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Dec 28, 2008 - Sun:
Heidi
Christmas with my family (the Elliots) was great. Christian and Nina hosted us this year, which means this was the first year we didn't have Christmas at my parents' house. The entire family and Mud's girlfriend Amanda spent the 24th-26th at Christian and Nina's. We had a blast playing games, wii (Amanda got wii Fit for Christmas), watching movies, and eating lots of great food! We had a family day at their fitness/wellness studio on Christmas Eve where I got to spend an hour in their sauna...delightful! The boys beat the girls at Taboo (boo!), we made Mii characters on the wii for everyone in the family (it's amazing how exact you can be with those characters!) and we spent tons of time watching miss Naomi dance to any music that happened to play.
Christmas day was really special. We had breakfast before opening stockings. In my family we take turns opening gifts so we can all see what everyone gets. It can take awhile with now 11 of us, but it makes the day go by slower. Joey and I decided to give our gifts with a little twist this year. We gave everyone gift cards but in order to receive the gift card they had to decipher which store/place their gift card was to using a sort of Mad Gab game we made up. For example, my brother had cards with the words "eh mush honda aught come" on them. He had to put them in order to get Amazon.com. It made for a fun game (at least we thought it was fun!).
Joey's birthday was the day after Christmas so we celebrated with a Super Hero themed birthday brunch. He had a donut cake and then the boys all played video games together. The family went to Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner and then spent the night relaxing.
We made the 10 hour drive out to Indiana yesterday, arriving a little past midnight, and as I type this Joey is behind me playing Rock Band (drums) with his brother Jamie on vocals and Dallas (a sort of adopted family member) on guitar! We will have our Heth family Christmas tomorrow!
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Christmas with my family (the Elliots) was great. Christian and Nina hosted us this year, which means this was the first year we didn't have Christmas at my parents' house. The entire family and Mud's girlfriend Amanda spent the 24th-26th at Christian and Nina's. We had a blast playing games, wii (Amanda got wii Fit for Christmas), watching movies, and eating lots of great food! We had a family day at their fitness/wellness studio on Christmas Eve where I got to spend an hour in their sauna...delightful! The boys beat the girls at Taboo (boo!), we made Mii characters on the wii for everyone in the family (it's amazing how exact you can be with those characters!) and we spent tons of time watching miss Naomi dance to any music that happened to play.
Christmas day was really special. We had breakfast before opening stockings. In my family we take turns opening gifts so we can all see what everyone gets. It can take awhile with now 11 of us, but it makes the day go by slower. Joey and I decided to give our gifts with a little twist this year. We gave everyone gift cards but in order to receive the gift card they had to decipher which store/place their gift card was to using a sort of Mad Gab game we made up. For example, my brother had cards with the words "eh mush honda aught come" on them. He had to put them in order to get Amazon.com. It made for a fun game (at least we thought it was fun!).
Joey's birthday was the day after Christmas so we celebrated with a Super Hero themed birthday brunch. He had a donut cake and then the boys all played video games together. The family went to Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner and then spent the night relaxing.
We made the 10 hour drive out to Indiana yesterday, arriving a little past midnight, and as I type this Joey is behind me playing Rock Band (drums) with his brother Jamie on vocals and Dallas (a sort of adopted family member) on guitar! We will have our Heth family Christmas tomorrow!
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Dec 18, 2008 - Thu:
Heidi
I had such a great surprise today! Two of my college girls (both used to be in the youth group), Dominique and Christine, surprised me (with a little help from Joe) by showing up at our house to hang out for the afternoon. I kind of wondered what possessed Joey to start cleaning last night before we went to bed. Now I know. It was so sweet of the girls to come visit. Well, it was actually funny at first because they went to the wrong building and were banging on someone else's door. They finally called to find out where I was and then quickly realized they were yelling at the wrong house! The girls got a quick workout playing some Olympics on the wii, and then the three of us went to Panera to pick up lunch. We brought lunch back to our house so we could all eat with Joe. After that we played Scattergories, which happens to be one of my favorites, and then the girls had to go. It was a great afternoon, and I am thankful for those two crazy girls!
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I had such a great surprise today! Two of my college girls (both used to be in the youth group), Dominique and Christine, surprised me (with a little help from Joe) by showing up at our house to hang out for the afternoon. I kind of wondered what possessed Joey to start cleaning last night before we went to bed. Now I know. It was so sweet of the girls to come visit. Well, it was actually funny at first because they went to the wrong building and were banging on someone else's door. They finally called to find out where I was and then quickly realized they were yelling at the wrong house! The girls got a quick workout playing some Olympics on the wii, and then the three of us went to Panera to pick up lunch. We brought lunch back to our house so we could all eat with Joe. After that we played Scattergories, which happens to be one of my favorites, and then the girls had to go. It was a great afternoon, and I am thankful for those two crazy girls!
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Dec 14, 2008 - Sun:
Joe
You can now subscribe to the joeyandheidi.com RSS feed! We have had several requests to provide our updates in RSS format and we (I) have answered that call. We will also be adding Titles to each entry to make things more (or less) interesting. Enjoy!
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You can now subscribe to the joeyandheidi.com RSS feed! We have had several requests to provide our updates in RSS format and we (I) have answered that call. We will also be adding Titles to each entry to make things more (or less) interesting. Enjoy!
