Random Cuteness

Photos taken by Katie in April.

Enjoy.....

13 years ago....

Do you remember what you were doing 13 years ago? Most people won't remember.  I surely remember....Summer 1998.

I was still in school & moved to Columbia, MO for the summer to do a clinical rotation.  A classmate & I moved from Southern Illinois with our belongings, as much as our cars could fit, & moved here for the summer.  Neither one of us had ever visited Columbia before. We planned to stay in a furnished apartment.  We moved into an apartment complex & quickly discovered it was roach infested! We tried moving to another apartment within the building but again, more roaches.

We didn't know what to do, so we moved to a hotel for about a week until we figured something out.  We met a ton of people at the hospital & a guy we worked with offered his apartment to us.

He had an extra bedroom we could rent from him.  We had no other options, so we moved in. 

BUT, that's not what I remember most about the Summer of 1998

CICADA INVASION!!!!

Cute little creatures, right?

They were everywhere! You couldn't walk 2 feet without being hit by their hard, crunchy body. Dead cicadas covered the sidewalks. Dead cicada guts on your windshield.  

At the time, I didn't realize it was a cicada invasion. I remember thinking I'm never coming back to this town.

Thirteen years, later, here I am, living in Columbia. It never crossed my mind that I would begin my career & my adult life here in Mid Missouri.

They're back....

After 13 years of hibernating, they've emerged and they're loud...they can be as loud as 100 dB (like a rock concert)!

Cicadas come up from the ground every 13 years and flock to the trees. They're known for being noisy making their mating sound. When the eggs hatch the baby cicadas crawl back underground to hibernate for another 13 years.

The cicadas do not sting or bite and the season peaks in Mid-June. One expert claims that in heavily wooded areas there may be more than a million cicadas per acre.

There's no way to avoid these bugs, they're everywhere.  It's the talk of the town right now.

Especially this story....

Check it out

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20070101-10391704.html

Unfortunately, I was not one of the lucky taste testers. 

Memorial Weekend

We went to my parent's lake house over the holiday weekend.

Our car ride took about 4 hours, which was the longest Harper has ever traveled by car (that we know of).  We left Friday evening, thinking she'd sleep for most of the trip...wrong.  She was not a good traveler at all!

 We were about 10 minutes from the lake house & she kept crying saying her "body hurts" & then.... she barfed.   You see, I don't do puke very well, I gag also.  I was worried how I was gonna handle it. Suprisingly, I remained calm.

Luckily, (or not so lucky) Bria was in the back, next to her & got a towel quickly.

We pulled over,  cleaned her up, calmed her down & got back on the road.  I don't think she was car sick. I think she worked herself up by crying that she swallowed alot of saliva.

We finally made it & Harper LOVED Grandpa's boat!

She didn't whine about the lifejacket, sunblock or hat.

The water is so high right now, there were certain parts of the bridge that the boat couldn't go under.

Being the responsible parent's that we are, we let the big kids jump from the bridge.

Yes, that's their responsible Uncle G assisting them.

We also let them hang from the bridge.

Splash!

The girls would go up & down the ladder from the dock.  Harper had absolutely no fear being on the boat dock.  She joined the crowd & got in the water with no hesitation. 

You'd think she'd done this a million times before.

BTW, the water was freezing!

Chillin...

The boys were so excited to find this turtle.  They released him shortly afterwards.  

Bria & Jazz

Big girls tubing

Yep, that's right, the 2 year olds tubing also!  I can't believe Harper & Tori went tubing.  They loved it.

 Bria, Ava & Julian

Harper driving PaPa's boat

The littles weren't too concerned about taking a golf cart ride, they were happy just sitting on it "pretending" to drive.

Harper & Tori

Harper was wiped out on the way home from a wonderful weekend.

She did much better on the way home & didn't barf.

We were excited to share these moments & create memories with her.

It's amazing how easily she transitioned into our family & fits right in.

We knew she'd love it & look forward to our next trip!

We get to go back next week to PaPa's lake house for an entire week. She'll meet a few more cousins that she's never met & finally meet Aunt Susan & Uncle Glenn!

Baptism

Two weeks ago we welcomed Harper into the Catholic faith.

We were honored that our friend, Bill, who became a Deacon last year, was able to baptize her.

Harper didn't crack a smile until we got home.

Godparents! My brother & sister.

 Grandparents...Harper is still a little freaked out by my dad's mustache. When he asks for a kiss, she says "No, mustache" & points to her cheek.



The morning after....the littles were up at the crack of dawn. How about a bath?

We had a nice turnout for Harper's baptism.  Alot of our family & friends travelled 2 hours to help us celebrate.

Thank you to all for supporting us!