it's been a while

About 5 weeks or so, I guess. There really hasn't been much to blog about. I work, sleep, clean, do laundry, make dinner, go Christmas shopping, hang out with friends, and that about sums it up.

I must confess that I love Christmas shopping, and am very sad that it's over for a whole year. I love the music that plays, the amazing smell of those roasted nuts that they sell at the mall, the snow (although this year we were blessed with rain...gross), the people, and finding that perfect gift. Oh, and maybe I love the things I find for myself along the way too. :)

Someday I'll post pictures of our Christmas, but it may take awhile before I can figure out how to get them on our new laptop. In the mean time, you'll have to be satisfied with my ramblings.

Oh, so I just have to share this exciting story with you all, and then you can stop reading. :)

I was going through the freezer this morning, trying to find something to make for dinner when I noticed that I had a whole bunch of packages of "beef rib steak." Having no idea what the package contained, I hadn't used any of them the last 2 times we got beef (yes, we get like 1/2 a cow at a time...such country folks are we). Anyway, after a call to my mom and an opening of the package, it was discovered that we have lots of rib-eyes in our freezer. This was a very exciting discovery since those are our most favorite!

It's another boy!

Seriously, if you happen to be friends with me, and you get pregnant, chances are that you will have a boy, because everyone else is. Anyway, I just got off work and am so ready for bed, but I just couldn't wait any longer to post pictures of this darling little peanut!

Ridge William Snyder was born at 10:09am on Tuesday Nov 11. He weighed in at a whopping 5 pounds 10 oz, and was 18.5 inches long.

Tony was pretty amazed that he was holding a 6 hour old baby. :)

Such a little peanut!

Ridge and his daddy.
(ahhh!! Kenton and Heidi are parents! So weird..)

So sweet.

Of course we all had to take turns holding him.

Oh boy...

Has it really been over a month since I posted?! I suppose so. I guess I haven't been feeling much motivation to update. Anyway, here are some happenings of late.

For Wendi's 17th birthday (which was in August) we gave her a trip to Chicago for her and up to 3 friends. We finally got around to going about 2 weeks ago. Jenna and Jamie came along, and we had marvelous time together. Our hotel had just been re-done on the inside, and it looked so cool! We got lost, shopped, got lost, ate, got lost, went back to the hotel, swam, watched tv and headed to bed. The next day we shopped. And I do mean shop. I think I know now the meaning behind the saying "shop till you drop." I've never been so ready to leave a mall! But we had an awesome time!

Here we are, ready to go!

Trent and Jenae hosted potluck, and Jake and Meika were able to come down from Michigan to partake in the fun! Charlie and Judah were able to meet for the first time. Neither one of them were very impressed with the other. But us girls had a great time oohing and ahhing over them anyway.

The guys playing some sports trivia game that seems to make it's appearance at multiple potlucks.

Just hanging out.

We've also had the privilage of hanging out with this little munchkin and her parents several times. Let me tell you, this little girl is endless entertainment.

We've also spent a fair amount of time with my new boyfriend and his parents too. :)

(don't worry Luke, I still love you the best!)

He has a talent for making really cool faces, and looking totally annoyed with people.

Yes, the monkey outfit does look familiar. I got this outfit for Judah for holloween, but since he wasn't born yet when I bought it, I had to try it out on Adalai. I chose to post this picture, where Judah looks all content and happy in his darling outfit, and not the one where he is screaming. I'm sure he would have loved the outfit if he would have gotten the chance to look in a mirror.

(and if you think the monkey outfit is humiliating, wait till you see what I want to buy him for Christmas!)

He's finally here!

Judah Michael Grimm FINALLY arrived Monday night at 5:01pm,

weighing in at 8lb 1oz, and measuring 20.25 inches.

The happy family

The grandparents getting in some loving.

Nights like this

They are mostly wonderful. There are no sick or preemie babies right now, and no new babies being born anytime soon.

So it's 4am, and I'm sitting here at the computer, wrapped up in a warm blanket, with half eaten Jimmy John's next to me, and snuggling the cutest little boy. He's been alseep for the past hour, but he's just so sweet I can't go put him back in his crib.

I like nights like this when I can be in the nursery, with very little responsibility, and just snuggle those precious newborns whose exhausted mommies are getting some sleep.

I love my job.

Need a pick-me-up?

So I realize that this is not my child, and maybe posting videos of other people's children is a little fanatical, but this video is seriously hilarious! It makes me laugh every time I watch it, so I just thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Writer's block

There's really not much to write. We've been busy. Last weekend we went to Iowa with all the Knapp's. Pictures will come soon. In the mean time, here are some pictures of late to tie you over.

A beautiful sunrise. Luke took this picture. I'm either not up at that time, or I'm still at work.

We went out for lunch at Sol Azteca for Wendi's birthday.

I love this pictures of John...totally classic.

Laura Lou

Katie and Adalai...blurry picture, but they're such cute girls, I had to post it.

Happy Birthday!

Wendi Jo is turning 17 today, so I want to wish her a very happy birthday!

You're the greatest sister ever! :)

Happenings and Thoughts

It seems like it's been a very long time since I last posted something, but in reality, it was less than 2 weeks ago. A lot has happened in that period of time, including some things that have made me think and pray like I haven't in a long time. So here are the latest happenings (in no particular order) along with my thoughts about them.

~My grandma passed away late last Thursday afternoon. The news was very sad to here, but it also brought joy to my heart to hear that grandma was finally able to go be with Jesus. It will be hard not to have her around at Christmas time and have her drop by to clean out the refrigerator or wash windows, or tell us how hot it is inside the house, and have the girls over for tea parties. Grandma was always one that would tell you her opinion, whether you wanted to hear it or not.