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Dec 08, 2008 - Mon:
Heidi
Joey and I had a date in DC this week! We got to go to the National Christmas Tree lighting this year. It was really neat to see the President and Mrs. Bush and all the singers and performers in person. The tree is beautiful and is surrounded by lots of smaller trees representing each state or U.S. territory. We ended up sitting right next to the tree. To our left was the tree with the White House lit up behind it, and to our right was the Washington Monument.
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Joey and I had a date in DC this week! We got to go to the National Christmas Tree lighting this year. It was really neat to see the President and Mrs. Bush and all the singers and performers in person. The tree is beautiful and is surrounded by lots of smaller trees representing each state or U.S. territory. We ended up sitting right next to the tree. To our left was the tree with the White House lit up behind it, and to our right was the Washington Monument.
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Nov 26, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
I was invited to hike Old Rag with a group of high school seniors on Monday. Joey and I have talked about hiking Old Rag a couple of times but haven't been able to do it yet, so I was excited for the opportunity! There were ten teens, me and one parent/mom/family friend. The hike is generally supposed to be a 5-6 hour hike, but somehow we managed to do it in 4.4 hours including about 20 minutes for lunch. Geesh! The weather was dreary but it only started raining at about the last ten minutes of the hike. It was a great hike, definitely tiring at times, but worth the trip.
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I was invited to hike Old Rag with a group of high school seniors on Monday. Joey and I have talked about hiking Old Rag a couple of times but haven't been able to do it yet, so I was excited for the opportunity! There were ten teens, me and one parent/mom/family friend. The hike is generally supposed to be a 5-6 hour hike, but somehow we managed to do it in 4.4 hours including about 20 minutes for lunch. Geesh! The weather was dreary but it only started raining at about the last ten minutes of the hike. It was a great hike, definitely tiring at times, but worth the trip.
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Nov 20, 2008 - Thu:
Heidi
It's almost Thanksgiving so I wanted to get our site updated for the new season! Before I know it it will be time to do my winter/Christmas theme.
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It's almost Thanksgiving so I wanted to get our site updated for the new season! Before I know it it will be time to do my winter/Christmas theme.
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Nov 19, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
We're home from our cruise but I think mentally I'm still on the ship. We had an awesome time in the warmth and sun of the caribbean and were not prepared for the 30 degree weather that greeted us when we got off the plane. Bluh!
Our vacation began in Tampa with a birthday celebration for my grandpa who turned 90. Everyone (sans 1) from my dad's side of the family was there which made for a combination family reunion and birthday party. We had such a great time playing games, eating great catered food (all from The Brunchery, of course!), karaoke-ing, hanging at the beach, playing volleyball and catching up with everyone. I realized on this trip that there were some relatives I hadn't seen in over ten years and others I hadn't had the privilege of even meeting yet. It was such a great trip for me. Growing up I had always wished our family lived closer to relatives. Oh, and I have to give a shout out to the crazy girls, Sasha, Ashley and Natasha!
You can view some of the photos my brother took of everyone in Florida here.
Then on Sunday (Nov. 9) after almost having a panic attack, Christian, Nina, Naomi, Joey and I made it onto our cruise ship...we almost missed it. We were praising the Lord that a busload coming from the airport was late for which Royal Caribbean was holding the ship or we wouldn't have been able to get on, or so we were told. Way too close for comfort. I think I'd say it took us until after dinner to finally feel like our heart rate had returned back to normal.
For the most part the weather was perfect. There were a couple days of high winds and rain, but there are always plenty of indoor activities to keep everyone happy. Our cruise was filled with lots of time in the sun by the pool, eating, rock climbing, playing putt-putt, eating, watching Broadway-like shows, dodgeball tournaments, taking pictures, playing shuffle board, listening to the ocean, shopping, more eating...and, oh yeah, wandering around the beautiful beaches of St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We actually weren't able to get off at the Bahamas because the winds were too strong for the tender boats. We couldn't complain though, because it just meant we spent more time on the ship! One cool thing I got to do on the cruise was get a pampering massage in the ship's spa! I had never had a massage before so it was a very relaxing treat.
We'll post more pictures soon but I wanted to at least get a couple up. The first picture is on the beach in St. Maarten. The second photo is all of us by the pool on the ship.
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We're home from our cruise but I think mentally I'm still on the ship. We had an awesome time in the warmth and sun of the caribbean and were not prepared for the 30 degree weather that greeted us when we got off the plane. Bluh!
Our vacation began in Tampa with a birthday celebration for my grandpa who turned 90. Everyone (sans 1) from my dad's side of the family was there which made for a combination family reunion and birthday party. We had such a great time playing games, eating great catered food (all from The Brunchery, of course!), karaoke-ing, hanging at the beach, playing volleyball and catching up with everyone. I realized on this trip that there were some relatives I hadn't seen in over ten years and others I hadn't had the privilege of even meeting yet. It was such a great trip for me. Growing up I had always wished our family lived closer to relatives. Oh, and I have to give a shout out to the crazy girls, Sasha, Ashley and Natasha!
You can view some of the photos my brother took of everyone in Florida here.
