Cooper's Baby Shower

Here are some pictures from the baby shower. It went very well and everyone loved Cooper. he also got lots of clothes, books and some stuff for his nursery.





The cute cake


The one of the present tables


One of the games we played - get the baby bottle out of the ice - without touching it!


The turtle shirt I bought for Cooper in Cozumel


Looking for the presents


The Taylor Family


Cooper's dedication on Sunday

As Promised

Here is the blog that I really wanted to do yesterday. And by the way - the towel hunters never came!

Two weeks ago - on a Monday after Rick got off of work, we drove to the Virginia Beach. We stopped at an outlet mall on the way and spent way more time there than what we planned. We made it to the beach as the sun was setting. We just parked the car and started walking along the boardwalk. Finally I convencied Rick to walk on the sand for a while. The water was a little nippy, but it didn't stop me from walking it it. :0)

The Boardwalk


The sky is so cool in this picture


The Ferris Wheel


Yummy


Us



Rick and I got to spend the next weekend in Richmond. It felt super nice no to pack up the car and travel, do crazy stuff all weekend and pack back up and travel back to Richmond. We just relaxed, called about 75 different apartment buildings, finally found one - just one - went and talked with them, and then walked around in Carytown for the evening. We found a really neat little shop that we both fell in love with.
it is called 'Ten Thousand Villages'. We already have a few items that we want to buy for our future house. That night for dinner we ate a place called Havena 59. They had amazing food - rice and beans and fried plantain! And plus it was just a cool atmosphere to be in. On Sunday we went to Charlottesville for church at April and Randy's church. We ate lunch with them and then went back to their house and took naps and then just hung out. April cooked us dinner - real home cooked food! and then after Kes was put down for bed, we all played Mario Kart on the Wii. It was such a relaxing day, we both really enjoyed out time with April and Randy. And can you believe it - I didn't take one single picture!

During the week, I went up to Quantico to help Elizabeth pack up. It is starting to hit me that she is really leaving. I just keep thinking that Donna will be 4 years old before I get to see her again! Rick and I just had a good week being a normal married couple. I love just spending time with Rick - even if it is shopping at Marshall's. :0) I will have to write about our big find this past week later.

I will this lengthy post with some pictures of Spunkette and Cooper

I love this smile that Rick has


Whatta a cutie!


She likes popcorn. :0)


Here is the first picture I have taken of my nephew Cooper

Highlights

I have wanted to blog all week and I haven't had the time! I have so much to share and I still don't have the time right now. I am trying to get ready and packed up before the towel people come knocking on my door like they do every Friday morning. So, I will just give a few quick highlights and sign off. Maybe I will have some extra time over the weekend.

~ Had a super great week with Rick. Not that we did anything extra special, it was juts nice getting to spend so much time with him.

~ Went up to Quantico twice this week to help Elizabeth with her sorting through stuff and keeping the baby out of the way.

~Get to finally meet my nephew Cooper tonight! I feel like I am the last person on earth to meet him, but I guess that's ok. I couldn't do anything to change that.

~ Saturday is Cindy's baby shower, then dinner at Karen and Terri's.

~ Sunday is the SURPRISE anniversary party for my in-laws. So hoping that people show up!

That is all the time I have for now. Maybe next time will be real stories with some pictures!

Wisconsin Day Nine

We got up early, ate breakfast, packed the van up and drove a couple more hours to Louisville KY for church. We attend Southeast Christian Church. We have been there a handful of times and I always enjoy there services. We pated ways with Sarah and Joe – it was there one year anniversary and they planned on hanging around Louisville for the day. We ate lunch at a buffet and then hit the road for the final stretch home. I was still not a happy person to be around. We made it to WV by 6pm and boy was I glad to be out of the van!

It was good trip. I saw lots of people that week, go to show off my wedding pictures, did some shopping, spent time with my family, and threw my allergies for a loop. But it was hard at the same time. I really feel like this was a good bye trip for me. I am not sad anymore that we don’t live up there. I have a new life in WV and I am starting to finally make friends. It was also a hard week for me because I had to spend all that time with my family. I love all of them but sometimes it is hard for me to like them. We all are different people and we all know how to get on each others last nerve. :0) I did miss Rick that week, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. I think I missed my solitaire quiet life that Rick and I have during the week in Richmond. :0)

Wisconsin Day Eight

We got up early and went to the Funk farm for the Dairy Breakfast. I was supposed to work, but they ended up having enough help, so I walked around and took pictures. :0) It was a little chilly that morning and the wind was blowing. We brought the little girls with us and they loved seeing all the animals! Pam Johnson came up for it so that she could visit with us some more. We also saw a few more people that we all knew. We ate breakfast –pancakes, ham, cheese sticks, yogurt and all the milk you can drink. Plus ice cream sundaes. They had a huge corn pit for the kids to play in, a petting zoo, live music, craft booths, milking contest and lots of people. We heard there was a little over 4,000 people that came out that day.

We left the breakfast and went back to the Roth house to pack up and head on out. We drove past Indianapolis and spent the night. We got a huge room and Sarah and Joe stayed with us. They went swimming and then we all ate at Steak and Shake. I was really grouchy and fed up with people in general but also a little worn out from my family. It was not an enjoyable evening for me

Wisconsin Day Seven

Rebecca, Jacob and I went shopping for some WI shirts and cheese. Then we met Sarah and Joe and ate lunch at the Asia buffet again. It is just to good of food to pass up! I went to the Bent and Dent with my mom and Sally and then I went out to Beckman Mill and got a few pictures.

That night Sarah, Joe, Rebecca and I went down to Rockford and met up with Daniel, Veronica and Christina for dinner at Culvers (my third time that week!). We had a good time visiting. Of course with Sarah around, the topic went to birth control and sex and stayed there for awhile. I hate it when she always has to tell people about her sex life. I DON”T CARE!!!

