Escape of the Toad

So with all the humidity and the interesting new climate here for us we have had a fun week Alexis and I. I took Alexis to "General Dollar" (her favorite store next to Petsmart). I must say this is a great reward for getting stickers on her sticker chart. We have gotten a strechy lizard, a pencil case, stuffed animals, plastic kitty toy, etc. We found a great little bug catcher. I love the tools that came with it. One of them was a plastic bubble attached to plastic scissors which has proven very effect in catching quick bugs. We even caught a pretty green and purple butterfly with it. It is super hot and muggy and we could only go outside for a few minutes and even then we were drenched with sweat, but we caught several bugs for the little rectangular bug house. There are definetely more bugs out and about here in Nebraska!

Last night while taking a neighbor home after doing her hair I spotted a little toad hopping across the neighbor's driveway. She grabbed an icecream bucket for me and I brought it home. Alexis was really excited and named it "Froggy". We brought it downstairs to put on the deck. I took the lid off for a second to poke some holes in it before taking the toad outside and boom out jumped Froggy. Alexis and I proceed to chase it around the living room and kitchen for the next 20 minutes. It was behind the fridge, it was behind the tv, it was underneath the sterio speakers.....! You get the picture. We finally got it to hop back into the bucket. I was too afraid to touch it partly because I didn't want to squish it too tight or have it hop out of me hands and fall to it's death. I took the bucket over to the sink to fill it with a touch of water well I guess the tiny opening was to big and out he jumped again right into the other side of the sink under the dishes and strainer! At least the strainer constrained him while I moved some dishes to position the bucket to get him again. I was so worried he was going to jump right down into the disposal hole! I took him -safely in the bucket again- straight outside! Today Alexis and I let him out on the grass for a bit of an adventure then put him back into his bucket with a few bugs and a moth. I told her that she could keep him for maybe one more day then we needed to set him free.

For a little toad he sent us on quite the adventure!

Fireflies, Tornadoes, Humidity!

I just wanted to post about the fireflies I saw tonight. I had heard that Nebraska had them and hadn't ever seen one until now! I just walked downstairs to close my blinds for the night and off our deck I saw tons of little sparkling lights lighting up the cornfield and grass behind our house. At first I was trying to figure out what it was then I realized it has to be the fireflies! I would try to get a movie but I don't think night shot would pick it up. It is really neat to see! As I looked and pondered the creation of such an interesting bug I was amazed at how even the smallest creation of our Heavenly Father is such a miracle.

The other things that are new to us being in Nebraska are the tornadoes and the humidity. So far we have had one real tornado warning. It looks like we could have another one tonight. I was just outside trying to get footage of the fireflies when my neighbor came out on his back porch to look at the sky. He said that he used to live in Grand Island and was there when the big tornado spree hit that they based the film "Night of the Twisters" off of. He said that there is a tornado that has touched down just south of here. If we hear the sirens go off I will have to get Alexis out of bed and head downstairs to and wait by the stairwell till the warning passes. Too bad we don't have a basement! The humidity has definitely been felt so far too. Especially the last two days.

Disappointing movie! You can't see any of the fireflies on the movie after I took a half an hour to upload it. I thought I would keep it on here for those interested in hearing the bugs, trains, and birds. Sorry you can't see the fireflies!

Corn, Updates, Funnies!

It is kind of fun for us to see all the pretty farms out here in Nebraska. We have a field right behind our apartment and our deck looks out over it. The other day we got really excited to see that a big tractor was out planting. Now there is a beautiful field of corn that gets bigger everyday. It seems that although the small town lifestyle moves at a snails pace our lives are busier than ever. Shaun's new church calling keeps him pretty busy and mine as well. In addition there seems to always be service to do for both of us.

Alexis has been fun to play with lately. We have been playing legos alot. We also have been playing animals, dolls, and the Barbie fun cash register. For Family Home Evening we took Alexis to the movie "UP" . It was really cute. She thought some parts were scary with the bad guy. When I asked her if she wanted to go to the theatre she said "169". She rates things on number scales only her scale isn't just the standard 1-10 scale. Another funny thing she said this last week was when we were eating dinner. Shaun told Alexis she had to have 3 more bites of her sandwhich before she could have more applesauce (she would just opt to have only applesauce for dinner). She said "Dad, I'm just not loving that idea". Today I made an "Orange Julius" drink in the blender for her. Alexis said with a surprised voice "Mom I didn't know you knew how to make an orange juliest that's so cool!"

It is wierd to think that we are going to have another baby soon. We are really excited to see how this little girl will be differen't from Alexis. I thought Alexis moved alot while I was pregnant and this baby seems to move just as much and maybe more! That worries me a bit because Alexis was a super active baby. I am hoping for at least a semi-cuddler baby. I suppose a balance between one that likes to run around and one that likes to be held would be the best.

Other than preparing for a new baby and serving in the Branch we have been looking at houses. We have narrowed the search down to 3 houses and have made our decision on one of them. I will post more new as that begins to develop further.

Digital Scrapbook Pages

I thought I would put up some digital scrapbook pages that I've done. It has become one of my favorite hobbies since introduced to me from a couple of my friends.

Refreshed!

I just got back from a 3 week vacation. Alexis and I flew to Utah to visit family. It was really fun to see 3 new babies. After staying 2 weeks we flew to Rapid City South Dakota and met Shaun for a vacation! It was such a fun place to visit and Alexis was at a great age to be able to hike and enjoy the National Parks and Monuments with us. So Fun!!