JFK

This past weekend was the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination. One really cool thing about where we live is that we are 30 minutes away from the Henry Ford Museum. That is the location of the car JFK rode in as well as a lot of other really great historical items. It was a really cool experience to be there on the anniversary. Mike and I had recently been watching a series about the Kennedy family and so we were both that much more interested in the whole conspiracy and all the discussion going on about the assassination. There were tons of people in line to see the car and police officers all over the place. We had a really fun time with our friends the Blomquists, walking around and seeing all the different exhibits. We saw the Rosa Parks bus, the chair Lincoln was shot in and the JFK car. There were lots of other cool cars and even trains. Vi really liked it. They had a few areas where there were play houses and toys. There were also lots of things you could go and sit in. It was a fun afternoon. We want to go back when the weather is nicer and walk through the village that is right next to the museum.  

Getting to ride on some farm equipment 

Sitting in the sink of a prototype home from the 60's. It was actually really cool. The whole house was 1,100 square feet and was an aluminum circle. They had revolving closets and very tiny sinks.

They had an avatar exhibit while we were there

Cutest little bums around

Watching the train go by

Riding on the Rosa Parks bus

Our Little Book Worm

Vi has become a serious book worm. We keep a basket of books in her room and then we have some on our shelves in our living room. She is constantly asking to read them. As soon as she gets up from a nap she points at her books. In the car she will just sit in her carseat and look at books while we drive. I love it. I'm not sure how much of it is her personality or that we started reading to her when she was just a few days old. Violet's bed routine consists of dad reading a few books every night. They lay down on the bed and Vi crosses her legs and usually has her hand resting on Mike while he reads. This has been their thing since she was a newborn. I think at first we felt a little silly sitting and reading a book to a tiny baby who couldn't even move. Now I am so happy that we did it. I feel like it really built a love for books for Vi. I snuck in on her the other day and took some pictures of her while she read. She has even figured out when books are upside down now. She turns them around and then flips the pages and jibber jabbers like she is really reading. She also likes to use her feet a lot to hold up books when she is on her back. It's like another pair of hands for her. We always knew she had monkey toes. I love these fun little parts of her personality that are starting to come out.

She figured out I was watching her

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we did a swap with our friends for family pictures. The leaves across the street from our house were beautiful, so we decided to take the opportunity and get some good family shots. That is one of the best parts about living in Michigan. The Fall here is just unreal! The winter is pretty hard to handle but having such an amazing Fall can make up for it a little…just a little. 

Since it is November I just thought I would take a little minute before I get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas, and just say how thankful I am for this little family of mine. I am blessed to have a hardworking and motivated husband and a loving, happy baby. I am grateful for our opportunity to be in Michigan and that Mike is attending such an amazing dental program at such a reputable school. I am grateful for the small business I have started and the ability it has given me to be creative and use my skills. We are grateful for good friends who have made our transition of being away from family easier. I am grateful for a loving family who still makes a huge effort to be invested in our lives , even though we live so far away. This is a wonderful time of year. I am kind of a stickler about giving Thanksgiving it's own special time before I dive into Christmas. So I am really trying to focus my November on all the things that I am grateful for. Here are some pictures of my greatest blessing, Mike and Vi.

Last Birthday Post

I promise this is the last one. I didn't really get a chance to document what we did on Violet's actual birthday. The night before her birthday I got all her presents and set them out on the ottoman. I thought about wrapping them but I didn't think she would really get the idea and I knew it would take her a long time and then we would have to take it out of the box for her to even see it. So we decided to just have them out.

When we heard her wake up mike and I both went in to go get her out of her crib. She is always pretty excited to get up in the morning. When she came around the corner her eyes got all big. She kept saying "Oh wow". She got pretty excited about all her new books and she sat and played with her activity cube for awhile and still saying "oh wow". It was so cute and fun to watch her react to everything. Then we gave her strawberries and raspberries and oatmeal for breakfast(her favorite). I let her play for awhile more and then she got a FaceTime call from her cousins in Utah. They were so so cute and told her they loved her and missed her and wished her a happy birthday. It was the best! Then she took a nap. After her nap we went to our ward play group, which was a Halloween party. She got to see a lot of her friends and play with new toys and eat a pumpkin muffin. Then we drove to campus to have lunch with Mike. We figured since she is obsessed with her dad, she would be pretty excited to see him. After lunch we went to Whole Foods and picked out a cupcake. We came home and got a FaceTime call from Grandma and Grandpa Magleby and Josephine and Max. Then she went down for her other nap. After her nap I took her outside to take her 1 year old pictures and FaceTime with aunt Kate. Then Mike got home and we took her to Costco for her favorite thing… a hot dog. She of course loved it and ate the whole thing (minus the bread). After that we took her home and let her dive into her cupcake with Grandma and Grandpa FaceTiming. She attacked the whole thing and was just shoveling it in. I had to start taking big chunks of frosting and cake and dumping it down the sink so she wouldn't eat it all. Then we let her take a tub with all her new tub toys from Grandma and Grandpa Magleby. she loved it. Then she got to read new stories and snuggle with her new blanket from Grandma. It took her a long time to go to bed since she was seriously high on sugar. Next year we will do the cake earlier in the day.

It was a great day to be a one year old. We think she had a pretty good time. Once again we love this sweet girl!