Busy at Home

We have been home a week and have been very busy. We have worked in the garden and the yard everyday. We have a community garden plot and one in the back yard. We are hoping it will be very productive this year. Bridger all of the sudden LOVES tomatoes, I am hoping that we will have lots to eat from our gardens. Bridger has grown up alot over the last 2 months, and he is now a little boy and not a baby. Some big changes over the last week: he is now down to one nap a day, he has no more pacifier (yes, this is really embarassing that he is 17 months old and we are just taking it away) But, I am proud to report that he has done just fine and it was alot easier than we thought it would be. We also set up his potty chair and he likes to sit on the toilet. I am not getting my hopes up too high that he will be potty trained soon, but getting him used to the idea. Bridger is talking more and more and is always saying something...or laughing..or singing...or dancing. He is so fun to watch!

Although it is about 30-50 degrees cooler here than what we have been used to in Austin, Bridger still loves being outside and as long as he can be, he is a happy camper. He loves to "help" Daddy with EVERYTHING outside and loves to be in the garden. We are glad that we have a great backyard that he can play in all day long.

This is a bird that we found in our backyard. It was a neighbors pet that had flown away. He spent the afternoon sitting on the line until the owner came to get him. He and Bridger had great conversations while he was here.

Home Again, Home again, Jiggity Jig...

Thanks to all of those that have helped us have a great 9 weeks in Austin. Again we owe a great big THANK YOU to the Megerles to letting us stay with them for so long! We enjoyed being with them and Bridger misses Tyler and Dylan alot. I would also like to thank all of my co-workers at North Austin Medical Center for being such good friends and fun people to work with. And, of course, all of our friends in Austin that we got to party with and who helped watch Bridger while I was at work. Thanks a million!

Our drive home went very well. Bridger was a Champ and did great... he only cried a few times until the last 2 hours of the 2 day drive and then he had had it! The poor boy was just bored to death... I will include a picture of his bored little face. We did stop alot along the way. In Dallas, we got to see my old roommate and friend Stephanie and got to meet her little man, Marcus. It was great to catch up with her. Thanks for letting us stop by! We also stopped in Independence and Liberty, Missouri , and toured some of the LDS church sites there. We stopped at alot of rest stops and parks along the way to break up the drive and we both survived and made good time. I am so glad that Bridger is such a happy boy and makes me life great. Thank you Bridger for putting up with a crazy mom to take you across the country for an 8 week adventure. I couldn't ask for a better son!

This is what his face looked like the majority of the drive. SO BORED!! Poor guy! I felt so bad.

The Pool

Yes, again, why I really like Texas, it is the first of May and already hot enough to enjoy the afternoon at the pool. You can see that Bridger already has a farmer's tan!! And even better, we will be long gone before it gets too hot. Bridger loved the Sprinkler park, and then spent a hour in the pool in his floaty. He loves the water!

SO many kids!

It has almost been a year since we have moved from Austin. Since then, all of our closest friends are either pregnant or just had a baby. Everyone has grown up so fast! We had a BBQ before Ben left back to Madison and here is the picture of most of the kids on the deck that Jeff and Ben built in less than 3 hours.

"The Woovenator" Stirkes again.

A long time ago Ben was nicknamed "the Woovenator" by his friends because of his impressive crafty skills and ability to make almost anything. Here is a picture of everyone in the Texas Aprons that Ben made in all his spare time while Mona and Bridger have been in Austin. What will Ben's next project be? Mona is hoping he will start the cradle for the baby.

Kings Ranch

I am sure that it was growing up in Wyoming that gave Ben his fondness for ranches and cattle. Southwest of Corpus Christi is the Kings Ranch, one of the biggest family owned ranches in the world. We had a hard time finding the ranch in time for the tour, so we just watch a video about it and took some pictures, and this is where Bridger got his first REAL cowboy hat.

Summer Haircuts

Mona and Bridger's new doos for the summer. Bring on the Heat!