I LOVE my family and friends!

I was asked to talk to the young women about Katrina today in church. I don't think I've ever talked for such a length of time about our experiences. Needless to say I cried for most of the half hour. I just wanted my family (and friends) to know how much I appreciated your support (emotional, monetary and spiritually.) I just know that my family loves me. Mike and I felt overwhelmed with the support we were given. I which you could all experience what I did. So you could feel that kind of love and hope given to you by those you love. I really felt like I had no direction no home, well nothing! It was amazing to have to rely on the Lord and my family and see how quickly you came to our aid. I hope one day to act in such a way to show how much I love you. I treasure my family and faith beyond anything this life has to offer and that is the lesson Katrina had for me.

Allenholm Apples, apple, apple

We'll we had a great time this last Saturday picking apples. We went to a beautiful orchard on South Hero Island. They have a free tractor ride that takes you out to the different apple trees. We picked Macintosh, Vermont gold and Gala apples. Gretchen just worked on eating her first whole apple for the length of the picking time. In the end we carried back 23 lbs of apples and 27.5 lbs of Gretchen. The final treat was enjoying maple ice cream and a beautiful sunset. On the way home Gretchen sang a chorus of apple, apple, apple.

Meatloaf Surprise

Hooray, I did it. I have been having such a battle with Gretchen trying to get some veggies down her. A Lady at church suggested slipping in some veggies in meatloaf. I managed to stick a large carrot and about 2 large handfuls of broccoli. Guess what, she loved it. I am elated. You can see in this picture her sign for more and a large smile on her face. Sorry I didn't post a picture of the smile on my face!

Monkey Trap

Oh Gretchen is so fun. Everyday she figures out a new way to enjoy her toys. Today after putting a star in the shape sorter she decided she wanted it back. Normally she would take the lid off but she just stuck her hand in instead. Sure enough Gretchen pulled out the star with lid still attached. I hurriedly took this picture. She wasn't to happy about her manacle and smartly removed it.

Just find a partner and do-si-do

One of Gretchen's favorite books is Cowboy Baby. I found this Bandana Cowgirl dress and some boots on E-bay and ordered them. I was so excited when they came in the mail. To bad I didn't think about the dress having pearl snaps! I think she had the dress off 10 minutes after I put it on her. I don't know if we will dress her in this dress for church, I'm not sure everyone would appreciate my naked child!

It's Sunday and the little one is fast asleep. It's a cold and rainy day in Vermont (68 at 1:58) I thought this was great weather for correspondence. Mike just started Neurosurgery this last week. We have been pleasantly surprised that he has gotten home before 6:30 everyday (except when on call.) He is enjoying the team and feels like he's not making any big blunders. However he does have call today and he also took call Friday. For those that don't know, "call" is when they stay over night and are left in charge of all the patients staying over or being submitted. Generally he is at work by 5:30 AM and stays the night, returning home sometime before noon the next day! It's hard to sleep alone, and whenever he is gone I stay up LATE! I don't know how Denise does it! So that is Mike's update. Gretchen and I have started a "play group." We will be inviting kids over every other Thursday. It was really loud and fun. Most of the time Gretchen just sat on my lap looking concerned that everyone was playing with her things. She did eventually play with the other kids, and I think it was good for her. Gretchen has a new fear, little babies. It seems like the crawling reminds her of dogs and she cries and runs to mommy when she sees a baby. I don't know what changed in her thought process, but I think it's pretty funny! Hope you have all enjoyed the weekend!