Kentucky Nordfelts

Holiday Utah 2010

2011-12-16T11:07:00.001-08:00

Fall of 2011

2011-12-16T10:40:00.001-08:00

Ella turns 5

2011-12-16T10:39:00.005-08:00

Our new home is Rochester

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Visit to California

2011-12-16T10:39:00.001-08:00

Goodbye to KY

2011-12-16T10:38:00.004-08:00

Jed Graduates!

2011-12-16T10:38:00.003-08:00

Grandpa and Grandma visit!

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Spring 2011

2011-12-16T10:36:00.002-08:00

Ella and Jed playing basketball:

Sweet E. She's shoots, the ball goes straight up and she ducks so it doesn't hit her.

Derby Day at Preschool:

Parade of Hats

Meeting horses:

Cincinnati Kids Museum:

The kids always wake up and go to the "hot air" in the morning. I'll always remember Ella eating cereal by the vent.

Jed wore Ella's jumprope to Meijer. Lookin good.

Parent Program at Preschool:

They had a processional into the room and sang songs.

Easter Events:

Easter Celebration:

Easter Egg hunt at the church:

Gift for Mother's day from the preschool kids: a book of the whole year. Cutest and best Preschool EVER!!!

Ella working with Ms. Shirley

Rix turns 1!

2011-12-16T10:36:00.001-08:00

So our little guy has a double fracture in his wrist. The worst part is that it was probably broken for about a week before we really noticed that he was doing a gimpy crawl. We figured it must have happened in Utah over the Christmas visit. He was dropped by a cousin but never fussed or anything. Sweet, little guy.

He found one of Ella's markers.

Playing with the piano they got from Santa.

Opening his birthday presents with one arm.

The chocolate cupcakes...Rix vs. the Birthday Cupcake

tasting,

loving.

The cupcake definitely lost to the garbage-bag wrapped cast. He just kept pounding it and smearing.

A happy little dude despite the break.

We love our little man.

Kentucky Holiday 2010

2011-12-16T10:35:00.001-08:00

Fall 2010

2011-01-14T07:18:00.001-08:00

First Day of Preschool

St. James Court Art Show

Jed with pigs, Cyndi with dream necklace

Pumpkin patch with preschool-Gallerin farms

With Ella's teacher-Ms. Shirley

Rootbeer Bash-taste test...Henry Weinhards won

VanYpren Boys break the barrel

Rootbeer balloon toss

Rootbeer chug

Apple picking at Huber Farm

Ella's Preschool Room

Birthday Girl at Preschool

Favorite things for birthday dinner...jello, shape mac 'n cheese, Cheetos, and raspberry lemondae

Spider Hat from school

Ella be nimble, Ella be quick...

Ella jump over the candlestick
Birthday Girl-4

Color Fest-Berheim Forest
t

Ella Birthday Party-Dora Theme

Bobby Flay Perfect Burger-yum!

Pumpkin Carve with Southwells

Halloween Party at Preschool

Trick or Treat with Southwells

Preschool Thanksgiving Party-

Sleeping in the Laundry Basket

Summer in Utah 2010

2011-01-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

Playing Cards at home

Fun at Grandma Angel and Grandpa Doctors

Inspiration Point Hike

Moose Trio

Jackson Lake

Music in the Hole

Pools at Liberty Park

Fishing with Papa-Ella and Audrey's Fish

Sliding Rock

Pioneer Village

4th of July

First Fruit for Rixy-he turned orange too

Christus Statue

Gateway fountains

Inspiration Point

Mindy's Shower

August Birthdays

Game Night at Neal Davis house

Summer in Kentucky 2010

2011-01-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

Huber Farm and Strawberries!!!

Happy Father's Day-Ella's favorite thing for daddy dinner...steak

Mom and Ella Cooking Show...we made brownies!

Sprained ankle from Zumba

Angry Baby in Bumbo
yummy toes!!

Ella teaching the scriptures to Rix-

Granny and Papa Visit

2010-05-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

Granny and Papa Arrive!!!
First things first: getting reacquainted after a year and a half,

And meeting Rix for the first time.

Visiting the Mission home for Dennis' East Central States Mission:

His mission head quarters were in Louisville, KY and he remembers traveling here for a mission conference. The same building is now the office for the Louisville, KY mission.

The next day for visited the Slugger Museum:

On the production tour we saw the bats being made for A-Rod:

Dennis was really excited about holding his idol, Mickey Mantel's bat.

But we think he has better form than Mickey.

For lunch, we enjoyed the original Kentucky hot brown sandwich at the Brown hotel.

It's a rich open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and gravy. Quite the treat. Ella's favorite part was the little ketchup bottle and pretending to be our waitress.

We also visited Churchill Downs and the Derby Museum the next day.

Visiting a retired race horse stabled on the grounds.

Sweet hugs at the track.

Picture Perfect. We all know how Granny likes her horse racing, especially the Kentucky Derby. This was a fun moment to see her at the rails.

And this was a fun moment to see Dennis and Jed race against each other, even if it wasn't real.
Papa won by 2 lengths.

Another site was the Louisville Temple:

It's one of the small temples.

We also did a fair amount of relaxing at playing at home.

Getting a hair cut, learning about the wild strawberries (aka weeds growing in our front yard), playing on the swing.

Getting underdogs from both daddy and papa:

Like father, like son.

And here's Ella giving underdogs for Rix's turn on the swing.

He has mixed emotions about his first time.

Our last venture was a picnic at Bernheim Forest.

Out on the canopy tree walk. It's like half of a bridge that stands you over the open forest.

My favorite picture of Dennis and Glenda from the visit:

We also fed a goose family and some turtles in one of the ponds. Who knew that turtles would come clamoring like ducks for old, crusty bread.