Then on Sunday (Nov. 9) after almost having a panic attack, Christian, Nina, Naomi, Joey and I made it onto our cruise ship...we almost missed it. We were praising the Lord that a busload coming from the airport was late for which Royal Caribbean was holding the ship or we wouldn't have been able to get on, or so we were told. Way too close for comfort. I think I'd say it took us until after dinner to finally feel like our heart rate had returned back to normal.
For the most part the weather was perfect. There were a couple days of high winds and rain, but there are always plenty of indoor activities to keep everyone happy. Our cruise was filled with lots of time in the sun by the pool, eating, rock climbing, playing putt-putt, eating, watching Broadway-like shows, dodgeball tournaments, taking pictures, playing shuffle board, listening to the ocean, shopping, more eating...and, oh yeah, wandering around the beautiful beaches of St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We actually weren't able to get off at the Bahamas because the winds were too strong for the tender boats. We couldn't complain though, because it just meant we spent more time on the ship! One cool thing I got to do on the cruise was get a pampering massage in the ship's spa! I had never had a massage before so it was a very relaxing treat.
We'll post more pictures soon but I wanted to at least get a couple up. The first picture is on the beach in St. Maarten. The second photo is all of us by the pool on the ship.
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Nov 04, 2008 - Tue:
Heidi
We're leaving for our cruise tomorrow! ...well, in a roundabout way. How do you spell roundabout, by the way? I guess if I was British it might be a more commonly used phrase in my every day language and I wouldn't have any problem spelling it, but alas.
Back to the cruise. We leave tomorrow for Tampa, FL, where we'll be spending about 4 days with my dad's side of the family. The big event which has turned into a family reunion of sorts is for my grandpa's 90th birthday. Wow, 90 years.
We'll be in Tampa having a blast with the crazy Elliot side of my family until Sunday, and then we drive to Cape Canaveral with Christian, Nina and little miss Naomi for our Eastern Caribbean cruise! I'm so excited despite the fact that I don't actually like the traveling part of traveling. Not sure how that works but nonetheless I love the destination.
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We're leaving for our cruise tomorrow! ...well, in a roundabout way. How do you spell roundabout, by the way? I guess if I was British it might be a more commonly used phrase in my every day language and I wouldn't have any problem spelling it, but alas.
Back to the cruise. We leave tomorrow for Tampa, FL, where we'll be spending about 4 days with my dad's side of the family. The big event which has turned into a family reunion of sorts is for my grandpa's 90th birthday. Wow, 90 years.
We'll be in Tampa having a blast with the crazy Elliot side of my family until Sunday, and then we drive to Cape Canaveral with Christian, Nina and little miss Naomi for our Eastern Caribbean cruise! I'm so excited despite the fact that I don't actually like the traveling part of traveling. Not sure how that works but nonetheless I love the destination.
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Oct 21, 2008 - Tue:
Heidi
My precious little niece (Munchie) is getting so big. I got to spend much of the weekend with her while Joey was away with the boys on their bike ride. She gives great hugs and has the perfect pucker for a kiss. She loves saying "Hi" no matter how near or far away you are. Nina and I were in Gap trying on clothes (our dressing rooms were about 5 apart), and Naomi kept yelling "Hi" as Nina and I were trying to talk to each other. So sweet.
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My precious little niece (Munchie) is getting so big. I got to spend much of the weekend with her while Joey was away with the boys on their bike ride. She gives great hugs and has the perfect pucker for a kiss. She loves saying "Hi" no matter how near or far away you are. Nina and I were in Gap trying on clothes (our dressing rooms were about 5 apart), and Naomi kept yelling "Hi" as Nina and I were trying to talk to each other. So sweet.
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Oct 20, 2008 - Mon:
Joe
I had to write and let people know about the bike ride I had on Saturday. My father-in-law had the grandeous idea of biking from DC (Georgetown) to Harpers Ferry, WV in one day. The ride is 60 miles along the C&O Canal. I'd have to say it was the worst thing I've ever done in my life. First, the path is made of dirt and gravel, which means if you stop pedaling, you stop moving. It's not your usual paved bike path where you can get momentum and coast a while. It's also a slight incline the entire way... again no time to rest.
I don't ride a bike very often, so I'm proud that I was able to do 60+ miles in one day. However, the pain and agony that came from those 60 miles is still felt today. I am very glad I finished the ride, but not entirely sure I'm glad I did the ride. I definitely know that is something I will never do again. Word to the wise. If you ever bike long distances, buy the special pants that has a built in butt pad, otherwise you'll hate your life for a few days.
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I had to write and let people know about the bike ride I had on Saturday. My father-in-law had the grandeous idea of biking from DC (Georgetown) to Harpers Ferry, WV in one day. The ride is 60 miles along the C&O Canal. I'd have to say it was the worst thing I've ever done in my life. First, the path is made of dirt and gravel, which means if you stop pedaling, you stop moving. It's not your usual paved bike path where you can get momentum and coast a while. It's also a slight incline the entire way... again no time to rest.
I don't ride a bike very often, so I'm proud that I was able to do 60+ miles in one day. However, the pain and agony that came from those 60 miles is still felt today. I am very glad I finished the ride, but not entirely sure I'm glad I did the ride. I definitely know that is something I will never do again. Word to the wise. If you ever bike long distances, buy the special pants that has a built in butt pad, otherwise you'll hate your life for a few days.
