Kansas City

We are now in Kansas City visiting Jason's family. We spent the first few days finishing up Christmas shopping. Debbie and I also baked a bunch of Christmas cookies: chocolate crinkles, spritz, riscottas, oatmeal and butterscotch. Everyone in the family has their favourite so we make them all! We got about four inches of snow our second day here.

Aunt Denise gave Andrew a fun new toy that we have been playing with.


Grandpa with Andrew in his KU outfit.

Here is a video from Arizona of Andrew playing with Oliver. Yes, a bowl and spoon are better than any toy you can buy!

Trip to AZ

We have spent the last week in Arizona with my family (Erin's). We have enjoyed seeing family and friends, having nice weather and eating lots of good food. We've also enjoyed playing with my parent's dogs and cat and my brother's dogs. Andrew loves the cat and pretty much ignores the dogs.

Andrew playing at the park.

Andrew playing with my brother's Great Dane and my parent's cat.

Who knew a bowl could be so much fun?!?

Winter is here!

On Friday Gigi came to visit. We also had our first big snow of the year. It started early in the morning and snowed most of the day. Then overnight it snowed some more. We took Andrew outside Saturday morning to play. He looked so cute in his snowsuit. He wasn’t entirely sure about the cold, white stuff. But we had fun. Then on Saturday night it snowed even more. We walked a mile to church Sunday morning trying to push the buggy through the snow. That is hard work!

Who needs toys? I’ll just play with the basket they are supposed to go in!

Here is Andrew’s Scotland Rugby shirt. His Grandma and Grandpa Maston also got him some KU clothing...which Daddy strongly objects to.

Bonfire and Fireworks

On Saturday night we went to a bonfire and fireworks with our friends Kenny and Judith. The 5th of November is the Guy Fawkes celebration. Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the English Parliament and, as a result, kill the king. Guy was caught and executed. So every year they celebrate the fact that he was captured with a bonfire in which a figure of Guy is burned. There is a joke about whether they are celebrating the fact that he was captured or that he attempted to do away with the government. Either way, it was good fun for us. The bonfire was huge and we enjoyed the warmth it gave. Andrew was not scared by the loud boom of the fireworks. He just watched them and smiled.





This week I made a pumpkin pie from scratch. You can't buy canned pumpkin here so I bought a pumpkin and made my own puree. I was very nervous about making my own crust because it seems really difficult. However, it came out really good. I am savoring every bite!


Daddy and Andrew being funny. It is a laundry basket, not a trash can.

Carving our Pumpkin

On Wednesday we carved a pumpkin with our friend Jude. Andrew is in the stage of grabbing everything within reach. So I figured he would go crazy over the pumpkin. He was actually a little hesitant. After a few minutes, he decided to reach inside. Then he tasted some of the pumpkin. He seemed to like it, cause he kept putting it in his mouth.





Andrew is now sitting up on his own. I usually put a couple of pillows around him because he still takes a dive once in a while. Our hardwood floors aren't so nice to fall on.

I was taking a picture of Andrew in this outfit. Notice the booties: on, off, trying to eat it.

Enjoying Fall

Andrew has learned to roll from his back to front. He all of a sudden started doing it one day and now does it all the time. He will immediately roll onto his belly when we put him in his bed as well. We'll see how long it takes him to figure out how to crawl. He wants to move so badly.

Last week our friends Kevin and Jennifer from Texas came to visit us. We had a wonderful time showing them our favourite places in Scotland and introducing them to our favourite Scottish foods. Jennifer took some pictures of us in the fall leaves.



Trying to keep Andrew from eating them!



Here are some random pics. This first one is of Andrew stuck down in his ring.



Can you see his two teeth?


Rolling back to front.