Rock Chalk Jayhawks! Yesss indeed we are in The Phog... correction... : ) The Fieldhouse. One of the dentists from my work had a ton of tickets given to him and I happened to be at the office when they were up for grabs. Couldn't pass up chance to watch some
live college basket ball with the perfect combination of Jayhawks and the atmosphere of the Fieldhouse! Wade called Phil and Beth to see if they could come join us on short notice! We missed Beth - she had work tying her up but Phil was able to come!! There's a pic of Kent with his Uncle Phil! It was a good game to watch - KU won the game soundly. I find it awesome that the crowd cheers loudly and enthusiastically for every basket - even when there is a wide gap in points. The student section has so many traditions they do before, during and after the game. I get a kick out of it! Plus if you knew the whole process for the students getting their tickets! They have to camp out for them in the Fieldhouse! There are rules that groups of students vying for tickets must follow. It's a cultural experience seeing it : ). Wade showed me once when were were dating we walked through the area where they are all camping out. Any way during the game a player on the visitor team shot a 3 and air balled it - the rest of the game whenever that guy had the ball in his hands to pass or shoot the student section was chanting "air ball, air ball, air ball.." over and over again! I felt bad for the guy...and laughed at the same time....head shaking in disapproval - poor guy and that happened in the early part of the 1st half!
Kent is so content! He had a lot to take in of course and he surveyed the entire evening well. He joined in on the clapping and rocked to the music! He is so fun and easy to take out and about - Wade and I are appreciative of that! I felt bad though that it was a late night for him getting to bed - but so it goes. Phil watches all the games he can on TV - and he either hasn't been to a game at the Fieldhouse before or it's been a while... whichever it was - we were so happy he could come and spend the evening with us! Hopefully we can do it again! Couldn't help but think of Tom, Lloyd and James and Campbell. How much they'd enjoy a game here. Wade even leaned over to me to say - wouldn't it be cool if your family could be here too! YES!
Someday! When it's fall I think -oh this is the perfect time for them to come - but fall is almost done and that means a whole year away... Really Winter, Spring, Summer AND Fall are the perfect times to come! Well KU we'll see how you do this year in the BIG 12! Wade and I and Kent went together to a High School football game a couple weeks ago. That was awesome! I thought about Cam and how cool he would find it. They are really good players. It's high school and the new Turf and stadium are SO nice. McNally's back home doesn't even compare! That was a fun experience. Wade and I had Kent all bundled up and again Kent just taking it all in. He is a trooper - It did start to get pretty cold near the end of the game so we left just before the game was over - but our team won! There is a young man from our church who we cheered on along with the rest of his teammates and we even got to sit next to his parents. That was great -because we got to get more of the scoop about the players and who's who. The other team had HUGE guys on it. I couldn't believe it! I wish I had the program so that I could jot down their heights and weights. Kent what will high school be like when you are older... Wade and I touch on that topic every now and then wondering what Kents interests will be. All I know is I LOVE every stage of our little mans life.
He is 10 months old and has already hit so many different stages. I'm missing our little baby son - AND I'm loving our little boy who is growing up and figuring things out and who is constantly melting my heart with his sweet smiles and playful interactions.
A little bit of Kents world. He has a little cupboard in our living room all to himself. He is busy right now pulling everything out of the cupboard and putting items back in. Same with a basket of toys we have in the living room for him. He likes to pull toys up and out of the basket and then return them. He is pulling himself up to standing. That is another reason for this pic is that Wade and I one evening caught Kent "struggling" - He was retrieving everything from the top shelf in the cupboard and couldn't back out so he sadly was bonking his head against the top of the cupboard and whimpering a plea of help from us! He cracks us up! I feel so blessed to be able to have a part in raising Kent. Wade and I are so enthralled with him. He is so interactive and expressive with us at home.
Smiling, laughing, dancing, and communicating with babbling and babbling and babbling, lots of
grunting, and
more babbling. Even singing sounds - That is cute! Not that he isn't when we are out and about - but when we are at others homes or else where, Kent is in an observation mode. I find that fascinating about him too. He is very aware of the people around him and it seems like he is studying their faces and taking in whatever he can.
This is a boy who is up for the day, bright and early and
ready to play! I took a few pictures to send to his grandmas.
Of all the toys he chooses often to play with the car's. He dragged a box from our recycle pile into the living room and he loved rolling the car back and forth on top of the box. He would occasionally drop the car and it managed to get inside the box. He would fish it out putting his ear to the ground to get a good look at it and then stick his little arm in as far as it could go and retrieve his wheels. Wheels - he is still pretty funny about his pointer finger. Wade imitates this well. Kent sticks out his index finger all the time to touch or examine something. He'll hold one of his cars in his left hand and then spin a wheel with the index finger of his right hand. Then look up at me to show me what he is doing and how cool this car is! It's fun to play with him and explore things around the house together at his level.
