Vidalia is now very fond of the camera. She always wants it and she'll even smile! :)
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Things To Do In Lincoln #7
Catch Fireflies. I know it's simple, but you can't catch fireflies everywhere. And it's great for kids. They don't bite and their reflexes are slow. Ryan caught 3 while walking around with Vidalia in one arm! Not so cool to stick them in a jar though, they don't light up then.
These are what they look like when they're not flying around lighting up.
Not so pretty.
The fireflies are the specks of light in the video. Much better in person.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Funny Story
So, this is a funny story...I apologize about the blurry picture. Probably you will not be able to tell its significance so I circled it for you in red.
Not in this picture.
In this picture. Sorry, the red is very thin, not so bold. We don't have paint and it makes doing things like that so difficult. I'm just not savvy at that.
I'll let Ryan tell you the story, then I'll tell you the story (just in case it's not clear). It's a short story, don't worry. What I've written is already much longer.
So, in case you didn't get that. One night Ryan changed Vidalia's diaper and put her into a sleeper. A little while later, he started searching for her bottle. So, I said that I thought it was in her room. He said that's what he had thought too. I started trying to find it too. A few minutes later, he walked in Vidalia's room and with the I finally found it sound in his voice said, "Oh!". Then he brought her out to see me. He had somehow put the bottle in her sleeper while he was getting her dressed. He's nice to let me write this, he was so embarrassed. I thought it was really funny though.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Story of My Garden
I've really enjoyed planting a garden this year. You have no idea how happy I was to find that there was a garden plot when I arrived in Nebraska. It was kind of the upside to the condition of our place when we moved in. (Which I will someday elaborate on when we no longer live here and I can already warn you that you will probably want to skip over it because it is going to be a lengthy list of grievances and complaints.) Now that I've mentioned that though I will add this warning: I'm going to complain about my management in this post regarding my garden. I already know. You see, this is how it went down. I planted my nice little garden all squished full of stuff. There were so many things I wanted to plant, but despite my garden excitement, it's a small plot.
Above you can see that the peas are all bushy and growing well (this link shows my basically bare plot, so you can get an idea) and other things are popping out of the ground. You can't even see everything that is going on in this picture, so I will tell you. Peas in front, beans getting ready to climb the fence, corn (in nice rows and only a few inches tall), a sunflower on the pole right behind the peas, a bell pepper plant on the left behind the peas, behind that two little tomato plants, behind that two little butternut squash plants, behind the corn is green onion and carrots, and behind that some watermelon plants (very small at this point). I suppose I was a little overzealous when planting my garden because it soon became a forest. Not that that is bad, I LOVED it! I loved watching the plants grow, they grew so fast! My corn got pretty tall, the sunflower taller and taller, the squash huge, the tomatoes blossomed, peas had full peas, beans were climbing the fence, etc. Pretty much it was garden heaven (at least for a small plot) and I was so happy about it.
The one day, I heard some weird noises outside. I was in Vidalia's room, which overlooks the garden. I looked outside and two shirtless guys (really is that necessary?) Were removing the fences. Yes, the ones my beans were growing on. I quickly felt myself flare up with anger. I started pacing very quickly around. I looked outside again as they walked on my garden and knocked the fence on top of it. I paced faster and faster and really had some not nice things to say to them. When this was done, it wasn't as bad as I made it sound, my peas were flat to the ground, my beans, well, most were gone, and there was less hope for the success of my green onions and carrots. I was upset, but I was getting over being angry.
A few days later (it was a Monday because Ryan was home) I heard them outside again. Ryan looked outside and made a remark about them being shirtless (similar to the one I made above probably) and then we went about our day. After taking the fence out, they started putting a new one in. That's what the picture below is of.
Can you see what they did? A quarter of my garden gone! Peas, half dead. Beans gone gone gone! Corn, quite harmed. Watermelon, well one plant survived. Since then my nice father-in-law helped me weed out all the grass and I was able to access my actual losses. Lets just say that my bell pepper and tomatoes were unharmed and the squash had minimal damage, everything else experienced either extinction or severe damage. I am hopeful that some will revive, but I've already lost some more since. (As you can see, the damage was not limited to my garden, but my neighbor's also.) Hopefully my next garden post will be of happiness, like garden posts should be, but as for now... How Rude!
Monday, July 25, 2011
At our church
I noticed this in our church building. I think it's cool. Sorry how I don't know how to take pictures through glass. Anyone an expert at that?
I also found this at our church that same day!
How lucky am I?
