On our way to KC.

Made our connection with 2 minutes to spare.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!

Here is a picture of Megan in the 5th grade. I was hoping to find a picture of her 1 year later. That is the year she cut her hair real short and got these humongous glasses. I think she has those pictures under lock and key somewhere. Anyway, happy birthday - I love you.

Out for a walk.

With temperatures approaching 60 degrees today, we went out for a walk. Unfortunately, we had a lot of rain last night, so everyone got muddy.

It is our 6 year anniversery today, we are getting a babysitter and going out to dinner.
#
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Scenes from Christmas

We had a great Christmas yesterday. We woke up, had a big breakfast, and then opened presents. Luke was really in to opening presents this year. He enjoyed opening gifts more than he cared about what was underneath the wrapping paper. Here are some pictures and a video from yesterday. Luke's favorite present of the day was probably his rocket ship from Aunt Erin.

This just in.....we're having a boy

We found out we're having a boy yesterday. We are very happy.

Luke Answers the Phone

It's cold here.

- 4 degrees with a windchill of - 11.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Christmas tree

While we had a family tree decorating evening luke enjoyed destroying all the styrofoam peanuts helping to keep the ornaments safe. No tree decorating night would be complete without listening to Peter, Paul, and Mary's Christmas concert!! #

NASA

We were watching a friends child last night and he started playing with the space shuttle Luke has. Joe found a video online of the shuttle taking off. After watching the video multiple times and acting out take offs and landings last night-Luke woke up this am and said more and made the swish sound and put his hand in the air as to mimic a shuttle taking off. Very cute. So we watched more take offs this am and got out his astronaut men this afternoon. #

Nativity set

Every night Luke pulls down his nativity and we play. We have to tell the story of the angels that appeared to Mary and then Joseph. We have the shephard set so we also talk about the angel who appeared to the shephards out in the field to find Jesus int the manager. We talk through the whole story and during the story Luke lines up all the men and beasts in a line and gets mad when they fall over. We have a blast!! #

Train Tracks

Joe was going to give Luke a bath tonight, but after about 30 mins I realized no bath had taken place yet. I went to investigate and found our naked son playing with his train on his train tracks made of Q-tips. Not sure who came up with the idea of the Q-tips-but Joe became the manager of the track and would put the Q-tips back when they got out of place. Luke started imitating his clicking noise that he made when putting it back in place. It was very cute.

HUGS

Luke has taken to hugging most things in our house. Joe will ask for a hug before he leaves for work and he makes his rounds-Joe, Me, Shadow, Peanut, Klondike (if she can be found), sometimes different stuffed animals.

Today we were talking to Erin on the webcam and it was time to say goodbye. I told Luke to say bye bye to Ant E, and he went up to the computer and gave it a hug. I thought it was very sweet, it was unfortunate the webcam was behind so Erin didn't get to see it, but we hope it will continue.

So if you happen to see Luke anytime soon, just ask him for a hug!!!

Snow

Luke had his first adventure with the snow today. Picture THE CHRISTMAS STORY, where they spend 10 mins trying to get the youngest son in his outdoor gear. Well during that time of trying to get his boots on and coat on, Luke is just screaming. He is excited about going "OUT" as he calls it. When we finally get outside, he can hardly walk due to the snow pants and the coat and the gloves. Everytime he tries to bend over he falls down and screams. We got out his little sled and pulled him around. He enjoyed trying to touch the "SSS-NO" as he calls it. We had a fun 15 mins outside and then called it a day. We are hoping for more adventures than just the 2 inches we had today!!

Baby ?????? Nash

Here is a first look at the new baby.

Coming in May 2009.

Bills v. Jets

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Turtle Luke

Luke has started going to a music class at our babysitter's house. She teaches ARFIE music one night a week. Luke really enjoys it on most nights. Last night was Halloween night and Luke Turtle went in Luke's place. We hope you enjoy and you may want to check out Arfie music near you!!!

Wagon Ride

We went out to the land the other day and walked around. We took our wagon and Luke had fun going down our neighbors small hill with Joe.

Joe's Deer

Joe got a deer on Saturday, the last day of Muzzle Loader season. He went up to our land and was able to get a shot off and kill the little deer. Luke was not too happy about the deer and wanted off joe's lap as soon as possible. The deer stayed in our garage overnight where our dogs tried to help themselves to deer jerky, but we stopped that and the deer is at the butcher right now. There is still regular rifle season in a few weeks so we have the chance to get another deer!!

Pumpkin Farm

Luke and I traveled to Meadville to see our friends the McMichaels and we went to the Port Farm for the Pumpkin Patch fun they had there. Luke and Josh, this son, had a great time with all the different slides and tunnels and such. We think we are going to make it a yearly event. There was a Hay Bale Maze, and the little slide, there was a big pit of corn kernels (like a big sand pit) and there was a petting zoo.