Ella named one of the turtles Agga, and another Gagga.

We actually had to stop the car and move a turtle to the side of the road as it was crossing so slowly. It hissed at Cyndi.

Other funny memories:
Ella yelling "You wiggle" at Granny.
Visiting Brusters twice, Dennis loved the Key Lime Pie ice cream.
Rix talking in the morning to Papa.

Time to say good-bye.
Two monumental goals were reached by the end of the visit. Ella climbed on papa's knee and learned to "give rock."

There was also another big moment when Glenda actually looked at the camera and smiled. No really, the best was having granny to rock little Rix on her lap.

We can't wait to see out family again.

Is he or is he not a little Jedito?

2010-04-01T20:36:00.001-07:00

So the big question is whether Rix is a mini-Jed. Cyndi says yes, Jed isn't sure and Ella doesn't understand the question. The picture on the left is Jed at the same age as Rix only in a much cooler denim get-up.

Our cute kiddies.

Ella sure loves Rix.

Sometimes, she loves him a little too much.

Other times, she's just right.

Baby Rix

2010-02-04T15:13:00.001-08:00

The story of baby Rix, a great beginning to a great life ahead.

It all started with the splits. Not really. We just wanted to see if I could still do them 9 months pregnant. Two days later, my water broke after eating a brownie sundae. There must be something about brownies and child birth for Cyndi, my water broke with brownies for Ella's labor too.

6 hours later...

Sorry if this is too graphic. Jed is cutting the cord.

Getting cleaned up and weighed.
We were right. He was a BIG boy. 9lbs 1.6oz. and 22 inches long. The doctor and nurses just kept saying Wow.

Our sweet baby Rix had arrived. Healthy and perfect with reddish hair.
Now it was time to bond with our big little guy.

Dad and baby-Mom and baby
Favorite Newborn pictures of Rix:

Meeting big sister Ella. The hospital has a policy during flu season about no one under 18 years old being allowed on the nursery level of the hospital and we couldn't take Rix to the hospital lobby, so Ella didn't meet Rix until we came home.

She was all smiles and love.

Ella and Rix exchanged new sibling gifts.

She really does love her new baby.

Grandma Davis, aka Grandma Angel, took care of little E.

Rix and Grandma.

This was Ella's favorite baby toy and now she's sharing it with Rix. We're already working on the "only kiss the head" precaution. Then we had some firsts...

First Bath

First basketball shot. Jed says he already has a great natural follow-through.

The big event of blessing Rix brought out Grandpa Davis and Neal's family. It made all the difference to share this first big spiritual step with loved ones. The priesthood circle included Jed, Grandpa Davis, Neal Davis and Bishop Nelson. Rix was officially named Rix Carlson Nordfelt and was given a beautiful blessing by his dad. It spoke a lot about his capacity to love as the Savior and we can already feel that in our home. He truly has a big, strong spirit. When you hold him you just feel a pure love.

Hampton and Aunt Kerrie holding Rix after the blessing.

The whole Neal and Kerrie Davis clan. This is a neat family!

Grandma and Grandpa Davis. We think the reddish hair comes from Grandpa Davis' father. So Rix is named after both grandmothers using their maiden names Ricks (Rix) and Carlson. Then there's the physical resemblances of both grandfather's. Rix has quite a heritage and a lot of love surrounding him.

Here's our happy family. We're so excited to add this little boy to our crew. Life just keeps getting better.

Thanksgiving Visit to Ann Arbor

2009-12-28T16:50:00.001-08:00

For the past 3 years, we've been visiting Neal and Kerrie and family for Thanksgiving. This year was just as fun and memorable.
We started by going to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Children Museum. They had a special Bob-the-Builder exhibit that was so cute.

Here's

Ella's favorite part was definitely the water exploration section.

Same with Gretta and the twinners.
Jed loved the bubble section and

Cyndi got to test her flexibility despite being 8 months pregnant.

Other favorites were the ambulance,

and Kenton and Merrill's foam fort.

They decided to demolish it together on 3, blocks flew everywhere.

We also did a turkey trot Thanksgiving morning. It was a great way to start the day.

All the kids ran, well, Ella rode.

And here is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. Brothers, Kenton and Merrill ran the whole race side by side and decided to tie to first place. What neat kids! And they ran the mile in 5:47!

The rest of Thanksgiving day was eating and juggling. Jed learned to juggle and even the twins got the hang of it, sort of.

The next day was shopping and lights...

The Wayne County Lightfest of 4 miles and over 2 million LED lights.

The arches were the best and Santa loosing his reindeer's heads was a little funny.
Lastly was the tree farm and family pictures.

The best part at the tree farm were the carts.

All the kids got to ride and pull over the hills of Christmas trees.
After MUCH deliberation a tree was decided on and everyone helped to cut it down.

The afternoon ended with fresh apples and genuine hayrides through the firs.

The family Christmas card photo shoot was hilarious. We did get a good one,

But these were my favorites...

Merrill always so stoic, and Hampton...

well he's just a character!

In between the activities were the usual game playing and

Eating of yummy treats!!!

We love this awesome family...

I don't know if we'll make it through Thanksgiving next year since they're moving to Utah. All I know is that the memories from these last 3 Thanksgivings have best so far. We'll miss you crazy 8 Davis'.

Christmas Stuff 2009

2009-12-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

So this year is different for us as we have had our first Holiday by ourselves. We've definitely missed everyone and did our best to fill the time with fun things. We tried to mix new traditions with the usual favorites.

This was our Christmas Candy Making Night. We invited our bishop's family and the missionaries. Everyone was sugared out and covered in chocolate. Such a fun night!