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Pioneer Day
Do you know who this is? Okay, that's a silly question. The only reason I know is because I put the picture there. This man is my great great great (how many? I don't know.) great grandpa. He was a pioneer. His name is Matthew Caldwell. I swore for the longest time that his last name was Calderwell, but once I saw his wife's name, Barzilla Guymon, I stood corrected. Who forgets a name like Barzilla? I don't care how awesome of a person she might have been, my children will not be named after her (unless perhaps she has a beautiful nickname). Anyhow, this man is one of my pioneers. I like his story. You can read his more full story here ,
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=180&sourceId=8c7527cd3f37b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD, but I will also summarize it for you. Well, I'll tell you the part I want.
This man lived in Warsaw, Illinois and was part of the anti-Mormon community. He belonged to the mob that martyred Joseph Smith. He however, had nothing to do with that (I tend to think part of the reason was that his wife was LDS). If you read the article, you will find he actually convinced a few people to not take part in the event. He was among 6 men who voted against murdering the Mormons, but the others were insistent. They tied these 6 men to cannons and guarded them until all was done and there was no way they could stop them. The whole time he kept telling them to let him go home because his wife was very sick. (Ends up actually she was in labor with their first child.) After this, he chose to be part of the Mormon community and was eventually baptized. He trekked from Illinois to Utah with the wagon trains and died in Dry Fork, Utah (near Vernal). This is his tombstone. I stole all this pictures from his obituary found here http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12799567.
I'm proud to be descended from a man who had the courage to do what was right when all of his peers and people he had known and loved forever disagreed. I'll remember him and do likewise.
P.S. As is obvious from the tombstone, he was also part of the Mormon Battalion.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
More Visitors!
Grandma Madsen was here too, but that picture didn't save to the camera for whatever reason. It was a quick visit, they were just driving through, but that's okay with us. (We like visitors of all kinds.) We may not be a destination city in most people's minds, but we're on the way to almost everywhere, so feel free to stop by. ;)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Things To Do In Lincoln #6
The Hyde Memorial Observatory
It's open on Saturday nights and run by volunteers, so it's free. (Although they do ask for a donation. I guess the volunteers don't want to pay the electric?)
Look at all the posters on the walls. Very interesting really.
Look at cool things through the telescopes. (There are three and they are nice.)
Pretend to float in space. (This is Ryan and Vidalia pretending to be in a picture of a rocket that was superimposed. Apparently they can't take a clear picture of a shuttle leaving Earth like this. Well, duh, I guess, but I would have never thought of it on my own.)
Learn about the moon and the constellations or whatever programs they have on when you go.
Even Vidalia enjoyed herself.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Papa Came to Visit Part Last
We went and saw the state capital.
Really the last four days were all one day, but we were just SO HAPPY to see Papa! (We wanted some way to drag it out a little.)
Friday, July 15, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Papa Came to Visit Part II
While Papa was, Vidalia decided she was going to be his personal helper.
It was actually more like she believed that computer was hers.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Papa Came to Visit Part I
And we're so glad that he did. Vidalia was happy about it too.
In case you couldn't tell, there was a little Vidalia photo shoot going on.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
6 Months!
That's half a year! Can you believe it? I can, but it still seems weird. (So, technically June 28th, but we're behind a few weeks on her doctors appointments.)
Weight: 17 lbs 15 oz (79%)
Height: 27.25 in (89%)
Head: 17.5 in (90%)
She's such a cutie and LOVES to explore. I had some people at church tell me she was going to be one of those kids who gets into everything (this was as she pulled an unopened package of chalk board erasers off of a library shelf and somehow managed to open them and start pulling them out).
P.S. We're on our way to Utah right now and hoping to see most of the people who probably ever read this blog.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Wii
We got a Wii! (and I am so excited about it) I told Ry that I wanted one and thought we should get one, he didn't think so, so I asked him why. It came down to the fact that he really would like to have one and just doesn't like paying for things. (Not anything, he complains about having to buy groceries quite often. Pretty much anything and everything is more expensive than it should be...free.) Anyhow, it took him maybe a maximum of 5 minutes to change his mind and say we should buy one. This made me feel uncomfortable because I wanted some logical reasons as to why we shouldn't, I don't like making decisions that involve spending unnecessary, unphasic money very quickly, so we waited. I then discussed with a few different people whether or not I should get a Wii. Mostly I was looking for logical reasons why I should not, but I was essentially told that a Wii would probably be fun to have and would attribute fun and unity to my family in much the same way a board game or a card game would (with my mother's added chime that we can play together, since they connect to the internet). Well, way more reason than you wanted, but another fun thing to do in Lincoln if you ever come visit us. We will let you play our Wii and our board games and with us, probably we would also make something yummy for you.
P.S. If you are thinking about getting a Wii, now is a good time, they are cheap because a newer one is coming out soon. Thanks Allie for bringing it to my attention, otherwise, I would probably never have actually considered it.
P.S. If you are thinking about getting a Wii, now is a good time, they are cheap because a newer one is coming out soon. Thanks Allie for bringing it to my attention, otherwise, I would probably never have actually considered it.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
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