Baby Esther

The other day Addi saw this doll at the store and asked if she could hold it, so I gave it to her to look at and a few seconds later she told me that her name was Baby Esther (I think she got the name from one of the living scripture videos). I let her look at the baby for a little bit longer and then told her we had to put it back, but all she wanted to do was play with baby Esther, so I decided for $3 dollars it was worth it to buy. Had I known what I know now and much Addi loves baby Esther I would have payed much more for her. Here are many pictures of Addi playing with baby Esther.

BIG kisses

and even bigger hugs!
Time to go for a walk around the kitchen over and over and over again :)

Addi is always telling me that Esther is hungry or thirsty.

Addi also lets us know when Esther has to go potty. When Esther is all done, Addi brings her out so we can all clap and say Yay!

Esther has officially become part of the family, and has a place at dinner.

Jacob is such a good dad, to play dolls with his little girl. I love how they are looking at each other.

And my favorite picture..."It wasn't me mom, it was Esther!"

Addi spilled some flour on the floor and before I could clean it up, her and Esther were eating it. Such a funny little girl!

Root Beer Fest 2009

As many of you know, Jacob LOVES root beer, growing up his family called it the nectar of the Gods. So we decided to throw a root beer festival. We had a blast thanks to all of our friends who came and thanks to all 11 different types of root beer. Jacob got the festivities going with a little 50's swing music, then we had a name that root beer contest (See if you can identify the most common types of root beer) and we also had a taste test where we ranked our top three brands of root beer as well as our least favorite. We also did a Root Beer trivia quiz...did you know there are 2, 515 different brands of root beer?

Here are the pictures of the Root Beer Festival 2009

I think Barq's was the winner as far as most votes, and bundeberg was definitely the last! Nasty if you ask me....Great if you ask Janae :)

Jacob got them all right (hence the six), but I switched two of them at the end (hence the 4) :)

Finally another post!

Alright, this is going to be a post about the past two months of our lives here in Florida. I posted the pictures backwards of when they actually happened, but you'll still get the idea.

Wendy came to visit us again (what a great sister :)) and we had a blast. Jacob's brother Jon also came which just added to the fun.

We had fun baking cookies together...

and going to blue springs, and remembering

what it was like to be a kid again...

took lots of pictures...

dressed for success (haha I love this picture)...ate big subs on the beach (thanks Jacob)...

snorkeled in the deep blue sea...

sun tanned or maybe we should call it sun scorched :)...

Had fun at Wakulla springs...

laughed and laughed...

jumped off high towers...

and swam in cold Wakulla spring water (Addi didn't seem to mind at all)...

went on a boat ride and saw many many alligators, one manatee and many other animals...

looked at Old Joe, the gigantic alligator...

cherished moments...

tried to eat two saltine crackers in 15 seconds...

searched for shells at Mexico beach and later found a dead crab in one of them...

But most of all...we just enjoyed the time we had together.

We sure love you Wendy and Jon or as Addi would say "Wenny and Non (aka Mimi)"! Thanks for coming! We can't wait to see you again!

Before Wendy and Jon came, Jacob played volleyball and had a great fall. He tore some ligaments in his ankle and foot, and had to stay home for a few days. Thank goodness Addi was here to sympathize with him :) Addi kept saying she had an owee too, and wanted it wrapped up just like daddies...so Addi got a toilet paper wrap.

We also took a trip to Orlando to go to the temple. The Lord really blessed us on this trip, everything just seemed to work out better than I could have expected. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

About half way there we stopped for dinner and got Addi in her jammies and did our bedtime routine as much as we could. She seemed to love the change-up and just clung to her blankies with a huge smile.

Addi and Jacob in front of the beautiful Orlando temple.

Eating breakfast in our hotel room. Don't mind Addi's hair, she just got out of the bath.Addi playing in the fountain while we waited for Jacob to get through a session.

Well, I think I am finally caught up again :)