Way Behind!!!

So the Kaisers are still back in July and can't believe that Madi is going to be a year old on Friday and that Christmas is on Saturday and 2011 will be here the following week. What in the world?!?! Where have we been? I guess between Rick's night shifts, my day shifts, Madi, trying to keep the house in a semi-orderly state, and keeping up with church responsibilities and life in general life has rushed past and we are still back in July. Well, actually more like March. But I will try and get some pictures off our camera to post on here because we have lots for you to see and Madi has grow up tons. But for now the only one I have is from Halloween. We were able to go up to Renfrew Park in Pennsylvania with Rick's family and had a fun filled day of pumpkins and homemade soup and cider.


I promise, more pictures will follow shortly. We have had lots of adventures with Madi and she has had lots of little discoveries. So check back after Christmas for more updates....

Summer Vacation in Utah...Continued

We had to see the T-Rex before we left Thanksgiving Point.

After the Dinosaur Museum Rick took the boys to Cabela's. They saw all sorts of things from the fish tanks to all the animals on the rocks. It was so much fun to be able to see Kathy and her boys. We miss them so much and wish that we could have spent more time with them.

Next we headed up to Mendon to see the Gudmundson family. We spent a whole day shopping the first day. It was a lot of fun...for the girls anyways. But Rick was a very good sport. After a day of shopping, Rick needed something manly to do. So him and Jenni spent some time putting together a potato canon. It took them a while to do plus a trip into town to the hardware store but it was a success. We shot the potatoes straight up into the air and they went so high we had a hard time seeing where they were coming down.

The next day was Pioneer Day and Mendon Day. There was lots of things to do. In the morning there was a 5K that my dad and sisters did. Then there was a book sale, a parade, a cooking contest and loads of other things. Then that night after a game of human battleship there was a huge waterfight between the cousins. Needless to say, Rick's team won. Hands down, dispite what rumors you may hear from Shawn and Jason. After the waterfight there was a fireworks display. We were concerned about Madi and her ears because the fireworks were being shot off about two blocks away. But Madi loves them! She was in awe over them and didn't even flinch when they would go off.

While we were there Jenni had her birthday. Since we were going to be flying out on her actual birthday we decided to celebrate it a few days early. There was a little pie fight between Jenni, mom and dad. (No idea how that happened) And no, I didn't push Jenni's head in the pie when she wasn't looking...or maybe I did. But at least dad got the pie in the face because she thought it was him. Madi also enjoyed trying pie. I think it's a new favorite.

Monday we went up to Tony Grove for some fishing. If you look really close at the back ground you will see the thunderstorm moving in. Rick and I got caught out on the lake during that. It was a down pour and we almost got rained out. But after a while it eased up and Rick and Sarah had so much success fishing afterwards.

It's a good thing we stayed for more fishing after the storm.

The Gudmundson tradition: Kong cones at Macey's.

We took Madi to Willow Zoo while were in Logan. She loved all the animals!

But the birds were by far her favorite.

We had a lot of fun while we were in Utah. That was our first real vacation in over two years and it was wonderful to be able to finally do it. While we were out there Madi had lots of firsts. She had her first plane ride, she got her first two teeth, she started crawling on all fours, she pulled herself into a standing position, she started saying mama and dada and associated the words with me and Rick. We are happy to be home but sad we had to leave everyone. We look forward to the next time we can go out and visit. We miss you and love you all!

Summer Vacation in Utah

It was a blast! We did so much while we were out there and took so many pictures. I will probably have to do this in two posts so I can get it all on there. I will try and make it as short as I can but it is still going to be long. We flew into Salt Lake on the 18th. Madi was a jewel on the plane. He ears didn't bother her one bit and she either played or slept most of the time. It was a huge blessing for her and for us. One of the first things we did was spend a few days with Rick's sister Kathy and her family. Her boys wanted us to play baseball with them because there baseball season had just ended. And let me tell ya, those boys are hardcore. Tyler and Luke both struck their uncle Rick out. Good Job! Here is a picture of Rick being struck out. You can see the ball right behind him as he tried for a grand slam. Better luck next time Rick.

The boys had so much fun playing with their uncle Rick. I even ran a few races with them but with all the energy those kids have it was hard to keep up after a while.

Madi loved being with her cousins. Her favorite part was being outside watching them run around.

The next morning we went to Deer Creek. We didn't have tons of success but Rick was able to pull in a bass before we left.

After fishing we stopped into Macey's for their famous Kong cones. The kid's eyes were so big when they saw the size of their ice cream cone.

That night Rick and I had dinner with some of our friends. It was so good to see them after two years.