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Aug 25, 2008 - Mon:
Heidi
Well, I had my first camping experience this past weekend and loved it! I didn't grow up in a very outdoor-sie family...umm, I take that back. My dad loves being outside but my mom's idea of camping is staying in a four-star hotel and going shopping. Mom doesn't like "critters", so you can imagine any time there was talk of camping, mom's nose curled and her face said, "No thanks."
Two friends of ours, James and Katie, who just got married in July invited us for a camping trip so they could use the camping equipment they got as wedding gifts. We met them in New Market, VA and spent Saturday and Sunday in the Shenandoah Valley. We took about an hour long hike, gathered and cut wood, made hot dogs, baked beans and cinnamon graham cracker (by accident!) smores over our roaring camp fire, and sat around talking for hours. We had a great time and the weather was perfect! This photo was the view we stumbled upon on our hike.
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Well, I had my first camping experience this past weekend and loved it! I didn't grow up in a very outdoor-sie family...umm, I take that back. My dad loves being outside but my mom's idea of camping is staying in a four-star hotel and going shopping. Mom doesn't like "critters", so you can imagine any time there was talk of camping, mom's nose curled and her face said, "No thanks."
Two friends of ours, James and Katie, who just got married in July invited us for a camping trip so they could use the camping equipment they got as wedding gifts. We met them in New Market, VA and spent Saturday and Sunday in the Shenandoah Valley. We took about an hour long hike, gathered and cut wood, made hot dogs, baked beans and cinnamon graham cracker (by accident!) smores over our roaring camp fire, and sat around talking for hours. We had a great time and the weather was perfect! This photo was the view we stumbled upon on our hike.
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Aug 21, 2008 - Thu:
Heidi
I told Joe he needed to add this update but alas, he has not done so, so I will!
On Friday, August 15 Joe was baptized along with 13 of the teens from our youth group!
It was such a neat experience. A lot of people are surprised when they hear that Joe hadn't been baptized before. It is something he has thought about for years and had talked about having his dad do, but when the opportunity presented itself a couple of weeks ago, he decided it was time. So, on Friday night about 50 people showed up at a church family's home to witness 14 baptisms. Each teen (and Joe) stood to give about a five minute testimony as to why they were making the decision to be baptized, and then entered the pool to be baptized by our youth pastor. There were some very moving testimonies and your heart breaks for what some of these young teens have experienced or are experiencing at such an early age. It was a special evening.
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I told Joe he needed to add this update but alas, he has not done so, so I will!
On Friday, August 15 Joe was baptized along with 13 of the teens from our youth group!
It was such a neat experience. A lot of people are surprised when they hear that Joe hadn't been baptized before. It is something he has thought about for years and had talked about having his dad do, but when the opportunity presented itself a couple of weeks ago, he decided it was time. So, on Friday night about 50 people showed up at a church family's home to witness 14 baptisms. Each teen (and Joe) stood to give about a five minute testimony as to why they were making the decision to be baptized, and then entered the pool to be baptized by our youth pastor. There were some very moving testimonies and your heart breaks for what some of these young teens have experienced or are experiencing at such an early age. It was a special evening.
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Aug 09, 2008 - Sat:
Joe
I finished my first full week working for Sentry from home. It has been great working for them and working from home! The people there are great and the work is very challenging. I don't miss sitting in traffic and I like walking to the kitchen for lunch. Heidi has had to pull me away from work most evenings, but I consider that a good thing. The change I had been looking for has turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for. I still have a lot to learn about the health care industry and the software I'm working with, but that's the fun part.
Heidi took this picture on my first day of work. No dress code required!
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I finished my first full week working for Sentry from home. It has been great working for them and working from home! The people there are great and the work is very challenging. I don't miss sitting in traffic and I like walking to the kitchen for lunch. Heidi has had to pull me away from work most evenings, but I consider that a good thing. The change I had been looking for has turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for. I still have a lot to learn about the health care industry and the software I'm working with, but that's the fun part.
Heidi took this picture on my first day of work. No dress code required!
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Jul 22, 2008 - Tue:
Heidi
I figured I would write a quick update before we leave for our trip tomorrow. We are heading to Michigan to spend time with Joe's family at their family cabin. It will be nice to be away for awhile.
Interesting story from today! I ran to Whole Foods to get food for our trip and when I walked in things just seemed a little different. At our Whole Foods when you walk in the first thing you come to is the produce section, so I naturally start there. I'm walking around and I notice there are an unusual amount of people loitering around the produce at 2:00 on a Tuesday. I sort of glance around a bit and notice all the unusual people are even more unusually wearing headsets and walkies on their belt. Now remember I'm in the produce section trying to find my fruits and veggies surrounded by all these people obviously not searching for their fruits and veggies. I look a little more and realize there are cameras following a couple of people. My first thought is a local news station is doing another story on the rising food costs, blah blah. After I grab my peaches, I look a little longer at who is actually creating this frenzy and realize "Oh, it's Emeril Legace."
The rest of my shopping trip was very uneventful as I had expected it to be in the first place, but it made for an interesting story!