Elder Hitchcock dipping homemade caramels. And here's Ella dipping into the chocolate.

We made caramels, turtles, coconut haystacks, mint cookie balls, peanut butter and mint truffles, and last but not least, buttermints. Here's the story of the butter mints.

It started with a very pregnant Cyndi spreading the syrup on cool baking trays.

It went outside to have the cool on the pans as we tried to start balling the mints. I think first degree burns were had by all, even though we were all laughing.

We eventually worked it into balls and started to pull and here is the amazing result...

a complete catastrophe! So the butter mints didn't turn out but I think it will be the biggest memory maker of the evening. We couldn't stop laughing.

Here we are with the Nelsons. Love them! Our family away from family.

The Ward Christmas Party:
Stress of the Season, for Cyndi, that is. She was in charge of getting the entertainment for the evening. Some of the numbers were:

Austin and Riley playing Jingle Bells Fantasy Duet. They were awesome.
Cyndi and Jed sang "Baby it's Cold Outside" while a couple did a ballroom routine on the stage. We weren't planning on singing, but at last minute the couple who was going to got strep. Oh the joys of planning! (Not my favorite thing.) And no, Ella isn't playing the piano, but we're thinking about starting that soon.

Another number was our bishop, JJ, and the elders singing the chipmunk song with helium balloons for the full effect. I think this was the favorite of the evening, especially when the singers had to stop mid phrase to suck more helium. Everyone was laughing. These gentlemen were such good sports to do it. A definite memory maker of the night.

And of course...Mr. and Mrs Claus came to wish the ward a merry Christmas.

Here's Ella and Jed with Santa and Mrs. Claus. She's still scared of him, so this was as close as she got.

Christmas Eve:
We did something we've never done before and went out to eat for dinner. We went to Texas Roadhouse with the Browns and then acted out the Nativity with puppets while dad read Luke 2.

We also made homemade ToffyPop cookies for Santa and wrote a note for him and left out carrots for the reindeer. Ella was so cute about leaving a treat and signing her name with thank yous for Santa.
After that, we all cuddled up and watched a Christmas movie by the tree and think we'll add that as a family tradition for years to come.

Dad and Ella watching "A Muppet Christmas Carol."

Christmas morning was a relaxed, fun, time. Ella got "baby toys," and mom and dad got new Nike running shoes. We swear by the Nike Zoom Air. That morning we had crepes (Nordfelt tradition) and then had a big traditional Christmas dinner with some other families. Part of that dinner was a white elephant exchange where Jed gave an autographed picture of himself and this was the picture...

Signed "Go-Go Nordfelt."
It was the funniest gift of the night for sure.

It really was a fantastic day.

Halloween Activities

2009-11-19T06:48:00.001-08:00

The Halloween Festivities started with:

Boo Zoo...the trick or treat with the Louisville Zoo.

Ella's favorite part of the whole thing was seeing the PINK flamingos.
It was near impossible to get her to do anything. Although, she did master saying thank you after getting a treat.

Cyndi's Halloween contribution...Zumba Thriller at 7 months pregnant!

I have the awesomest class that is up for anything.

So we did an ode to Michael as part of our October Zumba classes by learning "Thriller."

Ward Halloween Party.
Trunk or Treat and Chili Cook-off.
We actually won 2nd for the while chili.

Little Princess Ella as Belle with her friends.

Happy Halloween from our family!

Trick or Treating in the Neighborhood...

Ella and daddy walking the neighborhood.

One house was totally decked out!

Friend's Halloween Party at the Southwells...

This was our first attempt at Homemade Root beer. We learned that we don't need 15 lbs of dry ice. It makes for lots of smoke, but pretty soon you can't drink it because the whole thing will freeze over! We literally had to use an ice pick to open the valve. It actually took 2 days for the whole thing to finally melt! Oops!

Next was a very cool ghost cake whose eyes lit on fire!

The pumpkin pinata was fun and since Ella wouldn't participate, Jed got to swing instead.

Last and certainly not least was...
The undies breakthrough!!!
Ella has wanted to buy big girl undies, but never wanted to wear them until after dressing as Belle for Halloween night. This was a big moment for her.

Ella's 3!

2009-11-19T06:36:00.000-08:00

It's a Princess Party!!!

Ella has known for months that she wanted a "yellow Bell" party.

She was sooo excited while we were making her cake. When we were finally done she just dropped her jaw and finally said, "Wow!!! She's beautiful."

Opening her princess presents.

Singing "Happy Birthday to me."

Showing us that she's 3!!!!
Ella, Ella, we love you!

Fall Festivities 2009

2009-10-20T09:54:00.001-07:00

So Kentucky goes crazy with Fall Festivals...
Here are some that we've enjoyed so far.

First was the Bluegrass Balloon Festival:

This festival brings about 70 balloons together onto one field for various activities that range from glows, tethered rides, airplane shows, food, kids games and events, to bluegrass music and skydiving demos.

Here's the Harley Balloon and ya know, we just had to get a picture.
Jed's loving the trike. He's hoping it could be our next family vehicle.

The skydiving demo from the Army.

Cyndi loved seeing all the balloons and their gorgeous colors went lit up. Ella got a little nervous with the balloons firing all around her, but in the end, she saw how pretty it was.

Her favorite balloon was the birthday cake since her birthday was coming was in a few weeks and she thought the balloon cake was for her.

Then we went to the St. James Court Art Show:

This is one of the most popular Art Fairs/Shows in the country. There are literally 500+ different vendors with art that ranges from traditional to insane.
This Humpty Dumpty was a favorite. We were so sad that we didn't get more pics, but our camera battery died. Boo. Well, there's always next year and we definitely plan on going again.

