Denny Family

We're still here! We're just over there.

2009-04-12T10:41:00.001-07:00

If you're wondering why we haven't been blogging, we really have been! We've only been able to keep one blog up lately, so it's all been on our other ministry blog. Come check out our new life in Paris at dennysinafrica.blogspot.com!

You, your, my...

2008-12-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

Addie: Mommy, what are you drinking?
Mom: It's a yoo-hoo.
Addie: Is it my-hoo?
Mom: No, it's yoo-hoo.
Addie: It's not my-hoo?
Mom: No, it's yoo-hoo.
Addie: Oh, it's your-hoo.

Photo shoot

2008-12-04T06:23:00.000-08:00

You may have seen some of the goodbye pictures from our other blog. Here are a few more that I thought were cute!

Vacation

2008-11-04T12:51:00.001-08:00

We told Addie today that we were going on a vacation this week. This got her very excited, even though i don't think she knows what vacation means. We finally pulled up to the house we are staying at for a few days (some friends let us stay at their place out east of Dallas) and she asked "Where we are?" to which we replied, "We're on vacation!" That got quite a cheer from her! We've only been here 2 hours and we've already explored the house, had a tea party, and gone on a paddle boat ride. Should be a fun couple of days.

Here she is on the porch looking out at the little lake/pond and waiting for daddy to get up from his nap so we can go on the boat again.

"Hello daddy..."

2008-10-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

"We miss you and will see you tomorrow!"

A couple of pictures that made me smile...

2008-09-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

I'm not even sure what caption to give this one...
And what do you do when mommy and daddy have to work? Chill out and watch Cars!

A little too smart...

2008-09-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

So this morning, Wayne and I were trying to use our "secret" language when I asked him, "Should I put on a m-o-v-i..." I didn't even finish my sentence when Addie piped up "I want to watch Nemo!" Guess we're going to have to figure out a new word to spell!

Happy Birthday Addie!

2008-09-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Little Ballerina

2008-09-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Addie's second birthday for the first time (her birthday is not until next Friday, and we're planning another party on Saturday!). We are still in NC and wanted to celebrate with Grandma and Grandad Denny.

One of her favorite presents was her new ballerina outfit. She and daddy have been dancing all over the house!

This is how she chooses to eat cake because she doesn't like having dirty fingers and the fork was just too much work!

She obviously doesn't mind a messy face though!

And here is a bonus picture from our trip to visit Addie's cousin Julia (and my brother Marc and his wife Rachel!)

The Beach

2008-09-03T12:58:00.001-07:00

We had a day free in South Carolina and were able to take Addie to the beach for the first time! She loved the sand, loved watching the water, but didn't like getting too close to it. It was a beautiful day for some family time at the beach.

Here lunch here was PB & J, Doritos, and sand.

Mini vacation

2008-08-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

We finished up our time at MTI and have had a mini vacation on our way out to North Carolina.

Here's an extra big "cheese" for giving her chocolate milk! She did great in the car again!
We spent last night and tonight in Nashville. This morning we made a trip to the zoo!

We got to eat dinner at an Aquarium restaurant.

And then we took a little stroll through the Opryland Hotel.

It was exhausting!

We finished up the day with some "swimming" (it's a very loose term for Addie, she much prefers just to dip her feet).

Tomorrow we head to North Carolina to see Grandma and Grandad!

A few pictures from Colorado

2008-08-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sharing a room...

2008-07-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

The joys of sharing a room with Addie. I am laying in bed right now listening to her "go to sleep" in her tent. One minute I hear "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound..." followed by "I'm a chatterbox, I'm a chatterbox." She has no idea how true it is.

The rest of the story...

2008-07-14T18:33:00.001-07:00

Our last day in Iowa was a fun one with Grandma and Grandpa! We went to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium and ha d a great time.

Addie and the giant catfish!

Elias liked it a little more :)

2 words - easy baby. He fell asleep like this wherever we went!

Mom's turn, then Elias' turn!

One last outing with Papa.

So as we were getting ready to leave on Friday morning, Addie told Jenna "I want to stay here!" and then she told me goodbye! We sure did have a fun time in Iowa. Love you Grandma and Papa and Uncle Ben and Aunt Jenna and Elias and Baby Zach!

Cutie Patooties

2008-07-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Aren't they cool?

A real cowgirl...