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I figured I would write a quick update before we leave for our trip tomorrow. We are heading to Michigan to spend time with Joe's family at their family cabin. It will be nice to be away for awhile.
Interesting story from today! I ran to Whole Foods to get food for our trip and when I walked in things just seemed a little different. At our Whole Foods when you walk in the first thing you come to is the produce section, so I naturally start there. I'm walking around and I notice there are an unusual amount of people loitering around the produce at 2:00 on a Tuesday. I sort of glance around a bit and notice all the unusual people are even more unusually wearing headsets and walkies on their belt. Now remember I'm in the produce section trying to find my fruits and veggies surrounded by all these people obviously not searching for their fruits and veggies. I look a little more and realize there are cameras following a couple of people. My first thought is a local news station is doing another story on the rising food costs, blah blah. After I grab my peaches, I look a little longer at who is actually creating this frenzy and realize "Oh, it's Emeril Legace."
The rest of my shopping trip was very uneventful as I had expected it to be in the first place, but it made for an interesting story!
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Jul 13, 2008 - Sun:
Joe
I just made a few updates to the site. I added a new Blog History section on the right where you can select the year and/or month that you're interested in. I also added group titles to our photos. Now you can navigate to specific pictures without paging all the time.
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I just made a few updates to the site. I added a new Blog History section on the right where you can select the year and/or month that you're interested in. I also added group titles to our photos. Now you can navigate to specific pictures without paging all the time.
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Jul 09, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
As some of you may already know, after five years Joe has decided to leave his job at Boeing. The past few months Joey has really been examining his work and trying to figure out what he really wants out of a job. That led to his decision to try something on the complete opposite end of the government contracting spectrum and move to the commercial world.
For the past five years a fellow Taylor grad has been faithful to call every year for his annual attempt to recruit Joe. Each year we just sort of laughed it off but when John made his call earlier this year, Joey was ripe for the picking.
Joe began seriously considering the job offer with Sentry Data Systems and after a flight down to Florida in June, he was pumped about the idea of switching to a small, dynamic commercial company with about 90% of developers also being Taylor grads.
The thing that was weighing on both Joey and I before the trip was that neither of us felt a strong pull to move to Florida. We feel sort of locked into Northern Virginia because of our condo, so it was very intimidating for us thinking of moving and trying to either rent or sell our place (not to mention Heidi's family would have disowned us!). Thankfully, with Joey's line of work and the ability to work remotely, Joe will be able to work from home. He is really excited about losing the 1-2 hour commute he has each day, and he is already making plans for how to set up the second bedroom as his office! It will be interesting with both of us working from home, but we think it will be nice! PLUS, it will give me more access to the car since we've been operating on one car ever since we got married. So, as of August 1 Joe will no longer be a Boeing employee but a Sentry employee.
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As some of you may already know, after five years Joe has decided to leave his job at Boeing. The past few months Joey has really been examining his work and trying to figure out what he really wants out of a job. That led to his decision to try something on the complete opposite end of the government contracting spectrum and move to the commercial world.
For the past five years a fellow Taylor grad has been faithful to call every year for his annual attempt to recruit Joe. Each year we just sort of laughed it off but when John made his call earlier this year, Joey was ripe for the picking.
Joe began seriously considering the job offer with Sentry Data Systems and after a flight down to Florida in June, he was pumped about the idea of switching to a small, dynamic commercial company with about 90% of developers also being Taylor grads.
The thing that was weighing on both Joey and I before the trip was that neither of us felt a strong pull to move to Florida. We feel sort of locked into Northern Virginia because of our condo, so it was very intimidating for us thinking of moving and trying to either rent or sell our place (not to mention Heidi's family would have disowned us!). Thankfully, with Joey's line of work and the ability to work remotely, Joe will be able to work from home. He is really excited about losing the 1-2 hour commute he has each day, and he is already making plans for how to set up the second bedroom as his office! It will be interesting with both of us working from home, but we think it will be nice! PLUS, it will give me more access to the car since we've been operating on one car ever since we got married. So, as of August 1 Joe will no longer be a Boeing employee but a Sentry employee.
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Jul 09, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
NEW PICTURES! 4th of July and Father's Day bike ride photos posted
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NEW PICTURES! 4th of July and Father's Day bike ride photos posted
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Jul 07, 2008 - Mon:
Heidi
We had a relaxing and somewhat uneventful 4th of July. Joe and I ended up staying with my brother and sister-in-law and favorite niece for a couple nights to help them out with babysitting. We never mind watching Naomi and getting to spoil her. The family came over to Christian and Nina's for burgers and swimming until it rained, and then some of us watched a movie and others slept, including Joey who fell asleep on the floor and would wake up from time to time with Naomi sitting on his chest. We didn't get to watch fireworks on the 4th but tonight while Joey and I were on a walk, someone was shooting fireworks off near our house so we did get to see some afterall!
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We had a relaxing and somewhat uneventful 4th of July. Joe and I ended up staying with my brother and sister-in-law and favorite niece for a couple nights to help them out with babysitting. We never mind watching Naomi and getting to spoil her. The family came over to Christian and Nina's for burgers and swimming until it rained, and then some of us watched a movie and others slept, including Joey who fell asleep on the floor and would wake up from time to time with Naomi sitting on his chest. We didn't get to watch fireworks on the 4th but tonight while Joey and I were on a walk, someone was shooting fireworks off near our house so we did get to see some afterall!
