Our Vacation

So most of you know that Chris and I were supposed to go to Punta Cana, DR for our anniversary. We were supposed to leave Friday, May 13th, but our flight into Chicago got canceled due to weather. We contemplated driving to Chicago, but it would have been after midnight before we arrived, and we would have had to pay for parking. So we called the airline and while se were at the airport we were rescheduled on a flight to Atlanta in the A.M. So we went out to dinner in Ankeny. At the end of dinner, Chris checked our flights, only to discover that our flight was yet again CANCELED!

After contemplating canceling our trip and lots of emotions later, we discovered that our only real chance of making it to the DR on Saturday was to drive to Omaha. So at 9:30 Friday night Chris, Addison, Bob, Marcia and myself drove to Omaha! Chris and I couldn't go by ourselves, because our return flight was through Chicago and we wouldn't have a way to get the truck home. It was around 12:00 when we arrived in Omaha (hindsight - should have driven to Chicago).

Our flight was to leave at 5:40 am so we went to sleep for about two hours then headed out to the airport. After arriving at the airport, we discovered that USAIRWAYS (our original airway) hadn't transferred our tickets to Delta (our new airline). After much back and forth and no one wanting to take blame for the issue at hand, USAIRWAYS discovered that when we almost canceled our trip one of the USAIRWAYS reps entered something wrong, realized this, but neglected to fix it! Too bad they discovered all of this 5 min after our flight left, especially since there was no way to make the flight out of the US that day.

So, we went home, and canceled everything! How disappointing going from first class tickets to the DR to going back home.

Chris and I worked Monday and Tuesday then took off with Addison to camp outside Minneapolis Wednesday night through Satuday morning. We had a great time with our little peanut - swimming, riding bikes, playing in the sand, swimming, and of course mini golf and Shopping!




They said they had "Apple Products" but I don't think it was the same store as the following image...


I think I converted him to be an Apple fan!



Mini Golf! After seven years he finally took me to an actual mini golf course.



I can do it myself! Turning into little miss independent!

Moltzan Wedding

The weekend of May 6-8th we went back to Dyersville for the wedding of my cousin Katie M. to Adam Moltzan. We went home on Friday and went out for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Knepper. Saturday morning we ran some errands. Grandma and Addison played with the baby chicks at Theisens.

Addison kept going straight for the poor chick's neck! She must of thought it was Toby's tail!

After running errands we got ready for the wedding. Adam and Katie's wedding was beautiful and they couldn't have asked for better weather. Chris and Addison had fun playing in the back of church... not sure who ate more cheerios :)

Hanging out with Aunt Sarah before mass

Oooh BUBBLES!

This is my buddy Rachel

Love my daddy

Sitting on Uncle Jamie's lap - Crazy Aunt Kim!

Dancing and singing with my buddies

Beautiful Bulldog Contest

I know a few of you have been waiting for this, sorry it has taken so long to get it posted. I think I'm on the verge of getting a good app for my phone or ipad so that I can update this from there. Lately it seams that the only time I'm really on my computer is when I'm doing design/photography work and when I'm not doing one of these things, I would rather spend time with Addison then be on my computer :)

So here it is. The Monday after Easter, we took Lexi (Alexis Lucile) to the the Drake Beautiful Bulldog contest. She was selected out of 100s of bulldogs to be one of fifty dogs in the contest. I have never experienced so much panting and drooling in one room! Although there were A LOT of cute bulldogs, I'd take my little Lexi Lu's behaviors over some of them :)

Waiting for the festivities to begin...

Later in the afternoon we took miss Addison to the doctor and she had an ear infection... although you can see in this picture she isn't feeling very well, hind sight is 20/20 because she acted very well until we missed lunch time!

Nervous for her judging

Making her final walk - you can see how shy/nervous she is

Last year's winner





This lil bull was deaf



Zelda's Kissing Booth - best costume


Jail Bull

Vinny the runner-up

Lucy - the winner

Happy Easter!

Uncle Joe was able to come visit for Easter. We were glad to have him, along with Grandpa and Grandma Knepper and Grandpa and Grandma Vest join us for brunch at the Zoo!

Putting the flowers from the table in her hair

Petting the baby!

Feeding the billy goat - she wouldn't let go of the food

We have a walker!

Addison has been toying with the idea for a while, but she has been officially WALKING for about a week now! Unless she is in a hurry, she walks everywhere!

The Party!

Saturday, April 9th, we celebrated Addison's first birthday with our extended family. The weather was beautiful and Addison had an awesome day! The day started with mommy struggling to make sure everything was perfect and Mercedes eating 11 of the deviled eggs, but ended with a fun campfire!

Grandpa and Grandma Knepper, Grandpa and Grandma Vest and Katie and Al were all able to come celebrate Addison's special day!

Checking out the cake!

Showing everyone that she knows how to ride her four wheeler.

Riding her new bike with Daddy.

Riding in style in her new wagon!

Enjoying her cake!

Checking out her mess in the mirror!

She wasn't a huge fan of the pulled pork Daddy made :)

Addison and Aunt Katie

We had a wonderful day and the weather was beautiful! Sorry it took so long for me to share all of these pictures! I had to send my computer out for a week! I was lost, but it was nice to be free :)

The Big First Birthday!

ADDISON TURNED ONE! I can't believe how fast the last year has gone! I also can't remember what life was like before Addison. She is my angel and I love her so much! Chris and I wanted her first birthday to be extra special so we took the day off of work and spent it just the three of us.

We started the day by taking Addison's car (Bob and Chris' challenger) to Ankeny Story Time. This was the first time that Chris had been to a story time at one of the libraries with Addison (he doesn't have the pleasure of staying home with her on Fridays like I do!)

After story time we took Addison to the Blank Park Zoo. We had a great time and saw lots of animals. Addison's favorite part was feeding the billy goats! She absolutely loved it! She even climbed out of her stroller to get a closer look. (Chris took some awesome pictures!)

For lunch we went to Gateway Market and I was going to get Addison a piece of my favorite cake, but apparently they aren't making it anymore! so she got a banana bread cupcake instead.

Next up was the Easter Bunny! We went all the way to Jordan Creek to only find out that they didn't have an Easter Bunny, so we went to Pottery Barn Kids for some Easter essentials, then headed to Valley West. In Addison's mind, the Easter Bunny wasn't quite as nice as Santa Clause! She didn't cry but she wasn't going to sit there long. After we saw the Easter Bunny, we played in the play area (Addi's first time, and she loved it).

We had a wonderful day and couldn't imagine spending the day with out her! It was very hard to go to work Thursday!