2008-07-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the outfit Grandma Denny, Grandma Van Dine and Lydia!

Fun in Chicago

2008-06-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our recent vacation to Chicago.

Uncle Jibber stopped by our hotel with his big truck on his way through Chicago!

At the Lincoln Park Zoo

Go Cubbies!

Carousel at Navy Pier

Cowgirl...

2008-06-19T18:42:00.001-07:00

Sharing

2008-06-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

So, being an only child, Addie sometimes has trouble with sharing. We have been working on it and I think she is finally starting to get it! This morning, Daisy got to enjoy the full brunt of Addie's generosity with her toys.

A few pictures

2008-05-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our week.

I wonder where they went??

We got to watch our friend Aidyn one day this week and had a great time!

"Smile!" (She's trying to take a picture of herself with the camera)

"Grandma, can you hear me??" (notice the baseball hat, it's a Cubs had but I can't get her to wear it forward, just backwards. also notice the shirt, it's from Adelaide, Australia!)

Fun with mom and dad

2008-05-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

Addie won!

"Barney's funny!"

2008-05-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

No, not the big purple dinosaur, we're talking about Deputy Barney Fife. Once in a while we have a special treat and watch an episode of the Andy Griffith Show while we are eating dinner. Here Addie got to sit in her nice chair and chat with Daddy about Barney!

Smile...

2008-05-13T13:14:00.001-07:00

Addie constantly amazes me with the new words and even sentences that she says. For example, this picture here. As soon as Wayne pulled out the camera, she says "Mile!" and gives us a great big smile!

She always tells us when she wants to eat - "Ungy!"
If Duke and Daisy start barking - "Push!" (I tell them to "hush")
When we go somewhere - "See ya"
Where is Daddy? - "Work"
When the dogs are in their pen - "'Em out!"
When I ask her to do something - "Ok mommy"
Why we go to Barnes and Noble - "Story time!"
When I need to wipe her nose - "Nasty"
And today in the car - "I drop my cars" (I couldn't believe it when the whole sentence came out!)

What a joy she is to us!

Officially a big girl...

2008-05-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

She can now carry her own stuff!
P.S. Mommy had a breakfast date this morning, so Daddy dressed her. I thought all her NC State stuff was dirty, but he found some more!

Hide...

2008-05-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

...and seek.

2008-05-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

Like father like daughter...

2008-05-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's "Andy Griffith!!!"

Fun at the Arboretum

2008-04-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today we had another fun day! After our morning French lesson, Addie and I went to the Arboretum with our friends Rebecca and Katherine. There were lots of activities going on and we had a great time. Addie is once again exhausted and sleeping soundly after a busy but fun morning.

We had a picnic lunch. (Addie loves Katherine and always wanted to sit by her or chase her)

Addie got to talk to the little pony.

And of course we had to say goodbye to all the goats!

And a few times running up and down the hill, and we were ready to go home for a nap!

Tigers!

2008-04-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

The tigers were her favorite part of the zoo. (she's telling us that they're walking, and I'm sure telling us something else, just not sure what!)

A trip to the zoo!

2008-04-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

We had an exciting day today...Addie's first trip to the zoo! We took the train down with our friend Jennifer and had a great time! Some of her favorites were the birds (which there were a lot of!), the otters swimming in the water, and the tigers! She is completely tuckered out now and napping. What a fun day!

She was as interested in the penguins as they were in her.

Looking at the birds with Jennifer.

Her "big toothy smile" as Daddy calls it.

The otters swam right in front of her and she loved it!

And she jabbered away at the tigers below. I didn't know she even knew what they were, but she loved them!

We love Daddy!

2008-04-17T11:58:00.001-07:00

You learn something new every day...

2008-04-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

Or in Addie's case, sometimes lots of things every day. Here are a few things she has learned lately...

-how to go down her slide all by herself (it's only a foot high, but we're proud of her)
-how to say "Skype" when we turn on the computer
-how to remind us when she needs her medicine
-how to use a spoon (it usually involves her fingers putting food onto the spoon, but she's getting the idea)
-what is in a mug - "coffee!" (no tea parties for her, thanks Cyndi!)
-when it is appropriate to say "Bless you!" (she also says it to herself after sneezing)
-who is usually at the door when someone knocks - "Kara!!!"
-where Virginia's house is (our next door neighbor)
-when we are close to home (she knows it from 3 different directions and starts calling for the dogs blocks away!)
-where her belly button is
-how to say "pigtails" and point to them
-that you should always say thank you, even when the doctor made you cry
-who is the softy in the house ("Daaaannnn!" when she doesn't want to go to sleep :)
-how to praise God ("Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy")
-how to make Daddy smile...just give him one of these!

For Grandma...

2008-04-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

Words

2008-03-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Addie is growing so fast and it seems that her vocabulary is growing even faster. Everyday she learns a new word. It's nice that she can now tell us what she wants or needs. It's a little scary too in that she repeats almost everything (right Kara?)! It's been fun to see her grow up though.

Some of the scarier times when she has started talking (actually, they are pretty funny). Yesterday, Addie woke up from her nap and was sitting in bed with us (who still weren't quite awake). To my surprise, she looked at my shirt (which was one of Wayne's NC State t-shirts) and said "Pack!". Wayne has been trying to teach her about the NC State Wolfpack, I just didn't think she would get it so soon!

Here is a video of another of her words. When we're asking what this is, we're pointing to a shirt. (You can probably guess what she says :) We're working on making this pronunciation better, but it's been so cute!

70s and sunny!

2008-03-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

We've really been enjoying the Texas weather here the last couple of weeks. Here are a few pictures of our fun outside!

We had a nice dinner outside with Dan and Cyndi last week.

And a nice picnic this weekend!

Another walker

2008-03-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

While his mom was in the hospital this week with his baby brother, look what Elias learned to do!

Another Veggie Tales moment...

2008-03-01T06:59:00.001-08:00

We listened to this song over, and over, and over, and over...

A busy week...

2008-03-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

Well, this week did not turn out as planned. I planned on getting lots of Zac time, but instead I've gotten lots of Elias time! Zac has been in the hospital since Monday with RSV. He is doing better and will hopefully be home today! So Elias has gotten to spend the week with us and we've had so much fun! Addie and Elias love to play with each other and have really been quite easy to watch. Just look at these cuties!

(Veggie Tales came in handy once in a while)

Glad to meet you baby Zac!

2008-02-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

Addie and I are in Iowa meeting my new nephew Zachary Mathew! We are enjoying spending time with everybody and surviving the weather!

Addie loves "Baby" as she calls him.

She and Elias are playing in the ball pit at grandma and grandpa's.

We were talking about Daddy here.

And this morning everyone is a little tired from our busy weekend, so we decided to rest and read some books.

Our little joy...

2008-02-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

"Hi Grandma...yeah, I'm having fun in the hotel...yup, played with the kids today..."

At the Arboretum

The little pioneer house at the arboretum.

Wooohooo!

Praise Jesus!

2008-01-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

She's pretty cute, isn't she.

Back in Texas

2008-01-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

Well, we're now in Texas. Wayne drove down on the 29th and 30th with everything we own in our minivan (well, almost everything we own, I think we have 8 more boxes, but that's it!) Addie and I flew down on the 31st and after a 4 hour delay in Dubuque because of fog, then flying standby from Chicago, we made it! Our New Years Eve was not so exciting to say the least, I think I was asleep by 9:00 after that long day! We're getting settled in to our new place and enjoying being back in the warm weather! We have some great friends here in Dallas who are letting us stay in their house with them for the next 8 months! Dan and Cyndi are good friends of ours, and Addie has fallen in love with them and their two dogs, Duke and Daisy!
Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Yes, Wayne fit in there as well.

She still makes us smile :)

Looking for the puppies. She really likes Duke and has learned to say his name.

Duke and Daisy. I think they feel safe from Addie on this chair. She likes to chase them around.

Before we left Iowa, we got to celebrate Elias' first birthday! We wore Thomas the Train conductor party hats and had a great time!

And here is the birthday boy!

We wanted to get a picture on the last night with grandpa and grandma and all their grandkids. It was hard!! When we finally did get all three kids looking at the camera, grandma was looking at her cute grandkids! Oh well :)

Christmas...

2008-01-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas in Iowa with the whole Van Dine family. Addie enjoyed getting some new toys and playing with her cousins! Here are a few pictures of our fun week.

Christmas Eve

Julia, Addie, and Elias are ready to go sledding!

Christmas Eve pjs!

She loves to build with her new blocks!

And she got really good at making the train go! Thanks grandpa!

Snowball fight!

