A Tribute to My Ball and Chain

Today is March 6th, the 4 year anniversary of my first date with Nate. Many of you were on that date. Let me call your minds to an evening of Tepanyaki, policemen, and rockets...in that order.

But, the real magic started about a month before when we were reunited at the Wash Hut.


A power from on High had messed with our means of cleaning our clothes, which led us both to the aforementioned laundromat for the first time in our lives at exactly the same time. It had been about 7 years since our last interaction, so it took us awhile before we recognized each other. When my roommate and I parted that evening, I remember telling her, "I think that was for a reason." I felt an Almighty hand in that experience.

So, I did what most people would do in that situation: I called on the powers of the stalker-net (and he did the same). He nearly joined the Robinson Family water polo team and we also met briefly at my apartment. And then, on a memorable birthday, I received a phone call from Nate inviting me on a date for that Saturday. I was taken aback by the official date because of a girlfriend that I seemed to recall him being committed to.

That Saturday, March 6, 2005, Nate and I went on our first date. No one else found much success that night, except for maybe Jason and Heather, as they were already married. But Nate and I hit it off. He was all I ever wanted. And...he later broke up with his girlfriend. Love you, Nate!

A Wash Hut proposal


A Toxic dance

Happy Birthday, Allison!


We love our Allison! Here are some pictures from her first year.

March





April


May

June

July


August



September




October


November

December

January

February


And, a Happy Birthday to our friends Eliza Hodnett and Melissa Dieter!

Girls Day In

We were honored to have Tallie over last week, as her parents were busy with the delivery of their new son. We spent the day playing princess, much to my exhaustion.

Edie relishes the Belle gown; Tallie enjoys the beverage of choice: chocolate milk; Allison takes the cake, I think.

Belle, the Beast, and Tallie chat over Princess Milkshakes.


Manicure and pedicure enter their vocabulary.


Cookies (that should've taken 20 minutes to make) are completed in 2 hours.


Lunch
Yeah right...princesses don't eat cookie dough for lunch! They dine on "wet shrimp and nacaroni shells"!!


Thanks for playing, Tallie! We had so much fun! And I hope your brother will not put a damper on your princess play.


In other news, I started sleep training T-Rex today.

I've nursed/rocked her to sleep since she was born - a complete opposite of Edie's experience. And I think it's high time she learn how to put herself to sleep. It's not going well so far. I'm trying the Cry Yourself To Sleep Method. Let's just say it's about 5 pm and she hasn't napped yet.

Wish her luck!

allison's first haircut

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Adios mullet!


sooo cute!!


I think my favorite thing about this picture is that their real eyes are about the same size.

*Foam eyes courtesy of the MacDonald family

Thanksgiving '08

We'd like to introduce our blog readers to the newest addition to our Family:

the TV stand.


Nate used not one single nail on this project. He's quite the skilled woodworker.

We've titled the table The $1,000 TV Stand, as the purchases of some necessary tools were required for completion.

Soon after construction, we ventured on our cross-country road trip to PA and IN to visit the Knoebels and Smiths.

We discovered that Adam has been using some shady potty-training tactics with Jack



Grammy's surgery was successful, but watching her endure the aftermath was painful! Nevertheless, we're sooo excited for her!

Soon after, we drove 10+ hours to Indiana. We received some terrific news only 1 hour prior to our arrival that Silas had gotten a job! Not just any job, mind you, but an awesome one managing the assembly of diabetic kits! We
celebrated every day we were there by going out to dinner.

My personal favorite was Skyline - moment of silence for all you OCMers.

Ana also brought her work home.



We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. Nate made a lemon meringue pie from scratch. Ana made everything else. Oh, Ana's friend made rolls and potatoes...and Ana made everything else. Oh, Linda made a delicious broccoli casserole, but didn't serve it until the next day...and Ana made everything else.

Which brings me to the biggest reunion of our trip:
We saw Linda and Heather!!!

Linda is my Dad's sister and Heather is her daughter...so my Aunt and cousin.

I haven't seen my Aunt since I was 13. We'd talking about getting together for so long; it was great to finally catch up and reminisce.

Here are all the kids:



It was sad to say goodbye, but great to know that the Smith family can now make online purchases guilt-free. Congrats again, Silas.

After returning to PA, the Knoebel fam met Santa Claus at the mall. We waited in a line that was surprisingly not too long. As soon as the family in front of us exited Santa's lap, Edie RACED up to him and screamed, "I WANT A BALL!!!" Well, Santa didn't know what to think because he usually gets to ask first. So then, they didn't really have much to say.

And Allison, well, she didn't want anything, because she's just perfect.

Edie's most favorite activity of our entire trip was riding the merry-go-round with Grandpa. He took her twice.


Now, on to Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone!