Apple Jack Orchards

Dan snapped this adorable picture of Jade while we were at a ward BBQ. She was just walking around the tree, feeling the bark. It was a really cold day, and windy, but we had fun. They had fun bubble toys there. Jade was really getting the hang of it.

Our friends, the Faleschini's took us to the cool farm where we picked raspberries. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. It took me at least an hour to pick one pint of raspberries. We had fun though and Dan was walking Jade down the rows of raspberries, helping her find some so she could pick them.

As soon as she put one in her mouth she would look at Dan and say "more". She loved them.
This picture is funny, I look like I'm upset at the raspberry. I think I'm just inspecting it though. The bushes were already pretty bare, so you had to kind of pull back the branches to find the hidden ones.

They had a hollowed out log that Jade kept trying to stand up in. It was a fun outing and if anything I just appreciate farmers all the more now.

Independence Day Fun!

Those of you who know us know we LOVE to eat! We had a little shindig at our place a while back. We've made some really nice friends in our ward. We had sushi, potstickers, enchiladas, and yakisoba!

Here is a picture of Jade with her new buddies.
Here is a picture of us on the 4th of July, in our matching family t-shirts. After finding the idea for the shirts in a magazine, I decided I'd try to make them and they turned out awesome! A friend of mine made the same shirt and she said it only took her 10 minutes. Let's just say, I'm not quite that crafty. They took me at least three hours. But they really are so cool!
Jade loves corn on the cob. This picture just makes me smile. Nothing like having corn on the cob in the summer.
The night of the 4th we went to The Taste of Minnesota. It's sort of a mini carnival/fair. They have fair food and bands and a few booths with crafts and such. They have a few "rides" too. Here we are crossing the bridge over the Mississippi River.
Elvis Costello was playing that night. He was good, but I only recognized one song. Still, it was entertaining for sure. Dan could hardly stand being there because of all the smokers. It was really bad, although we are just used to Utah, so pretty much any smoking seems really bad.

Jade was a little bit freaked out by the fireworks, she cried for just a moment. Then I laid her in her stroller and she settled down. She would sit up every once in a while to sneak a peek at the fireworks.

Here are some more pictures of the splash park, we went today and it was great. Even though it was a Saturday it wasn't really busy.

Summer Fun

Well, another week has gone by, and we're another week closer to being done with school. (I say we, but you know, Dan.)

Jade's new favorite thing to do is play outside on the deck with some water. We just bring out a bowl of water and a few little cups and she goes to town. Eventually it ends up all over her and dripping down onto our neighbor's balconies.

But it's a great activity for when I don't feel like getting her in her swimsuit and out to the pool.

Here's Dan making siu mai dumplings. He even made some without shrimp, just for me.
Our friend Amanda showed us this really cool splash park in St. Louis Park. It was really crowded this day otherwise I might have a few more pictures. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll go again.
Here is Jade doing her impression of The Great Cornholio. (From Beavis and Butthead)
Today we meet up with Ruth and Jasmine and Ashton and went to Mall of America. We met Blue, from Blues Clues. Jade, surprisingly, really likes these characters. She tried to reach in Blue's mouth.
This is a moose from the mini-golf course that they have in the mall. He liked Jade's piggie-tails.

He is giving her hand a kiss here.
We also met Dora today!! Jade was pretty excited, she kept touching Dora's face. She also reached inside her mouth. It was pretty hilarious.
Ashton and Jade were playing with Legos before lunch. Jade still doesn't quite know how to work the legos, she has more fun pulling them apart.

A week of fun!