Lastly is Colorfest held at Bernheim Forest:

This celebrates all things outdoors and all things Fall.
We loved painting a pumpkin and see great potential in the Pollack style for little Ella.

This hay maze was by far the favorite. We had to drag Ella away, she would have stayed in there the whole day.

There was a really neat music section that used percussion and then "found" instruments. Jed was master at the wind tube. Ella just thought it was a spy glass.

We all loved the little dock over the pond. The water was so green that we had a lot of fun with reflections.

We miss ya all and wish you could join us on these fun adventures.

Our Annoucement

2009-09-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's official...the Jed,Cyndi and Ella Nordfelt family are expecting a baby boy January 15th.
I'm working on finding a scanner to upload the ultrasound pictures.

Until then, you can see the fun things mom and Ella have been working on welcome our baby boy.

These are animal friends, that I made from a Valori Wells pattern. Ella likes the lion.
There's also an accompanying quilt we'll be sewing soon. We'll post a picture when it's ready.

The Summer of 2009

2009-09-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't written in a long time even though we have done things with our summer.
The first was a day-trip in Cincinnati. We went to Ikea, Jungle Jims and a Cincinnati Reds game.

Ikea was fun, though I wanted decorating fabric to re-upholster one of our chairs. I wasn't loving any of their stuff and went with Amy Butler fabric's instead. Jed was a champion and helped me recover it. The end result...

Jungle Jims is this great ubber grocery where there are 3 or 4 seperate groceries all under the same roof. You walk in to an average, run of the mill store, then to the side of those aisles is an entire organic/farm fresh grocery, then behind that are aisle categorized by country to make an international grocery. Then, of course, there's the bakery, butcher, and candy things to round out the store. As if that wasn't enough, they've made it fun for kids. An example is the talking Robin Hood placed over the English foods aisle.

They have the rice-crispies gang and other figures stationed through the store. Ella kept giggling at the talking animals. We also got a kick out of the hot sauce section. Yes, a SECTION, just for hot sauce...they actually have an national hot-sauce competition and convention hosted at the store. Here's Ella with out favorite packaged sauce.
You have to be brave to use the dynamite hot-sauce.

The Reds game was with other dental families.

Ella's favorite part was doing the cheers between batters.

Our next trip was supposed to be an over-night camping trip that turned into a 2 hour drive home at 11pm because we knew Ella would not sleep in the tent.
The day activities, however, were lots of fun.

We spent a good 3 hours at the lake.
Ella LOVES her daddy.

Ella brought her friend Garrett a cookie and he tried to thank her with a kiss. She just looked at him funny.
This picture is of the Southwells and the story and of the binkie. They have a one year old who will not sleep with her pacifier. Somehow the binkie made its way into the lake and got lost. This caused massive panic for the parents, as that was their only binkie. The prayers started and from there a very diligent daddy spent 45 minutes diving and searching the bottom of the swimming area for the lost binkie. To everyone's shock, he sound the pacifier and everyone lived happily ever after.

We also went to a playground on the Lake grounds. Jed did underdog for the girls, they died of laughter, I almost died because they look like they're going to fall out.

We then made dinners and did ball-toss ice cream.

I learned something from this experience, it doesn't work without the rock salt. We ended up with Oreo milk, but the tossing was a lot of fun.

These are pictures from the Kentucky State fair.

Ella petting a sweet colt at the World Equestrian Games.
And here's Jed a couple bites closed to the grave from this deep fried snickers.

Lastly was Jed's birthday. It was simple with our little.
Ella got to hide dad's presents. And the big surprise was the Primary singing Happy Birthday to Brother Nordfelt instead of the closing song with cupcakes and cookies after the closing prayer for Primary. Each Primary class colored Jed a card. It was really fun to watch Jed be so surprised when I started playing Happy Birthday instead of I love to see the temple.

Independence Festival

2009-07-05T15:14:00.001-07:00

For the 4th of July, we went to the Independence Festival on the Waterfront. There was a lot to do between food booths, crafts, inflatables, etc. but Ella liked the regular playground best.

The next item of business was to get out favorite Festival treat; funnel cake.

I don't know what it is about funnel cake but it really embodies the fun and flavor of Festivals. We took our yummy cake and went down to the boat dock. The harbor master was kind enough to let us sit along the dock to watch the fireworks. He said they usually don't let people sit there, but Ella won him over. We were literally on the water.

It rained for about 5 minutes and the best we could do was put our camp chairs over our heads and let it pass. I'm sure we looked ridiculous holding the chairs upside down to shelter ourselves from the rain. It blew over fast and then the show began...

We've never been so close to such big fireworks; it was like they were firing over our heads and reflecting at out feet, all at the same time.

Ella was a little scared but daddy held her close and she began to enjoy the show.

She even started naming the fireworks for family members. "This one's for mommy..."

She went all the way through daddy, granny, both grandpas, grandma angel, all her cousins and herself.

On the way to the car we saw a flame-thrower dancing inside the fountains.

It was a magical and memorable night.

Overdue Update-Summer 2009

2009-07-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since we posted last and here's the gist of what's been happening.

Jed-Studying for boards...the end.

That really is pretty much what I've been doing. For most of the month of June, I was going to the library every day. The week before the test, I was studying 10-12 hours per day. It was some good times! But, the last week Cyndi made some fun packages for me to help me get through it all. Thanks to everyone who was praying for us. I feel pretty good about the test--at least I feel that I passed!
Side note from Cyndi: Jed would never say it, but he also took the challenge on himself of reading the Book of Mormon while studying for boards and he did it! He really is an example to me. I love my wonderful husband. I love that he has his priorities so in tune with the gospel. I know we've been blessed as a family for his Priesthood leadership in our home.

