I LOVE THIS!

Father's Day

I don't think Will and I will forget our first Father's Day or our First Mother's Day for no other reason than it was our first. I really wanted to make Will's Father's Day special, so I had plan to take him to Denver for a Rookies game. How cool of a Father's Day is that? Well, we went to Denver two weeks ago and it was a very expensive trip (we bought a car) and Sam and I are just now recovering from the exhaustion. No baseball game. So, Will said he would like to go to Sheridan, Wy for the day. Okay! Well, he walked at Relay for Life at 4 am and then slept until 11 am, so no Sheridan. We then decided to go to the pool, Sam's new favorite activity, and we did. We then went and got ice cream. That all was a lot of fun. Today we had a grill out at church and then make up for everything else that didn't work out Will was going to go golfing and then we were going to go to dinner and have steak. Well, the wind today was like hurricane strength. You can tell by the picture and my eyes that I can barely open, so no golf. And then because we live in Gillette and there are only 3 good restaurants to get steak we went to two of them and they were both doing Father's Day buffets that were overpriced, yucky and no steak. So, no golf, no steak. I tried and did not succeed this weekend.

Happy Father's Day Will, by the way the toilet is backed up.

And she is on the move...

I love this blog. It helps me keep record of all the new things Samantha does. Okay, its June 17th and tonight Samantha rolled with a purpose. She has been rolling over, but not really to go anywhere, just doing because she can. Tonight she rolled over to Will which took several roll overs to get there. You should have seen his face. He called her and called her and then she came! I was like oh no! Its funny to watch her on her tummy because she is trying to crawl but can't. Her butt will get real high and then her front will fall down. Then she pushes herself up but can't get the butt going. I'm hoping it will be awhile before we figure that out. Although, watching her roll across the room was pretty cool.

Samantha has finally started sleeping through the night on most nights. There are one or two occasions this does not happen, but if her naps were not bad before now they are really bad. I'm clueless. We are winging it for now. I guess getting the amount of sleep she needs is my goal. No other news.

Our first time swimming!

Today we went to the recreation center for the first time. Gillette just built a huge and beautiful rec center with an amazing pool for little kids. I was scared because I really don't like water at all, but I don't want Samantha to be like me, so we went with our friends Chantry and her 10 month old daughter Maddie. At first Samantha was kinda whinny and apprehensive about everything, but as soon as she got use to all the noise and people she had a blast. She didn't even cry when she got water in her mouth or in her face. She loved watching all the kids, and would laugh and smile at all of them. At one point I put her by the wall and she held the wall while I held her butt and she just kicked her legs like crazy. Sam would squeal in delight and shriek and talk. I also sat her on the wall and she would lean forward to fall into the pool and of course I would catch her. She loved it! The rec started swimming lessons at 6 months and we are going to do it. I hope Will gets to go with us soon so he can see how well she does. We plan to go at least once a week with our friends.

Samantha update: Last week she started sleeping through most of the night which was great while we were Denver. As we have returned home we are adjusting back to life and that has been difficult. I think there are several factors that have gone with that. I think we are having a growth spurt, which she is never quit herself when we are going through that and teething maybe in play. She is also having some separation anxiety from mommy. She was always good about playing in her pen or bouncing in her bouncer, but this week she would not have any of that and she is not sleeping as well as she did last week. We did take the wedge out of her bed because she can now roll. In fact, the past couple of nights she has rolled and slept some on her tummy, but when I put her on her tummy to slept she gets mad. So, this week we are just not ourselves, but still a relatively happy baby. She also sits up really well if I sit her up but has yet to pull herself to a sitting position. Its been difficult because I have not gotten anything done or cooked hardly at all because she has been more fussy. I'm hoping this is all a phase and well phase out. She is still amazing and wonderful. And no matter where we are she can get anyone to smile at her and gets lots of attention.

Pictures from the Party

The black and white cake is from the reception Anadarko had. The one with my dad in the car is the cake from our party, and the pictures with all the people are from our party. We had such a great time!

Weekend Events

Last week and this weekend have been a whirlwind. We left Thursday early in the morning and got to Denver at 2:00. We had to return Will's work truck that he has been driving for the past two years to the company. We were very sad to see it go, but feel blessed that we have been able to have it and have been able to save money. We then checked into our hotel, which, was in the ghetto. We stayed on Colfax, opps. Thursday evening we surprised my Dad at a reception his company was having for him. My dad retired after 31 years of working for Anadarko. I'm so proud of him. It was a very bitter sweet moment. We didn't stay long because Samantha was done and screaming and my dad had a lot of people to say good bye to.

Friday, we began our search for a new car and it was exhausting. We got back to the hotel later than we wanted so we had to hurry and get ready for my dad's surprise retirement party. It was at the Lansdowne Arms, which is where he eats the most. We were sooo behind, but Will's boss got there early and saved tables for us and the Pahls also got their early for us and picked up the cake. I dropped Will off there at 6:15 and then picked my dad up and we arrived at 6:30. Everyone was there. There were 32 of us total! We had such a great time. It was absolutely wonderful. After the party we went to Starbucks with the Pahls and then went over to the Froistad's house before returning to the ghetto...hehe.

Saturday we went back on the hunt. Will's mom came in town so she helped watched Samantha for us. We were so tired and frustrated that we almost gave up. But, we did it! We found a car. It is a 2007 Jeep Liberty. It is a goldish color and thats about all I can tell you about it. I'm not a car person. Its great though. It was in our price range and way below our millage range. We celebrated by eating dinner with Roberta and then having tea with my dad at Chilis before returning to the ghetto.

Sunday, we meet my dad at his house and helped him pack for a couple of hours and then drove the 6 hour drive home. I'm still exhausted from the weekend and Samantha wasn't quite herself today. But, she was the best baby ever. This was a very long weekend and she did great. I'm so proud of her. She is the best baby anyone could ask for.

Thank you to all of our friends that took part in this weekend. You are so special to us. The Lord has blessed us abundantly, and sometimes I still rub my eyes because I can't believe his blessings over us. I'm so thankful to have a God that doesn't keep record of our sin, or count the minutes of our quiet times. Instead, He loves us. Oh, how He loves.

5 months old!