feeling better, but Josh is going to the doctor today if things don't improve. I have somehow avoided it?

Finally - I just finished my first 10 weeks of kickboxing. I am happy to report that I lost weight, and 12 inches (woohoo!) I signed up for another year, so hopefully cute little summery outfits are in my future :)

First solid Food

McKenna had her first non bottle meal on Saturday. I guess you can't really call rice cereal "solid" food, but it is a start. After she had her appointment with her peditrician, Dr. Bilgi, we decided it was okay to start her on solids. He recommends waiting until 6 months for cereal, then next month we get to start on veggies.

McKenna was not too excited about the whole idea. She tried to grab the spoon, and then proceeded to talk with her mouth full and get food everywhere.


I am fairly certain that more got all over me, and her face than actually went in her tummy. But we are successfully on day three and she is starting to get the hang of it!

--not too thrilled with cereal--

6 month checkup

McKenna had her 6 month checkup yesterday, and another round of shots :( I know that they bother me more than her, but I still hate to see my little girl cry. She weighed in at 17 lbs and 25 inches long. That is between the 50th and 75th percentile for both. So - healthy girl! You are supposed to double your birth weight by 6 months and triple by 12. She is a little over double (probably because she inherited my chubby cheeks!) The doctor gave us lots of fun tips about how to introduce solids, so we are going to try some rice cereal tonight (be on the lookout for cereal covered baby pictures!)

The weather in the midwest is nuts. Three days ago I had to dig some shorts out for McKenna. I had put all her summer clothes away; but it hit almost 80 degrees here! So she wore that, the next day was kind of blah, then yesterday it snowed. What the heck? So, I packed all her summer stuff away again, and dug out the baby eskimo clothes....crazy.

--as you can see, Rylee is enjoying the fireplace with the new freezing weather--

Halloween Part Duex

So - as promised - here are some more pictures of the halloween party we went to. My friend Scott and his brother threw a HUGE party. They own about 20 acres outside of Boone and had a bonfire. They cleared out their giant garage and had a smoke machine, blacklights, spiderwebs, bloody body parts and a bates motel sign. It was a hoot.


Here is Scott dressed as a sexy lady of the night. His pimp wife is quite embarassed. She should be used to him by now.


And after a few drinks Scott lost all sense of modisty and started flashing all the cameras. He was quite proud of his giant boobs, high heel boots, wig, and full makeup. I do believe he deserved to win. Congrats scott!