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Jun 16, 2008 - Mon:
Heidi
We had a really good day yesterday celebrating Father's Day with my family. The weather was perfect. We surprised my dad with a family bike ride (which I think he asks for each year) and one of those little carriers to take Naomi along with us! Naomi wasn't too sure about the carrier but once she was buckled in she seemed to enjoy the ride (until we took her out and went to put her back in again!). We stopped halfway to enjoy some watermelon along the trail and then rode to Chipotle for a burrito dinner outside. After dinner we went back to my parents' place for a swim and then some great desserts (strawberry shortcakes, key lime cheesecake and ice cream) and presents. Heather read a blessing for the men in our family and then each of us girls took a turn praying over the 'man' in our life. It was a good Father's Day. We'll post some pics soon!
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We had a really good day yesterday celebrating Father's Day with my family. The weather was perfect. We surprised my dad with a family bike ride (which I think he asks for each year) and one of those little carriers to take Naomi along with us! Naomi wasn't too sure about the carrier but once she was buckled in she seemed to enjoy the ride (until we took her out and went to put her back in again!). We stopped halfway to enjoy some watermelon along the trail and then rode to Chipotle for a burrito dinner outside. After dinner we went back to my parents' place for a swim and then some great desserts (strawberry shortcakes, key lime cheesecake and ice cream) and presents. Heather read a blessing for the men in our family and then each of us girls took a turn praying over the 'man' in our life. It was a good Father's Day. We'll post some pics soon!
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Mar 05, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
Sunday was miss Naomi's 1st birthday! We can't believe she's already a year old. Naomi was as adorable as ever with her petite little self, her three teeth and her barely-there blonde hair sticking straight up with a mini pink barrette.
Because Christian and Naomi's birthdays are only three days apart we celebrated them together. We did the "grown up" birthday at Dave N Busters where I think we all turn into kids again. I think all our competitive sides came out at the air hockey tables. And, of course, our trip to Dave N Busters wouldn't be complete without the whole Elliot crew taking over all eight of the road racing machines to see which of us could beat all the others. I don't even remember who won though! Mud, maybe?
We all ended up back at Christian and Nina's apartment for great finger foods, dessert and to open presents. Naomi out-scored Christian in the gift department about 5 to 1!
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Sunday was miss Naomi's 1st birthday! We can't believe she's already a year old. Naomi was as adorable as ever with her petite little self, her three teeth and her barely-there blonde hair sticking straight up with a mini pink barrette.
Because Christian and Naomi's birthdays are only three days apart we celebrated them together. We did the "grown up" birthday at Dave N Busters where I think we all turn into kids again. I think all our competitive sides came out at the air hockey tables. And, of course, our trip to Dave N Busters wouldn't be complete without the whole Elliot crew taking over all eight of the road racing machines to see which of us could beat all the others. I don't even remember who won though! Mud, maybe?
We all ended up back at Christian and Nina's apartment for great finger foods, dessert and to open presents. Naomi out-scored Christian in the gift department about 5 to 1!
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Feb 20, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
This past weekend we had the huge privilege of hanging out with a great group of teens at the winter retreat. We had such a good weekend that it made it really hard to go back to work and the busy-ness of adult life.
We left on Friday and of course my "luck" with youth group bus rides continued! We were making such great time getting to Pennsylvania that it was going to be the first time arriving at the camp during daylight. We were pretty excited about that until we reached the hill about a mile away from camp. Normally a hill would not pose a problem for a bus but an icy, untreated hill was another story. We knew almost immediately when the bus driver began his decent to the bottom of the hill that we wouldn't be making it back up at the speed we were going. We were right. After multiple back ups and retries, we told all the kids on our bus to play sardines...every body move to the back of the bus. The kids are always up for an adventure!
With all 50 of us crammed into the back of the bus, we begin our fourth attempt. Again, it was a no go. With two buses behind us (we were 1 of 3 buses) unable to reverse because of the ice behind us, we couldn't back up enough to get good speed built up to make it up the hill. Throw into the mix a transmission that is very close to overheating after our numerous attempts. We decide to try unloading our kids out in the cold with two other buses watching on, and see if the bus can make it without the weight. Again, so close.
After messing with the rear axels (that's what I was told!) and a local truck laying some gravel, we finally load our kids back on the bus. I've lost count of how many previous attempts we had but after about two more our bus finally peaks over the hill and we are on the final stretch to camp. So much for being early and unloading in the daylight! But it always makes for a great adventure and bonding with our teens!
The rest of the retreat went smoothly and when I say "smoothly" I mean slippery as we all slipped and slided walking around camp with the melted ice and fresh snowfall. It made things quite interesting and I have to thank many guys for allowing me to hold onto their arms so I wouldn't fall! Thank you!
Some of my highlights included tubing for hours; playing "camp crush" with the teens; bowling a 129; meeting and hanging with Shelby and Rachel Abbott; connecting my girls with "the band" and making their dream come true; visiting Scranton and standing where the cast of "The Office" filmed; spending time with so many awesome teens. I dedicate my retreat to Micah and Morgan!
