Buddy Walk - October 2009

Our first Buddy Walk. A buddy walk is to raise awareness about Down Syndrome and to help those with the many medical needs of people with Ds. We wanted to try it out this year and will be making this an annual event for our family. We LOVE LOVE LOVE the Jeff an Val and their family for coming and supporting our little Annika. We walked in the rain and loved every minute.

Friends we have met through various programs. Anna and her family, Natasha and her family, Hailey and her family, and Stockton and his mom. (Ben on the side)

Rachel and Stockton

Joe, Anni, Valerie, and Zach

November 2009 - Picture Purge

Gavin's field trip for November. He got to make his own pizza at Papa Johns. Coolest field trip ever.

Sauce, pepperoni, and cheese, mmm-mmmm.

Gavin and friend Carson

Annika and her curly hair. It is naturally curly. She does have this layer on the very top that is stick straight. I curled the top layer here!!! So beautiful.

Thanksgiving 2009

With the Urvina's

Grandpa and Grandma gave all the families a Little People Nativity set. They are a hit.

Sam with his two daughters Tara and Ila. Ila is with her mom Heidi.

Great nativity for kids.

October 2009 - Picture Purge

The last months have been very busy with many activities. Here is our October summary.

The older kids we think got the H1N1. They camped out on the couch for a while. Annika was not sick, she just wanted to do what the big kids were doing. I couldn't let her up there with the kids so I got G's little couch and she thought it was great. She loved it.

Gavin's first field trip to a pumpkin patch.


Gavin was feeling a little nostalgic when he saw his old dalmatian costume. He just had to put it on. When he was 3 and actually fit in this costume, I couldn't get him out of it. He had to wear it everywhere.

Madi's Elphaba pumpkin!

Gavin's bat pumpkin.

Annika as a leopard kitty. Madi wore this when she was this age!!

Madi as an arctic fox!!! My first attempt at a homemade costume. Definitely fun but way more expensive!!!

Cousins are always fun to go trick-or-treating with!

Jeff and Val as John and Kate Gosslin!! Love it!

Kids in their Easter Clothes

We attempted to get 3 very tired children looking happy in a good picture. We found 1 good one out of 230 pictures. Here is our gem!!! Madilynn, Gavin, and Annika May 2009

We started in our living room on the couch.

Then we moved into the backyard....

Then we tried the tree. Not so good. Annika doesn't like the feel of damp grass.

Ok, so back in the house. Maybe?....

Well, we tried.

Visit from Grandma and Makayla

While Joe and I were in Canada my mom and my niece Makayla came from Utah to help out with our children. They had so much fun with grandma and Makayla. They don't get this opportunity very often. They enjoyed every minute and barely missed mom and dad while we were gone. I think Anni missed us a little!!! The first few pics are not the best quality. We took them with our older camera.

Makayla, Madi, and Gavin decorated this stump that is in our yard.

Starfish we found at Kopachuck State Park.

Makayla and her sand dollar. There are so many here we couldn't not step on them.

Grandma and Annika after a picnic lunch.

Madi and Makayla in the midst of all of those shells. So cute.

So hard to say goodbye to such a good friend.

Grandma, Makayla, Madilnn, and Gavin in our backyard.

... and 3 kids in a pear tree.
(Our pears are starting to look really nice. I can't wait to eat them.)

Makayla

Annika starting a new phase

Miss Annika is growing so much lately. She started doing a little army crawl/roll to get around. She passed her hearing test(sedated BAER) for the first time. She has perfect hearing. She is showing her wonderful personality. She has started throwing mini tantrums when she doesn't want something or we take something away. She is understanding quite a few signs and is doing a few as well. She said "No" to me for the first time yesterday. It was wonderful!!! Probably the only time I will say that. She is starting to really like this baby doll Grandma Simmons got her when she was only a few months old. Yeah I have a little girl who likes baby dolls. She will tickle us and laugh. She tries to climb over us on the floor. She will stand for short periods of time against the couch or window. My favorite is when she will turn to me and start having a conversation. No legible words but I love it. It makes me laugh. She is a pure magnet for attention. I can't take her anywhere without her waving and saying "hi". She is a big flirt. Way to go Miss Anni.

Annika in action. She is so fast she is blurry!!!

Annika eating licorice

Joe gave Annika a piece of licorice. This is the result! Yes, he had to clean her up!!!

Annika in pigtails

Annika in pigtails. Insert: Mischevious laugh here.

and here.
Thanks Aunt T and Uncle John for the cute new hair bows!!!