2007-12-22T12:29:00.002-08:00

We've been having lots of fun this week!

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

(Thanks for the idea Angie!)

Rock, rock, rock...

2007-12-17T14:39:00.001-08:00

Thanks for the present Grandma Van Dine! Hope it fits in the car to go to Dallas!

Deck the Halls...

2007-12-17T12:50:00.001-08:00

We have had some Christmas fun this week! Our annual Emmaus family Christmas party is always a fun treat.

Addie and Elias are waiting for their presents!

Elias got his first. I think this toy includes a hammer! Oh boy!

Addie got some books. 3 of them are Christmas carols. She really likes "Deck the Halls" and tries to sing "Fa la la la la..." with me :)

Elias passed the time with Melsie. He loves riding this thing!

We also went out the play in the snow this week. There's plenty of it!

Mmmmmm...

Our big little girl

2007-11-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

It's hard for me to believe that more than one year has gone by with Addie. She is still our baby, but is getting so big! Here are a few pictures to show you just how big our little girl is.

She likes to build things now, like this tower with grandad

And she loves to walk...

...and be carried way up high!

She loves her daddy (her shirt says "My dad is the man")

And she loves to just be a big girl!

Wayne and I are leaving today for Senegal for a week, and we will sure miss her. I have lots of pictures of her to take with me, and a few of us to leave with her :)

No special occasion...

2007-11-15T06:46:00.001-08:00

Just thought you might want to see pictures of two pretty cute people...

Try and keep up!

2007-11-05T17:22:00.000-08:00

Well, she really started walking this weekend! She doesn't fall too much anymore and can even turn corners (as you see in this video!)

Another exciting feat tonight. We had dinner at Emmaus and Addie walked all the way from the front of the school to the dining hall! If you've ever been there, you know that's a really long ways (it's an old Catholic seminary, and so the chapel in the middle of the school is long and skinny, and she walked the length of that). Luckily, we started out 10 minutes before dinner time, so we made it just on time!

Dancing

2007-11-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

I think she gets her dancing skills from her dad!

Fall Fun

2007-11-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

The weather was so great this week that we went to a park with Jenna and Elias to take some pictures. The kids had a great time crawling around and exploring! Here are some of my favorites.

Addie loves to give Elias kisses, and he takes it pretty well too!

"Here Elias, let me show you..."

Ok, this wasn't at the park, but I thought it was cute. She loves shoes now, hers, mine, whoever's she can find. Well, we hadn't quite gotten her clothes on after her bath last night, but she wanted those shoes on! So here she is.

Family Portrait

2007-10-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours recently took some family pictures for us (we need new prayer cards because Addie looks so different!) Here are some of our favorites!

Walking

2007-10-17T07:26:00.001-07:00

She's taking steps all on her own now!

This is for dad...

2007-10-16T18:56:00.001-07:00

Wayne is away for a couple of days, so here are some pictures of his girls for him! We love you!

It's my party...

2007-10-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

A few pictures of Addie's first birthday party!

She now can stand all on her own, and is quite proud of herself when she does. She also has her very own cell phone which she loves too!

Happy Birthday Addie!

2007-09-20T19:45:00.001-07:00

Our little girl is 1! Here are some pictures of her big day.

New Blog

2007-09-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

We have a new blog, www.dennysinafrica.blogspot.com. This blog will still be up, mainly to update with pictures of Addie. The new blog is to keep people informed on what is going on with us as we prepare to move overseas. We will update it with prayer requests, how our preparation is going etc... and when we get there of course the updates will be a lot more exciting. Check it out!

Oklahoma!...where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...

