Saturday, June 28, 2008

Spiritual Girls Camp

On Friday night the three of us and President Lewis from the Palmer Park Branch drove to visit the girls at Girls Camp. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive and Landon was awake for the whole thing. The camp was in a beautiful area of Michigan. Hot and humid it was and Landon's curls just kept popping out. We experienced the flag lowering ceremony, dinner, a fashion show that Mike was in, and a really nice devotional with Carmen and Sofia. The girls learned a lot and seemed to really have felt the Spirit. It was a great opportunity for us to go and we are glad to went.


Carmen, Jayne, Mike, Sofia, and Landon
Mike dressed as if to go fishing.


Carmen, Landon, and Sofia. Landon loves them!

Landon and Sofia. He loved all of the attention the girls gave him.


Landon's curly hair.

Landon liked Sofia's lanyard.

He fell asleep as we drove into the parking lot. Just my luck.

How I got him to smile for the camera is beyond me but this is a keeper!

Look at those curls!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Once Called Bob's Big Boy




He must have loved Bob, the smiles were non stop.










For some reason I thought Big Boy had disappeared until we got to Michigan and Big Boy has reappeared. In Michigan they actually say it's a "Michigan Thing". So our "nephew" Josh told me how good their Patty Melts are and said I had to try them. So "Auntie" Jayne, Josh, Landon, and I went to Big Boy while Mike worked, hee hee hee. We had a ton of fun and Landon made a great big mess. But all who sat around him were understanding and loved chatting with him. That makes what can be a stressful event a lot of fun. I love hanging out with these two as it makes being loud be okay. Yeah!
Earlier in the day we took Mike to work at Wayne State. Today was the first day of the summer semester. Mike has been working so hard lately, I am very proud of him. We spent a little over an hour visiting all of the fun people in the education building. Landon had a great temperament while we were there and he always has the smiles for the ladies. The sweet ladies give him all the sugar a boy should ever receive. I have posted pictures from our fun day. As I am writing this it is 9pm and I can hear Landon on the baby monitor cracking himself up in his crib. What a character. As of today he has four teeth. Once one comes in they never stop.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Eight Months


This last Monday Landon turned eight months. I can't believe how fast time has flown. He is so much FUN! He has cut his third tooth and is now crawling and getting into everything! The picture above is Landon eating part of his Thomas the Train Duplo set that Grandma gave him. We put it together and less than 5 min later he has it torn to pieces and it is all in his mouth. He is taking after his dad and his love for the Legos. At least all of the ones we have in boxes in the basement will not go to waste. 7 days til Papa and Mama come to visit. YEAH!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Amazing Storms

The rain came from nowhere. This is what Noah must have felt like I am sure. Within minutes the water was moving down the alley like a river. Hail was at least the size of peas. There are some pictures of it below. I screemed like a three year old. It was so much fun with all of the lightning and thunder. Landon slept right through it. It had been beautiful weather earlier in the day. We walked to the local outdoor market and Landon pet a cute little Beagle. He doesn't seem to be afraid of the dogs. He doesn't even flinch when the Jack - n - the - Box goes off.
Fearless he is.











Sunday, June 15, 2008

Not A Spare Moment, Filled With Tons Of Fun

Some how Wednesdays always seem to be so action packed in our house.

The second Wednesday of every month I have a meeting for Families Supporting Adoption that is 40 miles away. I can't seem to ever get out of the meeting at a reasonable time and that day was no different. No fault other than mine as I am a talker.

By the time I got home this last Wednesday Mike and the Jefferson Elders ( we have 4 sets of Elders ) were painting Landon's room. It was great to have three people painting his room. It was done in no time flat. I fed them Chicken Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches and I will have to admit they were pretty darn tasty.

Shortly after they left I went and picked up Deondre who gave us an estimate on refinishing our floor in the kitchen.

While he was there Carmen came over to be tutored on Math by Pres. Owens. I then dropped Deondre off and returned home to have Jayne and Josh show up within the hour for more tutoring and for Pres. Owens to give the kids blessings before their ACT tests this last Saturday.

Jayne came back later to pick up the kids and we had a blast on the porch. One of the best parts of my house is the porch. If you come to visit you are welcome to join us on the porch. Hope to see you soon.


Elder Robbins painting. Landon was there to cheer the Elders on.

He was smiling just two seconds before I took this picture. He loved standing up watching what was going on in his room.





Elder Robbins and Elder Nielsen





Mike and Landon chillin on the porch. He loves watching the cars, buses, and police go down the street.

Josh definitely has no problem mugging for the camera.


Carmen, Landon, and Mike hanging out on the patriotic porch.



Our house from across the street. I love it!