The next morning Kathy took us to the Payson Pool. It was Madi's first time at the pool so she was a little nervous at first, but it didn't take long before she didn't want to leave the water. She splashed every kid that went by and when she got splashed she would just start doing raspberries and then start laughing.

It was so much fun to go swimming. We were all worn out by the time we were done, but it was worth it. Madi fell asleep pretty fast after all the fun in the sun. She made it to the towels for a bottle and didn't even get very many sips in before she was out.

After the pool and a little nap, Rick wanted to take the boys to Redmond Lake for some pike fishing. We didn't catch any pike, but he did catch this pretty big cat fish. We weren't able to stay as long as we had hoped because there was a pretty crazy lightening storm.

The next morning the boys showed us their skills on their dirt bikes. I am scared of motorcycles and dirt bikes but these boys showed no fear. We didn't get a chance to see them ride on the track but they do all the crazy jumps and turns and stuff. They are very good with those bikes so it was a treat to be able to see them ride.

Then we headed up to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum. Uncle Rick bought the boys a fossil to carve out of the rock and here they are proudly displaying their newly carved fish fossil.

Ready for a Break

This next week Rick and I are headed out to Utah to visit family. It has been two years since we have been back there so we are definately looking forward to it. It will be the first time Madi has met any of her Aunts from the Gudmundson side. We are excited to show her off and I know there will be lots of competition for the position of the favorite aunt. But I am sure she will love them all. We are in desperate need of a break from life so this is a very welcomed opportunity. The only part we are concerned about it Madi on the airplane since it is a 4 and a half hour flight. And of course the past two weeks she has refused to sleep in our arms. She wants to be sprawled out on the floor with her blanket. I just hope everyone on the plane will be patient with her if she can't sleep during the flight. We are looking forward to our trip and we will have lots to post when we get back. Happy Summer Break!

Milestones

This past week Madi has reach two milestones. She can sit up on her own and she started crawling. The crawling isn't her favorite method of transportation yet because rolling around is much faster for her. But she is getting the hang of it. We have had to make several adjustments as far as babyproofing some things. We still have a long ways to go, but hopefully we can keep up with her.

I love this picture of Madi! She is already trying to fill daddy's shoes.

Madi showing off her crawling skills! She is concentrating so hard.

Rick is getting her all ready to be his fishing buddy. He found her a pink lucky fishing hat and he has already started eyeing up the pink fishing poles.

Madi always is so excited when daddy comes home from work. They are best buddies!

Rick and I enjoy going to the baseball diamond at the park to drive RCs. It is fun to see how much dirt we can kick up. Sometimes we can't even see to the other side of the field because of all the dirt. Here I am displying my new decal for my car. It's an Iron Cross with 'Kaiser' written across the middle. I found someone online that did custom decals because Rick had been looking everywhere for them without much success. I got one for my truck and one for Rick's truck.

Father's Day

Rick got a nice gift for Father's Day, he was the only one who wasn't sick. But unfotunately that meant he was the only one that went to church for Father's Day too. But even though Madi and I were sick we still surprised him Sunday morning. Here is Madi sporting her Father's Day attire. We woke daddy up so that's why he still has bed head. And that's before I cut his hair too.

For Father's Day we went to the park to play with Rick's RC plane. It was really neat to watch him do barrel rolls and loops. He is getting really good at flying it. He was even attacked a few times by a bird but still managed to keep it flying. Doesn't he looks so handsome in this picture?!?! We have worked really hard the past several months to get back into shape after we both gained the baby weight. Rick has lost about 32 pounds and I have lost 21. We feel so good!

I had to throw in this picture. I think it is so funny! Anytime one of the cats walks by, Madi gets all excited and starts laughing. They will normally come right up to her but last night Tink was having a stare down with Madi because Madi had pulled out some of her fur. Tink loves Madi but wasn't too excited about getting close enought to be touched again. At least not until her skin healed where the fur was pulled out.

The Many Faces of a Baby

Madi has been trying out lots of new faces the past several weeks. Her favorite is the nose wrinkle. She will either wrinkle her nose and laugh or she will wrinkle her nose and breath in and out really fast. She has even snorted a few times when she has done this. She also inhales really deeply making herself squeek. It is hilarious and sometimes she gets her squeek so high that the cats run out of the room. I think it hurts their ears.

Here she is giving me the "I didn't do anything mom. I'm innocent" look. She is already practicing for when she is a teenager. She is also starting to look away and "ignore" us when we try and talk to her. But even though she is looking away she is sitting there smiling trying not to seem interested in us. But then she gives in a gives us a big hug. She is so sweet.

I love this picture! It reminds me of the line from the Wizard of Oz "I'll get you my pretty!!" We love our baby girl. She is so entertaining.