2007-08-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we've had quite the adventure in Oklahoma this weekend. As you probably know, we've been traveling a lot. This summer we were on the road for 7 weeks, flying from California to Texas to New Hampshire to North Carolina and probably a few more places I'm forgetting. Well, the last 3 times that we flew this summer, we experienced major problems...flight delays, cancellations, overnight stays in cities we weren't supposed to stay in. So, we had a trip to Dallas planned this weekend for a wedding. Wayne's good friend Tommy was getting married in Denton this weekend and Wayne was a groomsman. We decided to go as a family and then take a little vacation in San Antonio afterwards, just to unwind from the summer. We decided to drive this time and avoid all the hassles of airports and plane delays.
Our plan was to leave Thursday night around dinner, drive through the night and then rest on Friday before the rehearsal. Addie usually sleeps 12 or 13 hours a night, so it seemed like a great plan, and would have been too. We ended up leaving a little early, made a couple of stops for her to get out, and by 8:30 Thursday night were well on our way and ready for her to sleep the rest of the way to Dallas. I got to sleep from about 10:00 on until Wayne woke me up at 2:30 am to drive. We were making great time! I drove for a couple of hours and then started to get sleepy. We had gone through several small towns in Oklahoma and were just about to McAlester, a decent sized town, and I was going to have Wayne wake up and drive. Just as we came over a hill and saw the city, the airconditioner starts to feel warm and the car gets sluggish. I looked down and the temperature light was on, so I pulled over at the next exit, yelling at Wayne "Wake up, there's something wrong!" and before I can get around the corner onto the street, the car dies. Well, it is 4:30 in the morning, we are on the side of the road with no gas station in sight and our car won't do anything. At this point, I start crying (I'm a cryer) and Wayne calls AAA. A few people go by, one person stops and looks at the car for us and says "Oh, that looks really bad." Thanks, that makes me feel better. Addie is up now, so we get her out and stand on the side of the road. Wayne says at this point, "Maybe someone will drive by and hit it and total it so we won't have to pay for repairs." The tow truck comes in about 15 minutes and takes us to the next exit where there is a dealership and mechanic. It's now only 5:30 and the place doesn't open until 7:30, so it's 2 hours in Dennys for us.
Addie was having a great time, enjoyed her breakfast, made friends with the waitress, was just plain giddy. Well, at 7:30 we went back, they said they would have someone look at it right away, and let us sit in the waiting room. Addie, after a short nap, is still giddy and crawling all over the place. She's filthy from the floor, but we were too tired to care at that point. Two hours later, we were on our way to Dallas in a rental car with the promise that we would have our car Monday morning for a mere $1,000. Well, there goes San Antonio. We decided to just head back north and stay in Kansas City Monday and Tuesday, go to a Royals game, swim at the hotel and just relax.
The weekend was great, we had a great time at the wedding, got to see my sister, went to church and saw a lot of people, ate cheese fries at Snuffers.
Wayne said last night "It was such a good weekend, I don't even care that we have to pay $1,000 for the car." We stayed in a hotel about 1 hour south of where we had to pick up the car today and planned on taking it easy on the way up to KC. Well.....
Monday morning, about 8:00, Wayne calls the repair place to make sure the car is done. He tells them his name and says he is calling about the car. They pass him to someone else. He goes through it again. Again, someone new. "Yes, Denny, D-E-N-N-Y" I hear him say. He's getting a little frustrated. Finally on the 4th person, he gets the story. The car was finished, but when they took it to test drive it on Saturday, they totalled it! As soon as he hung up the phone and told me, we started laughing! What else could happen?!?
Well, to make an already long story shorter, we are now the proud owners of a minivan! They traded us our old high mileage car for a bigger car with fewer miles worth $1,200 more, plus we didn't have to pay for repairs to the old car! They didn't want to have to file insurance, we needed a car to get home, it worked out for everyone! They gave us a few choices of car we could pick from, and it was fun to go car shopping without having to spend any money! So we are now a minivan family.
We finally made it to KC tonight, we'll go to a Royals game tomorrow and get home Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully the rest of the trip is uneventful!

Reunion

2007-08-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Ben, Jenna and Elias are home! They came over to see us on Sunday after they got back and Addie was so excited to see Elias.

She kept taking his toys though, and that didn't make him very happy. He's learned to hold his own with her now though. She used to squeal at him and he would get a little nervous. Now he just yells right back at her (which made her a little nervous :) It's so fun to watch them together.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my handsome nephew.

Wayne was gone this weekend too, so Addie and I were both excited that he came home yesterday!

Other exciting news, her hair is long enough for a bow! (sort of) It has to go right in the middle of her head, and she pulls it out as soon as she can find it. We're making progress though!

Ice cream!

2007-08-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

We got a new camera yesterday so I took a lot of pictures today! Hopefully this will help me get more pictures posted.

Here is our day.

After her morning nap, I decided to take the camera in to get her up. I heard her talking and moving around, and here she was! She always greets us like this when she wakes up.

Addie and I then decided to go outside for a bit before lunch. She had a great time crawling around in the grass. I happened to catch her mid sneeze in this one.