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This past weekend we had the huge privilege of hanging out with a great group of teens at the winter retreat. We had such a good weekend that it made it really hard to go back to work and the busy-ness of adult life.
We left on Friday and of course my "luck" with youth group bus rides continued! We were making such great time getting to Pennsylvania that it was going to be the first time arriving at the camp during daylight. We were pretty excited about that until we reached the hill about a mile away from camp. Normally a hill would not pose a problem for a bus but an icy, untreated hill was another story. We knew almost immediately when the bus driver began his decent to the bottom of the hill that we wouldn't be making it back up at the speed we were going. We were right. After multiple back ups and retries, we told all the kids on our bus to play sardines...every body move to the back of the bus. The kids are always up for an adventure!
With all 50 of us crammed into the back of the bus, we begin our fourth attempt. Again, it was a no go. With two buses behind us (we were 1 of 3 buses) unable to reverse because of the ice behind us, we couldn't back up enough to get good speed built up to make it up the hill. Throw into the mix a transmission that is very close to overheating after our numerous attempts. We decide to try unloading our kids out in the cold with two other buses watching on, and see if the bus can make it without the weight. Again, so close.
After messing with the rear axels (that's what I was told!) and a local truck laying some gravel, we finally load our kids back on the bus. I've lost count of how many previous attempts we had but after about two more our bus finally peaks over the hill and we are on the final stretch to camp. So much for being early and unloading in the daylight! But it always makes for a great adventure and bonding with our teens!
The rest of the retreat went smoothly and when I say "smoothly" I mean slippery as we all slipped and slided walking around camp with the melted ice and fresh snowfall. It made things quite interesting and I have to thank many guys for allowing me to hold onto their arms so I wouldn't fall! Thank you!
Some of my highlights included tubing for hours; playing "camp crush" with the teens; bowling a 129; meeting and hanging with Shelby and Rachel Abbott; connecting my girls with "the band" and making their dream come true; visiting Scranton and standing where the cast of "The Office" filmed; spending time with so many awesome teens. I dedicate my retreat to Micah and Morgan!
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Feb 19, 2008 - Tue:
Heidi
Our Valentine's : As some of you know Joey loves food and loves to eat...but he also loves greasy, fried foods that I RARELY let him eat! So, for Valentine's Day I decided it would be the perfect time to fill his belly with all his favorite foods he often asks for and rarely gets! My sneaky plan was to hopefully discourage these food choices after a day of junk!
I woke up before Joe (6am) to run to McDonalds and the grocery store before taking him to work. When I picked him up he had TWO sausage, egg and cheese biscuits and TWO donuts waiting on his seat in the car. He ate his sandwiches on the drive to work and then informed me he would save the donuts for his mid-morning snack. I picked him up from work around 6:00 and dropped him off at home while I ran my last errand. I went to Chili's to get the boneless buffalo wings he likes and the Awesome Blossom which Chili's apparently doesn't carry anymore even though it's on all their menus. Anyway, after waiting almost an hour for my to-go order, the manager comped my food and I got out of there with free food! I had also put together a meat, cheese and cracker tray earlier in the day that consisted of (gross) salomi, pepparoni and summer sausage. He had root beer to drink and cheesecake for dessert while we watched Lost together. I don't think I've ever heard "You're the best wife ever" so many times in one day! The boy loves his food!
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Our Valentine's : As some of you know Joey loves food and loves to eat...but he also loves greasy, fried foods that I RARELY let him eat! So, for Valentine's Day I decided it would be the perfect time to fill his belly with all his favorite foods he often asks for and rarely gets! My sneaky plan was to hopefully discourage these food choices after a day of junk!
I woke up before Joe (6am) to run to McDonalds and the grocery store before taking him to work. When I picked him up he had TWO sausage, egg and cheese biscuits and TWO donuts waiting on his seat in the car. He ate his sandwiches on the drive to work and then informed me he would save the donuts for his mid-morning snack. I picked him up from work around 6:00 and dropped him off at home while I ran my last errand. I went to Chili's to get the boneless buffalo wings he likes and the Awesome Blossom which Chili's apparently doesn't carry anymore even though it's on all their menus. Anyway, after waiting almost an hour for my to-go order, the manager comped my food and I got out of there with free food! I had also put together a meat, cheese and cracker tray earlier in the day that consisted of (gross) salomi, pepparoni and summer sausage. He had root beer to drink and cheesecake for dessert while we watched Lost together. I don't think I've ever heard "You're the best wife ever" so many times in one day! The boy loves his food!
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Feb 13, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
This past weekend we had the huge privilege of taking care of our precious 11-month old niece Naomi while Christian and Nina went to New York for a conference. Christian dropped her off Saturday afternoon and we spent the rest of the weekend as pretend parents. First of all, Naomi is THE most laid back, easy-going kid so it is not hard taking care of her in any way. She was just so precious to have in our home. We had lots of cuddle time and tons of feeding time since that girl can eat...probably the Elliot genes in her! We took her to church on Sunday and got some confused looks from people when we came walking in with a baby carrier. We also got to introduce Naomi to our crew at youth group.
Naomi spent more time playing with our TV remote and cell phones than any other thing or toy in the house. We got a little concerned as she crawled across the kitchen floor with Joe's cell phone in hand banging it along the way. Our phones did come out alive and will forever have Naomi's drool as a part of them.
