Merry Christmas!

We had a lot of fun this Christmas! It was great to have Jessica this year. She loved having lots of new things around to look at and play with. She didn't quite understand about opening presents, but she still had fun!

Christmas Dress

Grandma Jack sent the cutest Christmas dress for Jessica! We got it Saturday in the mail, so she got to wear it yesterday.
If it looks like she might be crying instead of smiling, it's because I wanted to take the dress off before she ate and she was soooooooo hungry that she didn't want to wait for a picture.

Our Little Reader

Jessica is just fascinated with books these days. She is always pulling them off the shelf, flipping through the pages, and dragging them around the house. (Hope you noticed the peek-a-boo.)


She can stand on her own for a few seconds...but only if she doesn't realize what she is doing. We have to distract her with funny faces.


Jessica loves to play in the old fireplace (now used only for decoration).


I guess I started a new family tradition of making gingerbread people because we've done it each year we've been married. I just think they're so much fun...and delicious!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving

We had a fun Thanksgiving even though we missed our families. We got together with several of our friends at the church and feasted and played basketball and other games.



Jessi feasted as well.



Nate even taught her how to drink at the drinking fountain!

Grassland

Wow, what a change in the weather! Last week started out in the 70s but the end of the week was down in the 30s and 40s. We decided to break out our coats for the first time this fall and go for a family walk to a park we've been wanting to go to. The sidewalk wrapped around a large area of Illinois grassland. The grass was about 6 feet tall! We got a glimpse of what much of Illinois used to look like. It was beautiful!!

Happy Halloween!!

Jessica was a not-so-scary ghost this year for Halloween!



Last weekend we went to "Curtis Orchard" on the outskirts of town and picked out a pumpkin at their pumpkin patch. Instead of getting a nice plump, orange pumpkin, we picked out an oblong tan pumpkin (a variety that is supposed to be good for pumpkin pies!)



For family night we carved our pumpkin-but instead of leaving it out to rot we stored in it the refrigerator.



Tuesday I baked it and pureed it (pumpkin everywhere!)




We ate it like squash and made pumpkin pie, pumpkin waffles and pumpkin-carrot muffins....plus there's more in the freezer for later!!!!! And it has been delicious.

Jessica's New Trick

Now when we put Jessica down to sleep, she likes to get right back up again. She pulls herself up to standing on the couch, our legs, or wherever she can!



After watching this, Nate said, "The only thing she didn't do was spit out her binky and then stare at it on the ground."

On the Move

Jessica is now beginning to get around (and of course into everything!) She was scooting on her belly for a couple of weeks and now she is starting to crawl! She certainly keeps us on our toes!

Getting Comfy

It has been nice to have a crib for Jessica. I think it is a lot more comfortable for her than the playpen this summer. She doesn't like to sleep in the comfy place I set her down in though, she always likes to find a corner to snuggle up in (and usually pull the bumpers down and kick her feet out the rails.)
Anyway...she always looks so cute when she finds a spot to fall asleep, and saves a lot of room for anyone else looking for a bed.


Speaking of comfy...Nate and I got a new bed this week! It is so nice and we're glad to finally put away our air mattress for camping.

Back in Illinois!

Well...we made it back to Illinois! We have been here one week and are still somewhat surrounded by boxes. We really like our new apartment. Jessica has her own bedroom now. I was somewhat nervous the first night, but I found out quickly that I can still hear her if she needs me!


We had a fun few days with our families before we made our trip. We got to stop in Salt Lake and Monticello. Jessica and I got to have our first "tea party" with Grandma Jack, Clarissa and Janelle.


We decided on our way over that we just had to stop and see some of the church history sites. We are so glad that we did-there were so many neat things to see and learn about. We went to Independence, the Liberty Jail, Far West and Adam-Ondi-Ahman in Missouri on Thursday. Then Friday we went to Nauvoo and the Carthage Jail in Illinois. It was wonderful, we only wish we could've spent more time at the various sites.

Visitors!

Rick, Crystal, Sarah and Brenda (Camille's sisters) came and visited us this weekend. We had a lot of fun! On Saturday we went downtown to the "8th Street market" and later they floated the Boise River on tubes with Nate (they returned the rest of the tubes before I had a chance to take their picture.) We played games, ate a bunch and had a great time!

Bruderer Reunion

We had a really fun time at the Bruderer Family Reunion last weekend! It was over by Soda Springs, Idaho. We played games, visited and had a great time. Jessica was, as usual, the star of the show-giving everyone smiles.

She was a good camping baby and we bundled her up in the tent with us.

Nate had time to make Jessica a toy out of a quakey branch-a rattle with three rings and a ball on the end.
The Bruderers had lots of fun things going on. We got to be in the duck race, do a treasure hunt with metal detectors, and Nate cooked his potatoes for the dutch-oven cookoff. (I think they were the first things polished off.)

Pinewood Derby Champ!

We had a ward pinewood derby and anyone who wanted to could make one. Nate had fun carving a hot dog (with just his pocketknife). Well, his hot dog really was the "hot dog" of the evening and he took first place! He went undefeated. He won a 1 gallon gas can and $4 to fill it up!

Baby Food!

Jessica is starting to "eat" rice cereal. More of the cereal ends up on her face and bib (to list a couple places) than in her tummy.

Father's Day

We celebrated Nate's first Father's Day on Sunday. Jessica couldn't have a better Dad! We decided to give him a 1 pound Sugar Daddy!! He will be working on it for quite a while.

Summer!!

We have really been enjoying our summer in Boise, Idaho! Jessica is growing so fast! It is wonderful to have an apartment where she can play on the carpet. We also have been enjoying the nice weather outside.

Tummy Time

Jessica Talking

Nate's Birthday

We had a lot of fun celebrating Nate's birthday! (April 8th)

He is an old man of 25 now. It took us quite a while to get through his cake (even with the help of the Elders), but we sure enjoyed it. For lunch we got to go out to Li'l Porgy's (which we always smell when we go to the bank), and ate BBQ pork which was cooked on wood.

The pillow I made him goes along with a onesie Jessica has that says Favorite Things: Daddy, Hugs, Kisses.

Last week we had a wonderful visit from Nate's family. Dad and Mom Jack as well as Janelle and Clarissa made the long drive out to Illinois (over 20 hours), and were able to spend almost a week with us. We had so much fun, and Jessica entertained us all. She was all smiles (well...most of the time anyway).

Nate's mom made a beautiful blessing dress, and Jessica was blessed on Sunday, March 16th. It was a very special and wonderful experience!

On Monday we took a day trip to Chicago. We saw the Sears Tower, had some delicious Chicago-style hotdogs (with everything on them), went out to Navy Pier, and finished off with some Chicago-style pizza. Jessica was a good little traveler. She slept most of the time, strapped onto Nate in our "snugli".

We also got to celebrate the holidays with the Jacks. On Tuesday we had a "leprechaun luncheon". We also celebrated for Easter before they left. We died Easter eggs on Wednesday night, and Thursday the Easter Bunny visited us and left us sooooooo much candy!!! (Nate and I will probably make ourselves sick.) We went to the park and had hotdogs and dutchoven potatoes as well.