A little bit of Kents world. He has a little cupboard in our living room all to himself. He is busy right now pulling everything out of the cupboard and putting items back in. Same with a basket of toys we have in the living room for him. He likes to pull toys up and out of the basket and then return them. He is pulling himself up to standing. That is another reason for this pic is that Wade and I one evening caught Kent "struggling" - He was retrieving everything from the top shelf in the cupboard and couldn't back out so he sadly was bonking his head against the top of the cupboard and whimpering a plea of help from us! He cracks us up! I feel so blessed to be able to have a part in raising Kent. Wade and I are so enthralled with him. He is so interactive and expressive with us at home. Smiling, laughing, dancing, and communicating with babbling and babbling and babbling, lots of grunting, and more babbling. Even singing sounds - That is cute! Not that he isn't when we are out and about - but when we are at others homes or else where, Kent is in an observation mode. I find that fascinating about him too. He is very aware of the people around him and it seems like he is studying their faces and taking in whatever he can. 
This is a boy who is up for the day, bright and early and ready to play! I took a few pictures to send to his grandmas. 
Of all the toys he chooses often to play with the car's. He dragged a box from our recycle pile into the living room and he loved rolling the car back and forth on top of the box. He would occasionally drop the car and it managed to get inside the box. He would fish it out putting his ear to the ground to get a good look at it and then stick his little arm in as far as it could go and retrieve his wheels. Wheels - he is still pretty funny about his pointer finger. Wade imitates this well. Kent sticks out his index finger all the time to touch or examine something. He'll hold one of his cars in his left hand and then spin a wheel with the index finger of his right hand. Then look up at me to show me what he is doing and how cool this car is! It's fun to play with him and explore things around the house together at his level. 
took a drive to Wade's High school reunion. this was a must stop for along the way. 
We went on a train ride with a twist
we 
Kristi posted all the family pics on 
We know all the songs this music table can provide. One time when calling Wade I got the answering machine and just held the phone up to a familiar tune. It is neat to watch Kent get excited about new toys or items that become toys to him. Certain items in our recycle pile are now a part of our livingroom toys. He has made an oatmeal container a great drum, Water bottles are perfect to make krinkly sounds with and push well along the floor with, the cheerios box is aparently a great ramp for his car. He used to stay with his toys and we could play together on a play mat (blanket on the floor) - now however the entire home is his play mat. Put him down in one spot and next thing you know a sweet head has popped around the corner to see what is going on in the kitchen. It's so fun to see him venture around, he is first to spot any possible thread or crumb and dutifully puts it in his mouth. He is good not to swallow, when intervention is required he allows with some displeasure me scooping it out from his mouth. It's as though he likes to savor his find and then carry on. We get a kick out of the precise use of his index finger and thumb. He rubs and feels things first with his index finger. Textures. Things like clothing, carpet, upholstery, crumbs, shirt collars, buttons. Then if a removable item he picks up and studies it prior to placing it in his mouth. Non removable, like a button he lunges head long with a gaping mouth to complete his exploration. 
Wade and Kent in the parking lot on the beautiful temple grounds. (sorry no pics of the beautiful temple grounds : ) Chad attended on Fri night and then Amy, Wade and I went in the morning while Chad hung out with our children at our hotel. We made the session.... barely! That's 2 for 2 for us having adventures together - last time we went to Winter Quarters Temple and then to the Zoo in Omaha. We all benefited and had a wonderful time serving in the temple, learning and feeling of the sweet spirit there. Checked out of the Marriott and we navigated our way to the Arch. Entering into downtown St. Louis I couldn't believe how many tailgaters we saw! Filling the levels of parkades, tents set up and BBQ Mizzou colours everywhere and some Illinois fans weaving into the crowds. Big college football game. Seeing tailgating is a cultural experience for me. No one tail gated outside the Northlands Coliseum when I grew up, would that be part of the NHL experience if it wasn't ice cold winter time? Well there was a dense crowd of fans gearing up for the game and here we are in the thick of traffic attempting to find parking! Well we did no problem. It was neat to be back here. I had been here once before with my mom and Aunt Jo and Uncle Tom. We came at the time of the Nauvoo temple open house. Only difference is this time we went UP to the TOP of the arch..... 
Eli about to haul up the stairs to Uncle Wade 
Mia, Chad, Amy and Eli
Narrow door to the elevator that seats 5 supposedly in that little time capsule.
Thin warm air, lot's of people, I got a little queasy AND it was SO cool up there! : ) What a view! 
630 feet high in the sky 
