Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful. We spent the first 2 1/2 days with Andrew's parents. It was fun to just relax and spend time with just his parents, we don't get to do that too often. On Thanksgiving Ollie got to have fun on Grandpa and Grandma's slide they got out and let us take home. He loves it!

We spent the afternoon preparing our Thanksgiving feast, and that it was!

On Black Friday morning, Andrew woke @ 5:15 am to go disc raking (not shopping) with Zach and his Dad. He had a blast and they found 30 some discs I think. When he got home around 9ish we went shopping while his mom watched Ollie for us. It was such a treat! Ollie had a lot of fun with Grandpa and Grandma :) Thanks so much for everything Dad and Mom! We love you!

Friday afternoon we headed down to my parents and got to hang out with some new friends for the evening. We had fun just hanging out and playing games.

We stayed up late until Dad, Dustin & Leah, and Brock got back from the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. It was so good to see Dustin and Leah again!

Saturday morning we went to Grandpa and Grandma Massner's for brunch. While we were getting ready to go, these 3 decided to dress up (or down)....

And then these 2 decided to to do Grandma's laundry...

They love playing with Uncle Drew...

The brunch up at G&G's was delicious and everyone but Nichole and I stayed all afternoon to play games (we had to put the boys down for a nap). Saturday night @ Dad and Mom's, us kids got out the Dutch Blitz cards...

and played Things...
It was so much fun having everyone together and just having a blast together.

Sunday afternoon, Mom took pictures for her Christmas card. Here is a good one of our family (besides Andrew's mustache that he and my brothers grew out for Movember, so sad I didn't get a picture of them all with the mustaches before my brothers shaved theirs!)

...
A good one of Dustin and Leah...

A good one of Aaron, Nichole, and kids...

And I forgot the picture of Brock and Drew... but most of you will see it on the Christmas card :)

Mom snapped a cute picture at lunch of us praying with Ollie... I'm sure he reminded us to pray, or maybe this is our second time?... just glad he likes to pray :)

Here is a good picture of Mom and Nichole while we were preparing our Thanksgiving feast for Sunday night.
After our delicious feast we celebrated Aaron's birthday.
My brothers and Zach singing Happy Birthday. So glad Zach could join us for "Thanksgiving".

And of course, we can't forget the moment Ollie got to drive Apa's (Papa's) truck. He had been asking all weekend and finally got to do it :)
U. Don, A. Carol, and Marie also came out to celebrate and hang out. It was sad saying good-bye to Dustin and Leah Sunday night because we aren't sure when we get to see them again... probably next summer :(

We had such a fun Thanksgiving and are so thankful for wonderful family, our Savior who died for us, and so many blessings.

My Sweet Little Man...

is almost 17 months old! It is so sad he is growing so fast, yet so fun to see him grow and learn! He is learning some new words:

tash (crash)

nana (banana)

app (apple)

told (cold)

hat

hot

owee (ouchy)

no

(I'm sure I forgot some and will be adding more)

He is obsessed with a couple books right now (one being 101 First Words) and doesn't want to read any others that I pick out. He is doing a great job of pointing to an object when I ask where it is on the page.

He has been saying "mom, mom" or "dad, dad", a lot, to get our attention!

He is doing a very good job of eating on his own with a fork or spoon and really does use it most of the time.

Loves dancing and "playing" cards. Grandpa Wiese gave him his own deck :) He loves it when we "get him" and tickle him. He enjoys putting shapes into the holes and is getting really good at knowing how to match the shape with the shape of the hole. He loves animals and animal sounds and can make some.

He is also obsessed with my camera. He loves to watch the videos on it and look at the pictures. He will sit forever and look. I have to hide the camera because if he sees it, he will beg for it, and then cry when he doesn't get it! He also loves watching home videos on the computer. And of course, still loves watching Baby Einstein. He loves taking baths and going outside. He always has to take balls and discs out with him :)

Saturday I gave him his first "real" haircut! I cut most of his curls off :( It is still long enough to curl (wave) a little, especially after his bath! It was just getting to scraggly. ( The bathtub pictures are from after his cut. )

He continues to be our sweet little boy that loves to give us hugs and kisses, loves to pray before dinner and reminds us if we forget, and snuggles for 2o minutes after he wakes up.

I. LOVE. IT.

Bathroom

So I'm excited to show you a little update on our bathroom! We finally have a bathtub, toilet, and sinks working! For the most part the bathroom is done! We still need to find a mirror, get the electricity hooked back up, do some touch up painting, put the trim up, and then of course... buy the accessories :) We are just thankful that Ollie can now take a bath (instead of a shower), we can use the toilet during the night (don't have to go downstairs), and wash our hands afterwards.

Here are some before pictures...

Here is the vanity without the countertop...

Here is Ollie's tub...
And here is the best picture I have with the countertop on and you can kind of see the toilet...

I will be taking some more "after" pictures soon. Loving our new bath :)

Mom's Birthday

My mom's birthday was Nov. 1st. A few days later we celebrated at our house. We hung out and had chocolate cookie pie.

Dad and Mom...

Oliver being obsessed with looking at pictures on the camera like always...
Singing "Happy Birthday"...
Mom, I am so blessed to have you as my mom! Thank you for all that you do and for continually showing us love and Jesus. We all love you :)

Idaho

At the end of October, Mom, Ollie, and I flew out to visit Dustin and Leah in Idaho. We had a great trip out. Ollie's favorite part about the airplane was putting the window up and down.

We had a 1 hour flight and then a 3 hour flight. He did really well on both of them. We got into Spokane around 7:30. Dustin and Leah picked us up and we headed to Chili's to watch the Cardinals win the 6th game of the World Series! Go Cards! It was a late night getting to the hotel but it was so great to hang out with Dust and Leah.

The next morning Leah picked us up and she showed us (Mom had been there) around the town of Sandpoint. Such a beautiful area! We visited Dustin at work and then he went to lunch with us. Here is Ollie with his static hair...
We relaxed at their apartment in the afternoon and then had a delicious dinner that Leah made. Then we headed over to their friends house to watch the Cardinals win the World Series!
Saturday we went out for breakfast at the Hoot Owl, it was so delicious! We walked around downtown and then drove up the mountain that has the ski resort. I saw my first snow of the year and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Cheering for the Hawkeyes!

Saturday night we hung out at the apartment and Ollie had so much fun playing with Dust.
Here is Ollie Sunday morning...
We went to church, had Subway for lunch, and headed back to the hotel to play cards while Ollie napped. In the evening Mom and I got our long awaited back rub from Dustin and enjoyed a yummy Italian Restaurant to celebrate Mom's birthday.

Monday morning we said goodbye and Leah drove us back to the airport. Here is the view on the way there...
It was a sad goodbye but not too bad because we will see them in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun just relaxing and catching up with them... we hope you guys move closer soon! We love you!

Ollie on the 3 hour flight home...
Thank you Jesus!

Celebrations

In the middle of October we headed to Chicago with Andrew's parents to celebrate our niece's birthday and also Dad and Mom Wiese's 40th Anniversary! We had so much fun being with family. We missed not having all the Wiese's there :(

We started the Saturday out with an anniversary lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant and then headed back to get ready for Rebecca's birthday party while the men disc golfed :) Rebecca's party was a big hit...

We enjoyed watching Soul Surfer after the party. This is what Ollie did during most of the movie... he would put the basketball on the chair, climb on the chair, and make a basket. He thought he was so cool :) We got some cute video.
Thanks so much Kevin and Melissa for letting us crash at your house and for the delicious food. We were so glad we could celebrate with you Rebecca and Dad and Mom... we love you all :)