And this is the face she always makes after the sneeze.

After lunch with daddy at Buffalo Wild Wings, we spent the afternoon cleaning our apartment. I won't post any pictures of that, it wasn't much fun.

We ended the day by going to grandma's softball game and then ice cream afterwards. Addie loves going to get ice cream with grandma and grandpa, and they love taking her!

Addie is now in bed, worn out from the excitement of the day. We're going to relax by watching Die Hard 2 (I love those movies!) Wayne is on another trip this weekend, so we'll spend some time with grandma and grandpa, and my grandparents who are here visiting from Arizona.

Home again!

2007-08-11T11:35:00.001-07:00

We're finally home again! After 5 weeks on the road, it's nice to finally be back in our own place. Addie did great again. Even with two legs of the trip where we sat on the runway for 2 hours in the plane without going anywhere, she was still happy! Here are a few pictures from our last week at camp. We were at camp in North Carolina. Wayne was the speaker for the week. Addie and I played with her cousin Julia (Rachel was a cook that week.) We had a great time! Addie loved playing with her cousin and Julia did a great job of helping me with Addie.

Here she is crawling to her cousin!

We hiked up the mountain one night for dinner. This is at the top.

We took the time for a little family trip one afternoon to Andy Griffith's home town. We had a pork chop sandwich at Snappy's Lunch then took a picture in front of Floyd's Barbershop!

Julia hiked all the way up the mountain twice! I was so impressed.

And here we are at home again. She and daddy love to dance to the ipod!

Sooo big!

2007-07-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Addie has learned the classic childs game, "how big is Addie, soooo big!" We love to hear her giggle like this.

My first tattoo!

2007-07-20T13:38:00.001-07:00

This week we have been near Houston at Sandy Creek Bible Camp. Wayne has been speaking this week to the Jr. Highers. We have had a great time with all of the kids. Addie loves all the attention they give her. There is another girl her this week, Lexi, who is a month younger than Addie. They love seeing each other and playing with each other. Here they are both playing with their cell phones!

The camp we are at is also about 10 minutes away from the Blue Bell factory (the best ice cream ever for those not from the south). This week is the Hundred Year Anniversary celebration for Blue Bell. They had a big celebration at the fair grounds. The best part, everything was free! It was a little strange seeing freezers of ice cream bars there for the taking. Then they had about 20 lines, each serving 4 different flavors, so you could just pick your flavor and go get a couple of scoops! It was great! Also, Addie got her first tattoo there. If you look in this picture on her leg, you can see it :)

We are over half way on our summer adventures. Only 2 weeks left! New Hampshire then North Carolina. We'll keep you updated

Standing!

2007-07-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is her standing for the first time! She actually started to climb the stairs too, which is why the camera man dropped the camera pretty quickly. In the background you can hear our friend Katherine cheering her on in the background. We are staying with our friends the Novakoviches this week in Dallas, and Addie has explored every inch of their first floor. Looks like she'll be moving on to the upstairs soon!

Goodmorning

2007-07-07T11:36:00.001-07:00

This is how Addie is when she wakes up in the mornings. She loves be in the bed with us and she climbs all over us and tries to kiss us. It helps me wake up!

On the road again...

2007-07-06T17:22:00.001-07:00

We are starting week 2 of 5 weeks straight on the road. Here is our mascot.

Last week we were in NC at a conference. Addie was happy to have constant attention and Grandma Denny and Aunt Lauren were pretty happy too. Grandpa was more than happy to share his ice cream with her :)

All that playing got her pretty tired though, so she had to cuddle with daddy some.

this week we are in Dallas. Our first stop was Snuffers, our favorite restaurant. The have the best cheese fries in the world! Here is Addie's first ever taste of cheese fries.

We'll update with more pictures as our travels take us around the country. Also, she is crawling a lot now! We really have to keep an eye on her. Every where we go she discovers something new to get into.

A Video for dad

2007-06-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Wayne is away again this week, so here is another video for him to hear his girl giggle.

Trouble!

2007-06-25T09:14:00.001-07:00

She was supposed to be sleeping. She has now figured out how to sit up and kind of pull herself up on the side of the crib. The mobile is no longer up! Of course, it probably would have been better if we had gone in there and been stern and put her back to bed, but it was so cute, we had to turn the lights on and film it!