After the test, Cyndi (with some financial help from my parents--thanks Mom and Dad!) took me to a nice Argentine restaurant called Palermo viejo. It was quite authentic and the meat was really good. If only it was as inexpensive as it was in Argentina!

This is the Parrilla platter; an array of steak, ribs, chorizo and sweet bread served with a chimichuri sauce. We're on the hunt for a good chimichuri sauce to make at home, any ideas?

4th of July Ward Breakfast 2009

For the 4th of July, Jed also sang "My Country Tis of Thee" in a quartet with some fellow ward members for the annual pancake breakfast. They sounded really great.

Cyndi-Projects
Cyndi keeps busy with DIY projects:

This is a scrappy quilt from Amy Butler Charm Packs. I'm kinda stuck though, so we'll see where it goes from here. The idea is a new quilt for Ella to move into a toddler bed with.

This next one is a set children's story panels. These were favorite boooks from Jed and Cyndi's childhood, along with some new faces.

And this is the big one:

A routine board for Ella to work through every morning while saying the rhyme:

Make my bed, Say my prayer, Brush my teeth, Comb my hair, Get dressed, Read Scriptures too, Eat, and Smile the whole day through!

When she's done each task, she flips the picture and eventually chooses a reward for the day, like going to the park, getting a sticker, etc. It's been a good way to set up the day. Thanks to my Mom Davis for the initial rhyme. This is the same morning pattern I went through growing up.

Ella-Social Bug/Steak Eater

Ella truly is happiest when with other kids. Every morning she wakes up and asks to see her friends today. She eats breakfast with pictures of her cousins and I constantly hear her saying how she loves them and they love her.

This was at the 4th of July breakfast.

And her she is with her idol, Kjersten. KJ is soooo patient and sweet with her.

Another funny thing we've noticed about Ella is her love of steak! And I mean the whole process, preparing, seasoning, grilling, checking, cutting, and mostly eating the steak.

Grilling with daddy, the middle steak was hers and she ate the WHOLE THING!!!

She made this face when daddy was cutting up her steak and she was so excited.

Pure 10 oz. joy!

Finishing the last bites. This gal just kept saying, "More."

She actually has become quite the helper in the kitchen and when asked what she wants to be when she grows up she said, "a cook." Maybe there's more steak in her future, we'll see.

A visit to Ann Arbor

2009-05-03T11:43:00.001-07:00

The trip to Michigan was great! The most important part was letting Ella be with her cousins. She's only 2 but somehow it's ingrained that family is special.

Ella and Gretta are the "twinner cousins" being blonde and tall. Gretta's more brave, so it helps Ella try things she otherwise wouldn't. Like the McD's slide.

This was a HUGE breakthrough for E.
Here's the cousins having a great time too.

Poor Peter stuck on the bottom, Sofia slyly smiling and high-flying Hampton.
The gals went shopping after McDonalds at some outlets and hit the usual favorites; Nike, Harry & David (loved the caramel moose munch bar, new toffee truffle, and the pepper and onion relish dip) , OshKosh, and Carters. It was a fun, tasty trip for the girls.
We got the twinner cousinis matching dresses.

A note to runners: Kerrie and I were both sold on the Nike running shoes with ZOOM AIR. We've never felt more cushion on the ball of the foot and the factory sold them for reasonable prices as opposed to the usual $100 +. Check it out, it'll save your feet.

The next morning as a treat for the guys was the driving range.

The above pictures are an ode to dad for keeping his HEAD DOWN. He never quite got Cyndi to this point. Great job daddio.
Helping the boys with their form...like father, like son...

it must have paid off, look at those guys go:

We all relaxed together and Jed started reading The Mysterious Benedict Society to Merrill and Kenton.

Of course, RELAX, isn't a word that Kerrie really knows.

She is an AMAZING mom!

That night we watched Swiss Family Robinson under our own tent.

The twins finally settled for a little while.

Though in the end, Peter moved to where he was more comfortable,
with a ball and a book about dogs; well, boys will be boys.
We love you Michiganders!

Grandma Angel and Doctor Grandpa Come to Visit

2009-04-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

Grandma Davis, or "Grandma Angel" as Ella calls her came out visit in the end of April and we began the fun with a lunch at the Butterfly Garden Cafe. This is definitely a new favorite for us and what it even more fun was the appearance of the "Red Hats" for their tea party. Here's a picture of what we ladies have to look forward to.

Jed asked a member what the red hats were and she said, "a bunch of little ole' ladies gettin' together and havin' a good time."
The Butterfly Cafe was fantastic. It even served Ella her PBJ on a butterfly plate and the food was AMAZING! Check their website for yum recipes, they list new ones monthly.

The next adventure was the Louisville Zoo...
Ella loved the animals, though her favorite part was probably the playground in the middle of the zoo.
We did get pretty close to the animals.
Just kidding.
Ella said her favorite was the baby elephant "Scotty" and his very big mama.

The next day was the usual library visit where we learned about bugs and Ella read to Grandma after the story time.

That night dad flew in and we enjoyed Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen.
Friday started with a trip down to the Fest-a-Ville on the water front.

Jed and Ella are flying the Pooh bear kite along the Ohio. Grandpa helped too.
We enjoyed a funnel cake.
and Ella went into the petting farm with daddy.

The highlight of the event was mom drawing a coveted "gold pin." She won a derby poster and an entry into the grand prize drawing. We're hoping she'll win the motorcycle and leave it here in Ky. Here's to hoping.

We're proud of our Golden Gal.

That night was the Balloon Glow at the Kentucky Expo field. As you can see, it's many hot air balloons gathering together to fire against a dark sky. It was beautiful.

There were thousands of people and so we took the short cut to the field.
Once a farm gal, always a farm gal. She hopped that fence like it was nothing.