Deondre and Josh.



Jayne and Josh, mother and son. Josh plays football for Ecorse High School. This last Saturday we put Landon in his size 15 shoes and his helmet and Landon loved it!


Landon and Poppy still chillin. It was a beautiful night and we have had several lately.


Landon found his fingers. Darn it!


One of his nicknames is Albert Einstein because of his crazy hair.


Yes, he is favoring his left thumb.




Landon is so crazy. We are so lucky to have a kid that is pretty darn mellow and loves the ladies! Today at church our friend Penelope had him for nearly two hours while I did Primary and Pres. Owens was busy with the Branch. We are so grateful to her and so many countless others who play with him and love him to bits. Most of the kids love him as well and he thinks it is so fun to smile and make faces at them during Sacrament. Like Mike has said, "Never A Dull Moment."

Thursday, June 12, 2008

First Playgroup

Several weeks ago we went to our first adoption playgroup at the Westland Stake Center. We had a lot of fun! It is great that Buffy puts this together every month.











Zach playing with Landon.






One of the cutest pictures of Landon and he is not pulling an Alfred Hitchcock.



Rachael is so good with Landon. But hey all of Michelle's kids are.




All of the ladies that came to the playgroup.










LOVE THIS KID!







Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Go Get A Frosty!

Visit Wendys and buy a Frosty on
June 14th and 15th.

For each Frosty that is sold--
Wendy's will donate 50 cents to the
(click on image to visit the website)
How COOL is that?
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption Special Announcement
A Good Treat for A Good Cause
Celebrate Father's Day and help a child find a forever family. For every Frosty product purchased on June 14 and 15, Wendy's will donate 50 cents to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Please join us for Father's Day Frosty Weekend at a participating Wendy's near you!
Proceeds support the mission of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to dramatically increase the number of adoptions of waiting children in North America so that every child will have a permanent home and loving family.

Spread the Word
See the Rockin' Frosty video and send it to a friend. Invite your family and friends to join you at Wendy's this Father's Day to support the mission of the Foundation.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Belle Isle: Never a Dull Moment

Dear Anonymous,

I write in response to your comment of June 4:

“The only reason people are asking, “What are you doing here?” is because of the message you are portraying. We are all actually, very happy for you!!! If you have found what you are looking for you shouldn't have to complain.”

I think you may have misunderstood what I wrote in my post of June 4. We have been asked "What are you doing here?" by all sorts of people. For instance, a police officer in town asked that question upon seeing Hallie’s out-of-state drivers license (no, she did not get a ticket ). People in stores have asked. People are happy we are here, but they are genuinely surprised (due to the state of the job market, among other factors, in SE Michigan). The message we are portraying is our honest take on the complex emotions and interactions with people as we have been here. We are grateful that you are happy for us. Your support and prayers buoy us up and let us know we are loved. Sometimes people complain about details even when they are happy on the overall, and that is OK, particularly when the complaints are valid. Gentle reader, the message we are portraying is as much about what you the reader bring to the text as what is on the screen before you in print. If you feel we are being unduly critical or negative, you have not seen the entire picture. Again, I think the title of the post was apt in that regard: You tend to find what you are looking for. We invite you to reread what we have written over the course of several posts over the last 10 months to get a broader perspective.

In other news, we had the dedicatory service for Belle Isle today. Pres. Lantz commented that this is an historic moment in the city: this is the first new LDS Church-built building in the city since the 1920s (along with our sister building in the Westland Stake, the Detroit River Branch Building). We had a full house for the event, and there was a beautiful spirit there as members and visitors shared in the celebration of the Church investing in the members of the city. This is a time of renewal, recommitment, and reclaiming the city. We rumbled through the block of meetings, finding out along the way what items we still needed from Harper Woods, what new items we had in the building, and what technical and technological glitches needed solving. We even had two baptisms this evening in our unfinished font (the building is almost complete, but we still have a “punch list” of several items remaining to be done). Made for a long day, but not a moment of it was dull.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

The New Church

Here is the outside of our new building.
This is the view from the pulpit through the chapel into the cultural hall and the doors at the back are our baptismal font.

The new chapel is beautiful when it is all lit up.



This is the Relief Society Room before the two of us put it together.



Brother Banks assessing the kitchen.
The missionaries cleaned and put all away in the kitchen.



Here is one of the many classrooms we have.


The beautiful padded green chairs in the Relief Society Room.


Tomorrow will be the first Sunday we are in our new building. We are very excited to have this building. The Belle Isle Branch has come a long way. When the branch was first formed the members used to meet outside at the park called Belle Isle. Now they have their very own building. Here are a few pictures from the day we went and cleaned.