We have been having a lot of fun lately. Don't worry, Dan is certainly not slaking off at school. He just got a 96% on his first test. He's doing so well and working hard. Here is an impromptu picture on our way to the park. :)

Our friends, the Smith's took us to this great park with a beach and fun playground equipment for the girls. Their daughter is a week older than Jade and it has been fun having a playmate for Jade.
Jade's natural smile has been coming out a lot more. She will say "cheese" for the camera now. She is just an absolute cutie!
I just really like this picture of Dan :)
This is a cute, little family picture from yesterday. We went out on the lake with the Randall's. We had a lot of fun tubing and some people water-skied.
When Dan and I got onto the tube we leaned too far back and tipped it over. This was before we were even moving! Jade must have thought something was wrong because she burst into tears. She settled down after a little bit but whenever we fell off the tube she'd start crying again. She's just a little tender-heart.

Dan and Jade, Dan's cousin Tyler and his Aunt, Ruth.
From the left: Dan's cousin, Nate; Ruth's sister-in-law, Julie; her daughter, Erin; Nate's girlfriend, Trish; Dan's Uncle, Lynn; and Julie's son, Benjamin. We all had a really fun time, even though I'm feeling the aftermath of those nasty tumbles out of the tube.

Edenborough Park

Much to my demise, Saturday was gloomy and rainy. We had plans to go to the zoo with Dan's cousin and her two kids. When we realized it might not be the best day to do that, we decided to try an indoor park. This one was called edenborough park and it was AWESOME! It was a lot of fun for Jade and also fun for Dan and I.

You can climb up into the playground. It's about the size of four McDonalds playlands all rolled into one.

I wanted to get some cute pictures of her or a video but there were so many kids, and she needed help with climbing and such, that it was sort of hard to get any good ones.
Jade played through her nap so when we left it wasn't more than five minutes before she crashed.
Yesterday, at the mall Jade and I got to meet Pablo from the Backyardigans. She seemed pretty excited. It was really cute.

Jade maneuvers down stairs.

Jade has been learning how to walk down the stairs lately. She's doing really well and always wants to go on the stairs instead of the elevator. When we get to the second floor she always wants to wander into the laundry room. She used to think it was a bathroom I think, because, she would make a grunting sound (which is the sound she makes for potty, don't ask me why).

Meeting Hello Kitty

Jade is such a huge fan of the park. I mean, what little kid isn't though. We found this nice little park pretty close to our house. Jade prefers the swings but she likes slides too.

This is a picture I snapped of Jade trying to show me how she can "jump". She still doesn't get her feet off the ground but it sure is cute watching her try. She just has the cutest smile in this picture.
On Tuesday, Jade and I went to Mall of America again, for Toddler Tuesday and we got to meet Hello Kitty. Jade kept saying "mow"(like now), which is how she says "meow". It was very cute. She wasn't nervous, just excited.
Here she is giving her a high-five.
She won a candy necklace for pinning the bow on a hello kitty picture. She wasn't too intrigued with it until I showed her that it was edible. Then she was all over it.
This is the face she made when I told her she couldn't put the whole thing in her mouth and to spit it out. She was really bummed.
Dan took this cute picture of Jade. She kind of looks like a little grandpa with that cardigan on.

Minneapolis Farmers Market

Here is a picture of Jade all dressed up for Cinco De Mayo! Just wanted to throw that in there since I'd forgotten.

Last Saturday we took a trip downtown to check out the farmers market. It was really neat. There were a lot of cool vendors selling their local wares. Everything from clothes to metal yard animals, flowers, fruits and vegetables and Wisconsin cheese of course.
Jade and I enjoyed a delicious foot long.
Dan enjoyed this monstrosity also know as a bratwurst.
There was even a man playing an accordion. Jade really thought it was cool.....ok, I think I'm the only one who thought it was cool.
Here is a picture of Dan's latest culinary creation...galanga soup. It was delicious.

What happens when....

What happens when one day you think to yourself... I think I'll make about 60 pot stickers and then freeze them for later; only you neglect to allow them to completely freeze before submitting them to the awesome vacuuming power of the foodsaver, resulting in a huge conglomeration of potstickers that have melded into one another inseparably?

Well, what happens is that one day you have to sit down to a 3lb plate of potsticker casserole. not that that's a bad thing... just a little embarrassing..... Classic Dan.