Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Family Photos

These are some photos from when we were in MO. Despite the circumstances it was nice to be able to see all the family again. Sadly I think it may be one of the last times that everyone is able to get together. I think they figured out that it was something like 10 years since all the family had been together. As the family grows we start to spread. We are spanning the country as it is is- although currently no one is abroad. Most of the family is still in MO we are in NH and several of Frank's cousins are in CA. Someday we will make it out that way to visit our many friends and family. So the photo above is Frank, me and the boys at the Fulton Memorial Garden. During the graveside service xander's patience had worn thin so we spent most of the time walking the gardens. James was asleep when we go there and Uncle Luke was holding him but then he woke with a vengeance! The photo to the right here is of Frank and all his paternal cousins. There are 13 of them total- which seemed like a lot to me (I have 2 paternal cousins...) but then I found out that on his mother's side he has 27 so 10 isn't really all that many! After the graveside service we went back to Hatton where the lovely ladies of the community put on a fabulous dinner. On the left you have our immediate family. Frank and his brother Luke in the back with Alexander, Myself, James and Grandpa Hadley in the middle and Frank's baby brother, Kurt (who is a mini 17 yr old clone of Frank- although Frank swears he didn't whine as much...) and Grandma Lynn in the front. These photos were all taken after the dinner in Hatton. Unfortunelty even though it wasn't really that dark in the room all of my photos came out rather gloomy- I guess I needed a stronger flash. So no people don't like like devils- it's the dreaded red-eye from my crumbly camera! Back to the right we have a photo of the whole family, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandchildren- all the offspring of Gladys and Hadley Linnenbringer! It's kinda hard to see everyone in this picture but you get the idea! And below is a picture of all the great grandchildren. What I think is funny about this one is how well Xander fits in! Everyone always looks at hima nd is like where did he come from...since Frank and I are so dark but really when you start looking deeper into the family he really looks like a Linnebringer to me! Just look at Shay holding him- they are second cousin and yet they look more alike than he and James do. The funny quirks of genetics....

Monday, October 18, 2010

James is 13 months old!


I can't believe how quickly my little man is growing up. He has pretty much stopped drinking from a bottle entirely; unlike his big brother who at least several times a day annouced to me "I need a bottle"- at least he is using a full sentance! Today he ate a whole yogurt by himself with a spoon (it was messy but hey!) and he hasn't had baby food in over a month. It's really true that your second child is so different than the first. With Xander I was so cautious about introducing foods and cups and everything really but with James if Xander is doing it, pretty much James gets to do it too! Sometimes I have to remind myself that he is only a year old and he can't do everything that Xander can do!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Life intervening...

So I have been meaning to post for awhile but life has intervened as usual. Right after James' birthday I came down with a horrible, nasty cold. I didn't work for a whole week I was feeling so miserable. Just a truly nasty virus I guess. Then Xander wasn't feeling well and he got a double ear infection...ear infections post-tubes are just yucky. Anyway so one by one we fell- poor Frank managed to hang on the longest but after a week he wasn't feeling so hot either. Then we go the news that Frank's grandfather has taken a turn for the worst and wasn't expected to live the week, which turnes out to be quite true as he passed away that day. So after not feeling well and already missing work we were going to be headed to Missouri for the funeral. Of course the day before we were supposed to leave for the funeral I had the absolute worst sore throat ever and turns out I had Strep! uugh. Luckily the antibiotics worked quite quickly and I was feeling somewhat better by the next day.

So we headed off to MO for the funeral feeling vaguealy human but certainly not 100% ourselves. We didn't arrive at Frank's parents house till like 1am but we made it. Saturday was Craft Day in Hatton- which for those of who who don't know is "kinda" a big deal- as in a huge, major giant community event! So in some ways the timing worked out that we were able to be there for Craft Day. We saw lots of family and friends and Frank got to see a bunch of old school classmates. He managed to go and hang out with them Saturday night but the boys and I stayed home and went to bed.

Sunday we saw more old friend and family at church and back at Hatton for the post craft-day dinner. Xander really enjoyed going out with grandpa and riding on various farm vehicles. I think he would spend all day riding around on a tractor if we would let him! Monday was the visitation and Tues the funeral followed by a dinner and then we jumped back on a plane and headed home. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip but they always seem to be these days. It was nice to be able to see so many family and friends and reconnect, obviously it would have been more preferable under different circumstances but we wouldn't have had the chance to see every single member of the family under other circumstances.

We got back to the house at about 2am wednesday morning after a slight mishap at the parking spot. Xander had fallen asleep on the plane so we had picked him up in his car seat and set him seat and all in the stroller (not a good idea by the way...). Anyway on the way out to the car I was pushing him down a ramp and as we hit the end of the ramp I slowed down and kinda ran over a bump and Xander's seat went tipping off the front of the stroller and onto the ground. Luckily he just had a big old scrape across his forehead and he had bitten his tongue a bit. But it was kind a drama right afterwards- he was screaming, I was crying and then James woke up and he was crying....poor Frank was just standing there looking hagard! It's amazing how quickly kids bounce back though b/c a week later you can hardly even tell he had a humungous scrape on his head. So after this drama and getting home at like 2am Frank actually got up and went to work wed morning at 7am- I was so impressed. The boys and I got up a bit later and they went to daycare b/c I had to work that night.

So pretty much since we got back I have been working, unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning, and getting the last of the harvest in from the garden. Yesterday I did 6 loads of laundry and was feeling pretty proud of myself until I realized that I missed a whole hamper! But all the laundry is done- I just have 1 load to finish putting away and 1 load to fold and put away. The kitchen is pretty much a disaster at this point b/c I also brought in probably 50 lbs of tomtoes and have been busy making salsa and tomato sauce and soup. And we brought in 4 wagonloads of squash, much of which is still waiting to make it into the basement. I ended up taking some of the tomatoes (and 8 dozen eggs) to the food pantry b/c I just needed to get some of it out of my house!

Now I am back on a 3 in a row stretch at work which means not much else will get done for a bit but since the garden is done now I can pack away all the canning supplies and that will get rid of much of the clutter in my kitchen for now. I honestly don't know sometime show the 4 of us can create so much junk!