Crawling

2007-06-23T13:14:00.001-07:00

She's finally crawling! She first did it on Fathers Day, but just a bit. Then, a few days later while we were at camp, she just started to move around the room! I was so excited! Now I'm a little nervous now because we really have to baby proof the apartment. She's doing even better this weekend. She can get pretty much anywhere!

Cousins

2007-06-12T10:27:00.001-07:00

This was from the last day that I babysat Elias. They are getting so that they love to sit and watch each other. We'll miss Elias when we're at camp this summer!

California!

2007-06-11T11:32:00.001-07:00

Well, Addie added another state to her travels this week. We just returned from a trip to California. She did great again on the plane, even though she was cutting two new teeth on the way back. We had a good time relaxing at my uncle Gene's house one day, and she loved meeting new people at camp and having lots of attention. Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend!

We stopped at Culvers one night on the way to the airport. The guy there said his son loved chewing on ice cream cones (without the ice cream) and so gave one to her. She loved it!

Here she is in her sporty Nike outfit that grandma Van Dine bought her.

This is just hanging out in the hotel room one night. I thought it was cute. She really loves pulling herself up on things now, like my legs if I'm sitting next to her. Still not crawling yet though!

Here are some other funny pictures. She sleeps in the craziest positions now, and she's always moving around! If you check on her an hour after you put her to bed, she'll be turned around all the way at the other end of the bed!
Here she is just chilling with her feet up.

This was funny. We were in the hotel and in the morning, this is how we found her.

Summer Fun!

2007-05-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Addie and Elias really enjoy playing with each other now. When he arrived this morning, she started smiling and squealing at him! He giggles at her too. Here is one of them wrestling with grandpa before he left for Ireland.

Addie had a fun day at camp this week too. We went to Living Waters this week with the summer recruiters to do some team building stuff. We put Addie in the backpack and hauled her all over that day. This is a picture of the group after we did some low ropes courses. On one of them, we were walking on a wire over a mud pit. Well, Addie was sleeping in the backpack so our guide from the camp said she would hold her so Wayne and I could both do the course. Well, I happen to fall in the mud up to my knees, and I could not budge my right foot. Addie wakes up in front of me, it's past her lunch time, and I'm stuck in the mud! Thankfully, she didn't start fussing till I got out (it took me at least 5 minutes to get my feet out). We all had a good time that day and were all worn out by the time we got home. We're looking foward to a summer of camp!

Peek-a-boo 2

2007-05-23T14:24:00.001-07:00

This time instead of playing "where's Addie?" we played "where's mommy?" She loved it! Earlier in the day, she was really laughing, but I couldn't film it and do it at the same time, so we had to wait until daddy got home to help.

Peek-a-boo

2007-05-10T00:43:00.001-07:00

Her new game is peek-a-boo. She gets excited when I get ready to throw the blanket on her. (and she doesn't hurt herself at the end)

More travels

2007-05-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've been told I haven't updated enough lately, so here it is! Last weekend we went to Edmonton for a work trip and got so see some good friends while there.

This is my best friend from growing up, Erin. (We had our own fan club and everything!)

Marilyn spoiled me when I was little.

We were glad to get home and see Elias! Here he is protecting Addie from the dragon.

It was such a nice day on Thursday, we had to go outside for a bit!

Family Pictures

2007-04-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in North Carolina with Wayne's parents. Here are some new family pictures!

Chariot

2007-04-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Van Dine recently got a new toy that they let us play with. It is a "Chariot", a combination bike trailer and jog stroller that can fit 2 kids. We haven't tried it behind a bike yet, but sometimes when I'm watching Elias, we just need to get out and ejnoy the day. As you can tell, they are both really enjoying the day :) We walked up to Emmaus one morning and it wore Addie and Elias out!

New trick

2007-04-12T18:36:00.001-07:00

Grandma Van Dine taught her this new trick!

Talking

2007-04-12T18:35:00.001-07:00

I think she said "Hi Grandma and Grandpa Denny" :)

Easter Pics

2007-04-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!
We had a good time with family after church today. We relaxed and ate a lot! Here are a few pictures of Addie in her new Easter dress.

She also got a new pair of Nike's and a new hat :)

The Family!

Here are the cute cousins!

She loves to give kisses!

But I don't think poor Elias likes the slobber so much.

Dallas

2007-04-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to Dallas

She loves to give hugs now!