Joey and I learned over the weekend that it won't be Heidi but it will be Joey who gets up numerous times throughout the night to check on our own kids, not because they wake up but because Joey is such a nurturer (or is it a "worrier"?!). Even though Naomi sleeps through the night, Joey was up about 3 times each night to check on her! He's so precious and will be the best dad ever!
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This past weekend we had the huge privilege of taking care of our precious 11-month old niece Naomi while Christian and Nina went to New York for a conference. Christian dropped her off Saturday afternoon and we spent the rest of the weekend as pretend parents. First of all, Naomi is THE most laid back, easy-going kid so it is not hard taking care of her in any way. She was just so precious to have in our home. We had lots of cuddle time and tons of feeding time since that girl can eat...probably the Elliot genes in her! We took her to church on Sunday and got some confused looks from people when we came walking in with a baby carrier. We also got to introduce Naomi to our crew at youth group.
Naomi spent more time playing with our TV remote and cell phones than any other thing or toy in the house. We got a little concerned as she crawled across the kitchen floor with Joe's cell phone in hand banging it along the way. Our phones did come out alive and will forever have Naomi's drool as a part of them.
Joey and I learned over the weekend that it won't be Heidi but it will be Joey who gets up numerous times throughout the night to check on our own kids, not because they wake up but because Joey is such a nurturer (or is it a "worrier"?!). Even though Naomi sleeps through the night, Joey was up about 3 times each night to check on her! He's so precious and will be the best dad ever!
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Jan 23, 2008 - Wed:
Heidi
I wanted to take a quick sec to write an update. Christmas was great. We were both able to take off 12 days and spend it with our families. We started our Christmas break on the 22nd with Heidi's family. We stayed with Christian, Nina and Naomi at their place since they had an extra bed. We spent a lot of time watching the boys play the Nintendo wii and every now and then the girls would jump in to play Mario and Sonic at the Olympics. It was a blast and we think we burned more calories playing than during any of our other activities! When we weren't playing, we were cooking or baking, watching a movie, juicing with CNN's new juicer, wrapping gifts and just enjoying Christmas.
The wrapping contest wasn't much of a contest this year. We had no time to come up with any ideas so basically this year Christian and Nina took the prize with their life-sized Santa. They had a full santa suit and beard and somehow they managed to get everyone's gifts piled inside Santa (his body turned out to be the cool red trash can I'd been wanting so gifts were stuffed in their as well as in Santa's sack).
For Joey's birthday we went ice skating and then it was "every man for himself" at the mall food court. We had all kinds of desserts and special drinks back at my parent's place and then Joey got to open his presents. He unexpectedly got an iPod and hasn't stopped saying "I can't believe I got an iPod!" He even brings it to bed!
We drove to Indiana on the 27th and spent a week there with Joey's family, including Jamie who was able to come home from California for the break. It was so nice for us to get away. We also got to meet baby Cooper, Justin and Hannah's new baby boy, who was only about 2 weeks old. He slept most of the time so we didn't get much quality time with him!
We finally feel like we're back into the groove of everything. I finished the interior decorating for my dad's new office space and we had the open house on the 15th. The open house was so nice and everyone was so complimentary on how the office turned out. Things continue to be busy and business continues to find me. I have gained a new client almost every day for the past week and a half. Please continue to pray for motivation and good time management for me. I am thankful the Lord is blessing my business.
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I wanted to take a quick sec to write an update. Christmas was great. We were both able to take off 12 days and spend it with our families. We started our Christmas break on the 22nd with Heidi's family. We stayed with Christian, Nina and Naomi at their place since they had an extra bed. We spent a lot of time watching the boys play the Nintendo wii and every now and then the girls would jump in to play Mario and Sonic at the Olympics. It was a blast and we think we burned more calories playing than during any of our other activities! When we weren't playing, we were cooking or baking, watching a movie, juicing with CNN's new juicer, wrapping gifts and just enjoying Christmas.
The wrapping contest wasn't much of a contest this year. We had no time to come up with any ideas so basically this year Christian and Nina took the prize with their life-sized Santa. They had a full santa suit and beard and somehow they managed to get everyone's gifts piled inside Santa (his body turned out to be the cool red trash can I'd been wanting so gifts were stuffed in their as well as in Santa's sack).
For Joey's birthday we went ice skating and then it was "every man for himself" at the mall food court. We had all kinds of desserts and special drinks back at my parent's place and then Joey got to open his presents. He unexpectedly got an iPod and hasn't stopped saying "I can't believe I got an iPod!" He even brings it to bed!
We drove to Indiana on the 27th and spent a week there with Joey's family, including Jamie who was able to come home from California for the break. It was so nice for us to get away. We also got to meet baby Cooper, Justin and Hannah's new baby boy, who was only about 2 weeks old. He slept most of the time so we didn't get much quality time with him!
We finally feel like we're back into the groove of everything. I finished the interior decorating for my dad's new office space and we had the open house on the 15th. The open house was so nice and everyone was so complimentary on how the office turned out. Things continue to be busy and business continues to find me. I have gained a new client almost every day for the past week and a half. Please continue to pray for motivation and good time management for me. I am thankful the Lord is blessing my business.
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