Deer Call

Something I do not recommend

This AM after I was getting out of the shower, I started to think if I had cleaned my contacts yesterday or not. I wore them in the morning and then decided to take an afternoon nap and couldn't think if I cleaned them or not. Not that this really mattered but I remember having those thoughts as I was getting ready to put my contacts in. I thought I did everything normal, but as I put my contact in my Left eye it burned really bad and I couldn't open my eye. I couldn't figure out what the problem was, until I was able to open my right eye and realized I had used the cleaning solution and not the saline solution to wet my contact for the morning. BIG MISTAKE. I quickly closed the drain and started pouring water into my eyes until I could open it and get my contact out. Then I proceeded to flush my eye for about 15 minutes. When it stopped, my eye still stung, so I did it for about 20 mins. At this time I could focus to read the bottle and it said flush your eye out with water until all irritation is gone. So I proceeded to put my glasses on and Joe was helping to get Luke ready, which was a big help. Then I went to work, where I had my vision checked. 20/20 in the R eye, and 20/40 in the L eye. Big difference from the bad to the good. So I called the eye doctor and when she got in at 9 I was actually doing much better. We talked about different things to be done, but decided to just keep flushing and see what happens. My eye is already better but I probably won't be wearing contacts for a good 2 weeks. So my suggestion is to NOT BUT CONTACT CLEANER IN YOUR EYE!!!!

Video of Luke walking

Astronaut Luke

Aunt Erin got Luke this cool astronaut set when he was about 2 weeks old. It was a little too big for him at the time, so we haven't really played with it much. Well the other day I got it down and wanted to see how Luke would do with it. It has a space shuttle, and then a moon seen with a moon car and a guy that sits in the car, as well as the international space station. There are also various astronaut guys that Luke liked stacking in different places. All in all I think he had a fun time and we may have a future astronaut on our hands!!

Outside Cat

Klondike our wonderful feline has become an outside cat recently. She started to go out in the summer and just sit on the driveway and hang out while we were outside. She has then started to get more adventurous and is now outside more than inside. She may be out all day or even all night. We are finding little treasures she is bringing to us-dead vols, mice, chipmunks left in the garage. Joe looked it up and since she doesn't eat them, it is her way to provide food for the family. We don't have the heart to tell her we aren't wild game people, so she keeps bringing them to us. Not everyday, but 2-3 times a week we have an animal to clean up. Luckily for us the dogs don't pay any attention to the dead animal. The good news is that she has almost stopped using her litter box, as she is going outside, Joe is very happy about this as he has taken over duties. The next good thing is that she has lost a little weight, so we don't have to worry about feline diabetes.

Hurricane Ike

Even though we live in Pennsylvania and Hurricane Ike struck Texas and Louisiana, we still got hit by some winds. On Sunday night most of western PA was upset when their power went out during the Steelers game. That power came back on for some quickly and for others it was a 4 day ordeal. Our house was lucky and we had power the next morning so we never went without warm water. Being on a well you forget you need power to run the water. However our work wasn't as lucky as we were without power from Sunday night until Wednesday afternoon. So we all brought in flashlights and lanterns and saw patients in the dark to the best of our ability. We only had a schedule for Monday and Tuesday so on Wednesday we didn't know who was coming into be seen. We definitely had slower days, but it was fun none the less. The best was trying to go the bathroom in the dark, since there is city water, we also carried a lantern in with us to light the way. Joe was happy because he just worked from home most days and didn't have to wear a suit and tie. The grocery store was also affected and they had to get rid of all their food that went bad.

We know it was nothing like those in Texas are dealing with, but we have a very small taste of it here in PA. We did have one tree come down in our neighbors yard, but nothing else. lots of branches. There were many trees just hanging on power lines. It is our understanding that a lot of electrical folks are down in Texas so there were less to deal with things up here.

On another note we are doing well. Luke is trying to be helpful around the house and puts things in the garbage can. yesterday he was playing with my pager before we left for work. As I took him down to the car I realized I didn't have my pager. So I left him strapped in and paged myself (it was just 3 days ago that I even put my pager number into my phone), so I am walking upstairs and hear it go off and locate it----in the trash can!!! Yipee. Way to go Luke, that is what I feel like doing with it most days anyway, but I am not allowed.

Luke our dog

Shadow just drank fom the water dish and I turn around and Luke is drinking from it like a dog as well!!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime� Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

Luke and trucks

Luke has developed and interest in trucks. I have developed and interest in sewing. I have combined the two and made a bulldozer pillow.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime� Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

Luke's antics

I am amazed at what Luke picks up on. We have been reading his Noah's Ark books or his farm books and trying to make animal noises. I have been really pushing the easy animals-cow, dog, horse, pig, and cat. He has picked up on some of these, but he has also picked up on animals I would think were harder-owl, sheep, lion, and an elephant. You may be asking-What does an elephant sound like? I really don't know, the only thing I have done when talked about an elephant is put my hand to my nose to make a trunk. Well the other day I noticed he was doing the same thing and kept doing it when I asked him how an elephant goes.