We saw uncle Jibber and he gave her a little Schneider hat that says "Keep truckin!"

Her first time in the cab of a truck (I think it was Wayne's first time too)

With Uncle Jibber

Josiah is about a week younger than Addie. We have given them our permission to marry :)

With aunt Kara!

We stayed with our friends the Novakoviches. Katherine was a great help with Addie! She has some sweet skills.

This week, my sister Jenna started back to work for the last 2 months of school (she is a teacher). Elias is spending the days with Addie and I now! For the moment, they are both napping (we'll see how long that lasts!) Addie loves to see her cousin. She squeals whenever he comes. He's still not so sure about her though :)

2007-03-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Arizona.

Addie got some new shoes!

...and some new sunglasses!

She's already practicing her form with the new Cubs bat (we're still working on it)

Great Grandma and Addie

Great Grandpa and Elias

Fun in the Sun!

2007-03-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

This week, we are in Arizona with my mom and my sister Jenna visiting my grandparents. They are loving having Addie and her cousin Elias here for the week. Here are a couple of pictures of the fun week!

Addie and Elias ready for a fun filled day!

Jenna and I took them in the pool this afternoon.

Addie loved it! Elias was already sleeping by now, the pool wore him out! (That's a rubber duckie in her mouth)

Still on the agenda, a Cubs spring training game tomorrow and a golf cart ride! It's been in the 80's here, just beautiful for us northerners. We've enjoyed dressing them up in their summer clothes. I'll post more pictures when we return.

Also exciting news, Addie finally learned to roll from her tummy to her back. I left her in the living room with Grandma and Great Grandma, and when I came back, she was in the hallway! She's such a big girl now. She shared her 6 month birthday yesterday with her Great Grandpa. He turned 89. We had quite the party.

Flying!

2007-03-10T11:59:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's sideways. Listen at the end to what Addie thinks of her daddy :)

Baby Einstein

2007-03-10T09:40:00.001-08:00

I think she's a baby Einstein! She loves her toy from grandma and grandpa Denny.

Johnny Jump Up

2007-03-03T19:01:00.001-08:00

She has finally learned the "jump" part! I think she may join 'Riverdance' one day :)

Sitting up!

2007-03-03T19:00:00.001-08:00

She can sit up on her own now! The pillows are still neccessary for falls though (especially when grandpa is saying hi to her from behind :)

Weekend fun

2007-03-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

I think this is grandma and grandpa's ideal Saturday afternoon!

Grandma cuddling Elias (Addie's cousin)

Grandpa and Addie working on the computer.

Our friends Hannah, Julia, and Autumn came over Friday night. They take great care of Addie!

Like mother like daughter

2007-03-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

Here are some things that Addie and I like to do together.

We nap together.

Daddy has gotten us so that we both like to watch Andy Griffith together.

Well...I'm not sure what we're doing together here. She's drooling, but she's on her own with that one. We're just having fun together.

Trucks and more

2007-03-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday we got to see Uncle Jibber (my uncle). He is a Schneider truck driver and was passing though town. We all had dinner together and then got to see his truck! Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Addie, Elias and Uncle Jibber

Addie got a Schneider truck from uncle Jibber.

She loves her Schneider truck! Oh, and for those who were asking, here she is in her Cubs pants :)

She loves to look at herself in the mirror!

Wayne's girls

2007-02-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

This blog is for Wayne/Daddy. He is in Boston this week and misses his girls. We love you!

Family Characteristics

2007-02-26T06:58:00.000-08:00

We've started to notice some family characteristics in Addie. She's got her foot in her mouth already (Denny or Van Dine?)

Addie and Daddy, either getting their deep thoughts down on paper, or checking the NC State score.

Go Oilers! Definitely a hockey fan like mommy.

Addie's new tricks

2007-02-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

She hasn't quite figured out the "jump" part of the Johnny Jump Up, but she still likes it.

Yes, she's a big girl!

She figured out how to roll from her back to her stomach, but then she gets stuck here with her butt up in the air :) We're still working on the rest.

The only time her midriff will ever show!

Look, I can stand!

Daddy says "Jackpot!"

Earlier that morning, all 3 of us fit on that bed, and she got the most room :)

Here we are

2007-02-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

I thought this would be a better way of getting some pictures up of Addie and letting you all see her as she grows. We'll let you know how we're doing too :)

Here's my two favorite people in the world.