We all got our pictures at the Lville balloon.
These were snapped right before this... The wind picked up, literally, and the Louisville balloon gusted out of the field. It was actually a little scary because an airplane zoomed right past the freed balloon as it was coming into land.
Balloon Glows are definitely a favorite thing about Kentucky.

Saturday, dad was off to a conference and Jed needed to study for finals so the girls went to the Churchill Downs Museum.
Here's Mom and Ella with a photo jockey. And here's the real jockeys that we saw when we went down to the track.
versus
I think the main difference is the shiny boots.

Inside the museum were tons of great exhibits about derby, a favorite was the hats. There was also a great panoramic movie that Ella kept gasping in because of all the horsies.

This exhibit was a fun challenge to stay crouched on the horse correctly the whole race. It was neat to ride from the jockey perspective watching a simulated race in front of you. Mom got the jockey pose down.

The coolest part was being able to go down to track. Because it was a race day, we actually got to see a race start to winner's circle at the end.

Paddock to track to winner circle
The Derby Museum was really neat and only 10 bucks a person includes a race, that's a steal.

With all that we've done the best part really has been just being together. Mom brought out twister which has been fun.

Here's Ella and Grandma playing kids phase 10. We've also done our family favorite rook. But best of all is wrestling with dad on the bed.

Ella only has smiles like that for Jed.
The crowning event of a trip to visit my brother in Michigan was mom and dad's first official derby pie.

They're both sold!
After we returned from Michigan, we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum.

We all tried the batting cages.

The pictures are Cyndi, Mom, Jed, and Dad.
Even Ella got to swing.

They had a cute corner for kids and a statue to climb on.

The factory where they make the bats was interesting, much more ghetto than I thought it would be, but in a way, really neat that it still takes personal touches for a good product.

You have to notice that "Christmas is canceled" on the board. The workers were really fun!
After the factory tour, you get your own little slugger. Seen here with Mom and Dad.

There's a part where you can choose to hold a bat used by the pros. We all opted for...

Here's Dad and Jed posing with Mickey's bat.
Nice form gents.

And of course, there's a exhibit to feature Babe Ruth.

This was such a fun visit and we can't wait for Grandma Angel and Doctor Grandpa to come again, or anyone else who wants to, hint, hint. : )

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

This Easter has been SO much fun.

We started with coloring eggs for FHE.

We ended up coloring a lot more than eggs and both Jed and I had dyed fingers for the next couple of days. It was funny to teach early morning seminary with purple fingers and have Jed working on his dentures patient but Ella loved it.

Our next event was the ward Easter Egg Hunt at the bishops one acre backyard.
Jed helped Ella at first and then she got the hang of it.

That is Ella's friend Savannah hunting eggs in her bright pink bunny outfit.

And that is Savannah's brother, Evan bouncing Jed on the huge in-ground pogo.

The last event was the Easter basket hunt where we gave clues inside eggs leading Ella to her basket. It was really fun to see her excited about finding the eggs.

Her basket had a chocolate bunny, some bubbles and an Easter Princess set. She loved it all.

Of course the best part was talking about the Savior and His resurrection. Grannie said it all on a note in her package to us...

We love and miss you all.

Fun moments for Ella

2009-03-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

This post is a record of fun moments we've had with our little E.

This was at the visitor center of Mammoth Caves National Park. Ella decided it was too hot.

She loves to help with dishes (especially if there are bubbles) and is constantly cleaning.

Of course she playing with her own kitchen too.

She likes to lead the music like Daddy and teach singing. Nursery is a favorite of hers because of the song time.

This is the story of the "Bigger Diaper."

Jed and I were cleaning the church and Ella had already used up the diaper in the diaper bag earlier that evening at Jed's church game. She had been constipated and so, inadvertently she was over-dosed with Milk of Magnesia. One thing led to another which led to using Jed's sweatshirt as a "bigger diaper" until we could make it home. That was quite the evening!

Some of Ella's friends:

Savannah and E dancing in the living room. Twirling is so underrated.

Noah and Ella eating banana pops.

Lately she and Owen have been showing their affection.

Mutual smooching!

Ice Cream Favorites

2009-03-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to great ice cream.

Here is a list of our families all-time faves.

Jed loves Baskin Robbins

Oreo Shake.

Cyndi loves a chocolate custard concrete with almonds and caramel mixed in from...

There's always the Utah classic

where the servings are huge and the toppings divine. I know there is an ongoing battle between the caramel or hot fudge being better.

And for something new, Graeter's is a Kentucky treasure.

Jed and I both agree that the best flavor is black raspberry chip. It is truly amazing.

But our newest favorite is...

My goodness, this is yummy. Our family went for free ice cream on a pj friday where they gave away free waffle cones for wearing bed clothes. Could it be any sweeter than licking cones in your pajamas. Their flavors were incredible like, Key Lime Pie, Caramel Explosion with Twix, S'mores, White Raspberry Truffle, Blueberry Cobbler, Chocolate Lover's Trash, Coffee Cake Streusel, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough...you get the idea. Check out their site www.brusters.com. They also have special events like the pj day and every Thursday is bring your own banana and get 50% off a banana split. I think this is my new favorite.

Jed, of course, remains true and still claims Homemade Ice Cream to be the best.

So we were wondering what is your all-time favorite ice cream?

Mammoth Caves

2009-03-18T20:02:00.001-07:00

Crazy, kitschy antique store...you have to LOVE the sign. It says it all.

This is the ferry that carries your car across the Green River into Amish Country and more caves. It was actually really cool. Just up the roads was a sweet country store at the crossroads that sold old-fashioned candy. I haven't had sixlets in a while. Jed and I laughed that they don't just have a bridge, but in back-country Kentucky anything goes.