When we got home, I went to my room and stayed there for awhile. My nerves with people were starting to wear thin.

Wisconsin Day Six

Rebecca, Jacob, Denise and I went to the Asia buffet for lunch. It still tastes as yummy as before! When we got back to the house, we laid out in the yard for a couple of hours to get some sun. We tried getting into the pool but it was still to cold.

We ate dinner with Ken, Denise, Sarah and Sophia – our gracious host for the week. I had bought pizza’s from Papa Murphy’s for dinner and bake them. I burnt the pepperoni pizza, but with the other pizza and the wonderful salad that Denise made, we all had plenty. For dessert we ate ice cream and made smores.

Later into the evening, Rebecca, Jacob and I went over to the hotel that my mom and Sally were spending the night at. We got in the really HOT hot tub and swam around in the pool. I got burnt from laying out, so the cool water felt good on my skin.

Wisconsin Day Five

We slept in and just hung around the house. Rebecca and I went to Aldis and bought some groceries and cooked out. We had brats, French fries, potato salad, and fresh strawberries.
Around 4, we went over to a park in Brodhead and got to visit with Jeffery, Marsha and the new baby Tyler. Jeffery has gotten so big! His face looks just the same, but he has grown into a little boy! He is now 8 years old and we started watching him when he was less than a year old. We had a good but short time catching up with them before we had to head on over to the Earlywines’s for dinner.
We grilled out hamburgers and veggies. The Presikes came over as well. It was a good night of more in depth catching up on life. Dale and Theresa came to Sarah and Joes wedding last summer . Jacob was happy to have more time to hang out with Gabe.

Wisconsin Day Four

My day was spent mostly with my mom. I went with her and Denise into Janesville and they dropped me off at Shopko (very similar to K-Mart but a little nicer and only found up north). I looked a round a little but didn't feel like spending any more money. I walked over to Goodwill and found some more clothes for me. I bought a skort, jean capris and 2 tops for 15$.

We came back to the house and I was supposed to go with Sarah, Joe, Rebecca and Jacob to meet up with Gezzi. But the more I got to thinking about it, I didn't really feel like going with all of them and plus it didn't matter that much to me to see Gezzi. So I decided to stay with my mom.

So my mom, Denise and I went to the Bent&Dent store. If we had the room to haul groceries back, we would have bought a ton! They have some really good prices on certain things - candy, salad dressing, baby food, pepsi.

Denise dropped us off at Burger King and we waited for Sally to come and pick us up to spend the rest of the day with her. We drove down to Rockford and went to our favorite dollar stores. Then we meet up with Pam and Lori at a really nice Italian place and had a late lunch/ early dinner. They all wanted to see my wedding pictures so I got them out. I was really nervous about my pictures cause they were looking at them with food and drinks around and it wasn't a very big table. But it all turned out well and they loved the pictures. I had a drink, unlimited salad and bread, chicken parmigiana, and ice cream - all for 9$!

Sally had a Celebrating Homes meeting so we went with her.

But before we got there, she swung through the Mcdonald's drive through and bought me a sweet tea! When we lived here they didn't have them - we didn't know what sweet teat was till we moved south. Now we are all addicted to them and was quite sad that we had to go a whole week without our sweet tea. But now they have it up here. It's pretty new and people up here still aren't sure about them yet.

At the meeting we saw a few a ladies that my mom knew. But we spent most of our time upstairs visiting with Pam. After the meeting we went over the mission where the rest of the family already was visiting with Josh and Don. But when I went to start taking pictures of people, I realized that I had left my camera at the meeting! I do not know what my problems has been this week, but I can not seem to keep track of it! A lady drove it over to me and then I was happy again. :0) I think that we all had a very nice time reminisce about the old days and catching up on our new lives.

We didn't get home till close to 12 am and we were all tired and starting to get cranky.

Wisconsin Day Three

We slept in and then my mom, Rebecca,Denise and I went thrift storing! The thrift stores up here are so nice and always have something for us. We went to the Goodwill and Salvatin Army in Beloit and then picked Sarah up and headed down to the JC Penny Outlet.

I spent so much money but got a TON of clothes. I ended up with (including today's shopping trip) 3 skirts, 1 skort, 2 capris, 1 shorts, 5 tops and 1 super cute bathing suite. All under 90$. I love finding great deals! Now I am all set for the Rodgers family vacation to the beach.

We came back to the Roth house and had some down tie. Then we all - including Sarah and Joe went over the Woodworth's for dinner. Cathy cooked us ham, cheesy potatoes, crescent rolls, and homemade cheesecake with fresh strawberry's. It was all yummy! And of course we drank it all down with milk - the drink of choice for dinner up north.

Wisconsin Day Two

On Sunday we went to church in time for Sunday school. Rebecca and I decided to skip SS and took a walk. It was a good bonding time for the two of us. Then we went to service and saw a ton of people! People did not even recognize who Rebecca was! It was hilarious! It was very nice to catch up with old friends, see how big kids have grown up and tell them all about our lives. Jacob went home with firends and spent teh whole day with them.
After church, Rebecca, my parents, and I went to Culvers for lunch. Butterburgers, cheese curds, and brownie custard - YUMMYness. We went to the Wehlers house and saw Lori, went to the farm and saw everyone and walked around. They were cutting hay so they were really busy. After the funk farm, we drove over to the Woodman's dairy farm. We left there and went to the Woodworths and stayed for awhile. We lft there and ate dinner at Taco John's and swung by Emily's house. Finally we can back to the Roth house and did some more visiting. It was a very good day but very long.