~I may have slightly overcome my fear of needles, simply because of the fact that I had to give myself a shot, and Luke refused to do it. After some initial nausea and hyperventilation, I was able to do it. :)

~We found out that one of our good friends, Jordon Schroeder, has cancer. And not only has cancer, but an in-curable type, and he was given 2 years to live. Please pray for Jordon, his wife Katelyn, and their 2 little girls, Jaycee (2 years) and Arawen (7 months). Having a close friend go through something like this has seriously rocked my world. It has made me realize how quickly life can end, how this world is NOT our home, and how I really need to be thankful for each day I have. Seeing a friend who I grew up with faced with the very real possibility of being a widow with two little girls breaks my heart.

~We drove up to Morris, MN for my cousins wedding. It was a VERY long drive...10 whole hours. I am not a good traveler. It rained most of the way there, and most of the way home. My car REALLY needs new tires, and we hydroplaned a few times...very scary. The good news is that Luke realized just how badly I do need new tires, and I will be getting them soon.

~I am back at work, after having 5 days off. I really didn't want to come in. And I really haven't done much....it's been a boring night.

~There are a few pictures from the past week and a half that I will post someday when I post at home. Most of the time I forget my camera, or if I remember it, I forget to take any pictures. It's sad.

Confessions of a house lover

I wouldn't say I'm a person with many hobbies, but on of the happens to be houses. Looking at houses, dreaming about houses, painting houses, fixing them up, all that good stuff. Out of all the houses out there, I have developed a love for old farm houses, or just old houses in general. They have so much character, and original hardwood is just beautiful. I regularly look at realtor websites, drooling over houses and updating my husband on the ones I like. :) And then the other day, I found it....my dream house. Take a look at these pictures!

All finished, original hard wood, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathrooms, gorgeous dining room, radiators in the rooms (they add lots of charater), located on almost 2 acres with mature trees, beautiful yard, 2 outbuildings one of which is heated, and very importantly, it's located in Morton school district. Granted, it needs some major decoration updating, but I love to do that.

Anyway, I really want this house. Luke keeps reminding me that this is NOT a good time for us to buy a house, especially one this big (aka...it's a little out of budget). I begged him to at least take me to look at the house. He said we could, but we're not buying it. (We're good for each other that way. He keeps me from running out and buying houses, and I keep him from buying trucks and motorcycles.)

I'll keep you updated on the house...if it's for sale for a while, I could go without eating for a couple days a week to save money. :)

Welcome to the World!

Congrats to Kevin and Jolynn, whose "little" guy,

Drew Kendall

arrived this morning at 6:11am, weighing in 10lbs 3oz and measuring 21inches long!

We are so excited for you guys, and can't wait to meet this big boy! I'm sure he'll be a great addition to our Bible study group!

Just because it's been a while

Well, that and because I thought you'd enjoy this random collection of slightly amusing pictures.

Not Me Tuesday

Although technically it's supposed to be "Not me Monday," it is now in the wee hours of Tuesday, so I've changed the name.

There are a lot of things that did not happen this week that I thought I'd share with you all.

-I did not do dishes tonight for the first time since Thursday. That pile of dishes of did not include 12 cups, most of which did not have dried chocolate milk in the bottom. I have not been slightly obsessed with chocolate milk in the past week.

-I did not mention to my co-worker, Gwen, that I've never had anyone hemorrhage while I was working. My patient did not come very close to doing so just 3 minutes later. I did not run out of room and yell for Gwen. Not me, because I knew exactly what to do. Gwen was not slightly annoyed with my having made such a comment.

-I did not go to Family Video, walk through the ENTIRE new release section, and declare that I've seen everything that's not rated R and is not a horror movie. Not me, because when I stay up all night in between nights at work, I clean and do laundry and organize closets.

-Being the new, inexperienced nurse that I am, I did not rate myself as "very confident" when asked how confident I felt with drawing blood. I did not proceed to miss the next 11 blood draws I attempted. I did not mention to Gwen that I need to keep my mouth shut.

-My camera batteries did not die on the only thing in the past week I've remembered to bring the camera too.

-I did not make it from my house to my floor in the hospital in 18 minutes. Not me, because I always follow the speed limits.

-Once again at work: I did not get peed on by some fat little newborn. I did not leave his diaper totally off and walk off to get something. He did not pee on me as soon as stepped near his crib. Nope, this did not happen to me, because I know that little boys have incredible range, and I would never leave a diaper less baby in his crib.

-Being the decisive person that I am, I did not go to Walmart, pick up and pay for a prescription, bring it home, let it sit on the counter for 2 days, and then decide I wasn't going to take it. Not me, because I would never pay for something that I won't use.

these lazy summer days

This weekend out potluck group (-2 couples and + 1 couple) headed out to Taylor to Kent and Jan Heimer's cabin. We had marvelous time, just relaxing and hanging out.

We got there late Friday afternoon, and it was just Kenton and Heidi and us till about midnight. We did some grilling, once we finally got the grill started.

One of the lakes

On Saturday, the guys did a lot of fishing, while us girls floated around on the lake from about 9:30am to 5pm. It was so hot and humid, and the lake felt amazing!

One of Luke's bigger fish that he caught.

Another lake

Jake didn't have high hopes as far as fishing went, because he had never caught a fish in his life. Well, Saturday night before supper he finally pulled one out!

The guys, overseeing the fish fry and chicken grilling

The girls

The cabin

All of us on Sunday morning before church

(except for Joe and Lindsey, who opted to drive the 30 minutes home in order to sleep in their own bed)

Thanks so much for Kenton and Heidi who organized everything and got it all together! We had great weekend!