This cool store that had 100s of birdhouses.

The Historic Entrance to Mammoth Caves

Stalactites in the cave.

Pictures with Ella by Frozen Niagra. The cave formations make it look like a waterfall. Really beautiful!

Jed carrying Ella through the caves. She's a little big for the carrier but we didn't want to risk her falling. They were both champs getting through the tight spaces and down the 300 steps into the cave.

Silhouette of our park ranger guiding the tour.

We would definitely recommend this trip to anyone. Next time we would also add the "Lost river" boat trip that takes you on a naturally underground river through the caves and then also a canoe trip where you enter Mammoth Caves in your own canoe swimming and side caving along the way. We're planning this for the hot summer months. Such a beautiful escape and only an hour and a half away.

Ode to Jackson Hole-Part 4 Town

2009-03-16T11:51:00.001-07:00

Moving forward with our love of Jackson, another key element is the Town itself. Filled with fantastic, unique places in an old fashioned setting, the town is a fun experience all its own.

These are just some of our favorite things about town.

Boutiques:

Belle Cosa and goodie2shoes are both fantastic and owned by the same company.

And of course there a numerous tourist shops with T-shirts and trinkets galore.

Galleries:

Thomas Mangelsen-Images of Nature

These are 2 of his photos.

Food:

The Bunnery's Very Berry Pie (to die for warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream)

Mountain High Pizza Pie

Billy's Giant Hamburgers

Moo's Ice Cream (100 percent fresh, organic and fantastic)

Events:

Shoot-out

Jackson Hole Playhouse is also fun.

Harley Motorcycle Shop(Jed and I want to rent one and ride a day in the mountains.)

Ode to Jackson Hole-Part 3rd Teton Mountains

2009-03-10T17:46:00.001-07:00

the gorgeous Teton Mountain Range

Fields upon fields of wild flowers

Ampitheatre Lake

Ode to Jackson Hole-Part 2nd Snake River

2009-03-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

"O, The River!!!"

This is what Jed always says when he first sees the Snake River.

I'll let him share his feeling o' the Snake.

I like the river.

Mindy and Ella watching Uncle Eric surf big Kahuna with the love of his life, his kayak.

Picture Perfect!

Backing into Big Kahuna!!!

Eric is in there somewhere.

A Mountain Dew ad. Nice one Kaleb.

Heading into the unknown.

Ode to Jackson Hole-Part 1st Camping at Leigh

2009-03-08T17:13:00.001-07:00

Here's Jed getting the canoe to start our adventure of camping overnight in the Teton Mountains. Our favorite site is Leigh Lake #15.

Here is the thinking rock where you sit and watch the sun set, then listen for the fish to start jumping into the night.

On one side is a beautiful sandy beach with perfect wading depths. The only hitch is that the water is run-off from the upper mountain glaciers. It's plenty cold.

Wild life in around Leigh and String Lakes.

Mt. Moran saying good-bye.

Ward Talent Show-2009

2009-03-07T20:13:00.001-08:00

Ella and Livy captured by the Lville 6th ward Talent. What a night!

This is the Raining Men skit by the RS. We talked the Elders into being our raining men as they jumped from the tramp in the wings onto the stage.

Sherstine rocked it out as us RS girls twirled in the back.

This is the 2nd time I've staged this crazy fun song. Thanks for the original idea Rach!

One of the families in our ward did their own dance to Cake's "Short skirt, Long jacket" using Michael Jackson moves. It was actually really great. Especially when they threw in some Thriller!

Our sweet friend E playing Cello.

We loved it, not so sure he did.

And lastly, the bishopric skit...proof that they are funny mixed with a little crazy.

Anyone ever tried pogo to impress the girl and win the cookie?

Bishop rockin' it on the UNICYCLE!!! Love him!

Maybe not quite rockin'. But the ward loved the effort!

At least his wife did. : )

Ice Storm

2009-02-27T20:38:00.001-08:00

Oh the Ice Storm:

Here are a few stats so that you can all appreciate the scope of the thing.

-Nearly 1 million people state-wide lost their power; that was 1/3 of the entire state

-Schools were closed for at least 1 week

-the National guard was called in to help with clean-up and safety of the citizens

-the weather was in the mid 20s, lows down to single digits at night

-Kentucky was declared to be in "a State of Emergency"

-24 people died from the storm, roads or cold

In short, it was the worst blackout in the history of Kentucky.

All that being said, Jed and I were very blessed. We went through one scary, creaky night where you could hear the trees cracking and crashing all around. Freezing rain is new to us and it's effect is to literally freeze instantly once it hits. So the world is one big icicle, beautiful and deadly. Our yard has 100 foot plus trees, as do most in the forrested terrain of Kentucky. As the rain would hit and freeze, the upper branches were weighted down beyond what the brittle tree could hold and they would split from the tops. Every ten minutes or so, we could hear more limbs falling around us. I was so scared, I pulled Ella into our room to sleep for part of the night because trees crashing through roofs aren't too far fetched here in KY.

We did however awake the morning safe and sound and without power. Something that didn't return until 8 days later. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but Ella wouldn't sleep anywhere but in her crib and so we lasted out one night piled under blankets and seeing our breath as it came from under the warmth. We knew we couldn't do that again and so we drove the 2 hours to Cincinnati to purchase the nearest available generator.

The next WEEK, we lived in 3 rooms, with extention cords powering space heaters. What an adventure!

The cleanup was a whole other experience, cutting, hauling, chopping, sawing, and dragging tree limbs to the front yard for 5 hours plus. Good times, actually they really were.

On the bright side, Jed was out of school for a week, we're more aware and prepared for emergencies (get a generator), we met more neighbors, made some funny memories, had great meals provided by friends and grew closer to everyone around. Here are some photos of the this crazy ice storm adventure.