We have been letting Klondike, the cat, outside. She likes to go and sit in our bushes and probably sleep. To get her back in the house we either have to shake her treats or we smack our lips together and make a noise to call her. Yesterday I told Luke we had to go and get Klondike. He runs outside and starts smacking his lips together, I can't figure out what he is doing, but then he runs over to the side of the garage where she always comes from- and she appears. I realized he was calling Klondike, just like we do.

Luke is also fascinated about calling Joe= MAMA instead of dada. It really makes Joe mad, but he will hear the garage door open and I am standing right there and he will say "MAMA" and run to the window to see him pull in. Quite funny. We keep saying "Dada" which he used to say, but once Mama hit he stopped.

I hope to someday get some of these on film and post them, but for now you are just stuck hearing my version of everything.

blueberry picking

We went blueberry picking yesterday at a local farm! It started off good until Luke decided to start picking and squishing the berries. So Joe took over Luke watching duties and I tried to pick berries. Unfortunately if anyone knows me they know I am a bug magnet so after getting attacked and eaten alive for the better part of an hour we walked away with 3/4 lb of blueberries and many bug bites. #

This is what we call the Muppet Show.......Beep.

Luke loves the Muppet Show. It is by far his favorite DVD to watch. He always dances to the theme song, but has begun to imitate Gonzo's trumpet note at the end of the song.

Bad Thunder Storm

It wasn't as bad has Hurricane Dolly that went through our prior home of Harlingen, TX, but we did have a really bad storm tonight. I was able to find hail as large as a silver dollar. By the way, our home in Texas came through the hurricane just find. As far as we know, the only damage was our fence in the backyard was partially blown down.

Trout Fishing

I recently had an opportunity to fish the East Branch of the Clarion River which is located in Elk County, Pennsylvania. We were in Johnsonburg, PA for Megan's family reunion, so I was able to break away for a few hours, strap on my waders, and get in the water to do some trout fishing. The river flows out from the East Branch Dam. The dam brings water from the bottom of the resevior, so this results in very cold water and consequently, great native trout populations. You can see this HERE. I was able to catch 5 native brook trout* including a fantastic 15-inch native brook trout, which is a very rare catch!

*no trout were harmed during the creation of this blog entry.

Grandparent visit

Our babysitter was in Australia for a week so Grandma and Grandpa Meier came down to watch Luke. They taught Luke how to bawk like a chicken and then Joe taught him how to flap his arms like chicken wings so now we have a chicken in out house!! We went for a drive of our land and out to dinner where Luke ate pickeled eggs :( #

Poopy head

We were outside today playing when Dad noticed something on Lukes head. It turns out a friendly bird thought Lukes head was a toilet!! We remedied the problem with a dunking. Joe would like to say he does not support this post as he also had a bird poop on his head as a child!! #

luke enjoying our land

#

Picnic

We went to our property now that we officially own it and had a picnic. Luke enjoyed playing in the brush and sticks. It is weird to think that we own all the trees and weeds that we could see!!

New wall hanging

It has only been 3 months since returning from png, but I finally got my png tea towel/wall decoration up. It has a map of png and a lot of the native flowers and birds on it. #

Luke and Dad

Luke visited Dad at work. They started looking at the Cabelas magazine looking at fishing stuff!!

Luke at family reunion

Joes family has a family reunion every 2 yrs at the state park. Luke is enjoying pointing out the ducks to everyone. #

Luke playing dad's drums.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Our future homesite.

We decided to purchase a piece of land recently. We decided on a piece of land that has about 12.5 acres about 10 minutes north of where we live now. The land is in Forestville, PA. It has a nice mix of fields and woods. We're planning on closing on the property in a couple of weeks.

We're heading to Ohio after church today to meet with a builder to look at home plans. Exciting times!

Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse is the organization that is supporting Erin while she is in Papua New Guinea. They have recently put this picture on their website. You can find it at the website below. You can also read the latest addition of the On Call Magazine which features Dr. Becky Wallace, who will be joining Erin at Kudjip in October.


http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Serving_Overseas/

A new table

New table for Luke. Stenciled with safari animals and a safari jeep.

Blocks

Luke is now enjoying his blocks. There is a sorting lid on it and he only likes taking the circles and putting them in the basket. He ignores the squares and rwctangles and triangles which r harder to do. #

Luke's stool

I had been looking for a stool for Luke to use to brush his teeth and such and found one then stenciled some frogs and gecko's on it.

Lawnmower Luke

Luke has taken to helping our landlord mow the lawn. He also likes to mow our driveway and doesn't understand what grass is as there isn't any in the driveway.

peanut on her perch

peanut sits around all day intently staring out our front window looking for baby bunnies. We have 3 that live in our yard. We do not know what she would do with them if she was outside but she whines a lot when they are outside.

Luke's new swimming pool.

Although it is far from being as hot as it was in South Texas, it was up into the mid-80's today, so we broke out the pool. As you can see, we opted for the above ground portable option. The dogs were hot as well and jumped in the pool to cool off.