Jed and Ella on the final pile of limbs in our front yard.

Ella playing during the big clean-up.

Jed trying to brake off a branch that was mostly down and needed to come off. We have a couple more of these right over the top of the house. Hopefully we can get a tree service out here to cut them down before they knock the roof in the next wind/ice storm.

Our friend the generator!!!
Aftermath.

E watching the snow as it kept falling.

The icicle effect of freezing rain. Absolutely gorgeous!

A cloudy sun after one long night.

Color Fest at Bernheim

2009-02-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

Fun filled celebrations of Summer turning to Fall and nature in general.

Chicken Festival!!

2009-02-27T13:50:00.000-08:00

Here we are at the World's largest Chicken Festival!!! It is quite literarlly a celebration of all things chicken, from cooking competitions to a Col. Sanders look alike contest. All I can say is...Only in Kentucky!

This is the world's largest skillet, you get a sense of size with Jed there off to the side.

These 2 photos are of the Clucking, Strutting and Crowing Competition. The girl with the Chicken won $100 cash. I was hoping to get Ella ready for one of the year's that we're here.

Jed's dream...a mini-semi. This drove around in the parade to start off Saturday's Festivities.

Everyone is into it...maybe a little too into it.

And lastly, the look alike competition. What an experience and this is only stratching the surface of all they have going on. Check out www.chickenfestival.com. If nothing, you'll get a good laugh. We did.

Cool L-ville Festvilles

2009-02-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the ST JAMES COURT ART SHOW!

Every Fall more than 300 artisans come to showcase their work. This was a not-to-miss experience with musicians on every corner and food carts from all over the state. I'll be going every year that we're here.

My favorite work was from Chickadee Studios....

The jewelry is totally unique with gold inland into glass confections, all made by hand. More from them is at: www.chickadeestudios.com. It made me want to learn the art of jewelry making.

This is a set of cool, funky mirrors.

These are beautifully crafted rocking horses. Ella is trying to get out and ride on one but we were nervous about her even touching one. The price was around $1000 and up per horse.

And our favorite...the dresses made from shingles. What imagination! What a scratchy outfit.

If any of y'all want more info. here's the website: www. stjamescourtartshow.com

Mindy's Wedding: Announcing Mr. and Mrs. Arrington

2009-01-04T22:59:00.001-08:00

They look great, don't they?

Favorite Christmas Traditions

2009-01-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas is filled with traditions. These are some of ours:

Soup and Sing...the perfect combination of yummy warm soups and Christmas carols.

Some of our favorite songs are:
Christmas Past Star Carol Baby, What you gonna be? Were you there Christmas is a feeling

Another favorite tradition is Candymaking while watching White Christmas.
We always make trufffles, caramels, turtles, butter mints and different barks.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here was our Christmas day. Jed's favorite gift: snowboarding at the Canyons. Cyndi's was a gorgeous pair of artisan earrings, a total surprise...good job Jed. And Ella's was a toss up between a doll, kitchen, Nemo movie. What a fantastic day! We ended it at Temple Square with the nativity and lights.

Thanksgiving in Michigan

2008-12-13T18:47:00.001-08:00

We went to Neal and Kerrie's in Anne Arbor for Thanksgiving. Ella kept saying "cousins" whenever she could; she was soooo excited about being around family.

Jed did the rotisserie turkey and Cyndi did 8 hour dinner rolls that we had for a bedtime snack...long story.

Halloween 2008

2008-12-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Our ward does an annual Trunk or Treat with a Chili cook-off. Ella went as a giraffe. I won't lie, she didn't like putting the costume on but getting the candy for free was really exciting to her.

The Southwells went all Japanese on us and the other little girl is Livia, the 2nd cousin.

Over all it was a fun night.

No power for a week!

2008-12-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

This is our crazy experience with the wind storm of Hurricane Ike.

We came home from church to find trees down in our backyard.

Ella got so used to the power being out that she went to the coolers for milk.

Our neighbors and landlord took care of everything with their chainsaws. We sure learned a lot about self-reliance and are investigating generators. Sure brings a testimony of home preparedness, food storage and all else. Luckily nothing was seriously damaged.

Ella's 2nd birthday

2008-12-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

This was Ella's 2nd birthday.

She really likes Winnie the Pooh, so we had a Pooh bear cake and friends over to celebrate.

Our new house

2008-12-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

So here are the pictures of our home in Lville. It's old and creeks and has lots of bugs and we love it!!

Recipes for everyday

2008-09-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

This is a great, easy dinner for a weeknight off of the Kraft website.

Ravioli Bake

1 jar Spaghetti sauce (any flavor)

1 can diced tomatoes undrained

1 10 oz can beef broth

1/4 C zesty Italian dressing

2 9oz pkgs fresh ravioli (in refrigerator section)

1 C shredded mozzarella

1-Preheat the oven to 375

2-combine sauce, tomatoes, broth and dressing in a 9x13 baking dish

3-add ravioli and mix lightly

4-Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes

5-Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese, let stand 5 minutes

Serve and Enjoy!

Why is it called "Blog?"

2008-04-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that there is some technical explanation but it sounds like the Princess Bride scene where Miracle Max and Inugo are deciphering what Westley(mostly dead mind you) should live for..."to blave" which of course was really "true love" and now I humbly submit that maybe it was "to blog." Or at least it seems so, since "blogging" has become the rage. Maybe Westley was beyond his time and he really knew that blogging would be the answer, the omega, in this electronic age.

And so, with that long drawn out craziness revealed I ask, why does anyone really want this funny dud to blog; a warning to the masses...something mad this way blogs.