Update

"Been farming long?" Andrew and my counsin's son Treston at my grandparents farm in Nebraska. They were born just a few days apart.

Beth's grandpa Junior and Andrew at the farm.

Andrew ready for Cowboy Football!

Enjoying a beautiful day at Jonah Field!

So things have been really crazy in the Lance family the last few months, which has hindered our ability to keep up on the blog. Lance family Top Ten is as follows:

1. Beth was diagnosed with ulcers and was nauseous and vomitting for about 2 months.

2. Beth is now pregnant! So, the nausea and vomitting has continued uninterupted and has yet to cease, even though she is now 12 weeks along. Baby Lance #2 due May 7.

3. We found a house to buy in the Pointe and put our home up for sale.

4. Our house finally sold yesterday! Closing Nov. 24!

5. Cowboy football is in full swing which sends us to Laramie for games! Andrew continues to love football and doesn't understand why we don't go every weekend for a game.

6. We heard the heartbeat of the new baby this past week! 160 bpm strong!

7. Beth is flying to NE over Halloween for her grandpa's 90th birthday!

8. Beth got a promotion at work! She is now a Senior Assistant Attorney General!

9. Andrew loved the pumpkin patch this year! He pulled the wagon full of gourds and pumpkins and had a great time walking the rows with his buddy Jonathan!

10. Ryan actually took a day off of work! He was sick this week with a cold:(

Andrewisms

Andrew - "Mommy will you marry me?"
Me - "Honey, I'm already married to Daddy."
Andrew- "Oh, then I'll marry Daddy too."
Me - "Well Daddy is married to me, you can't marry Daddy."
Andrew - "I'll marry Penny then." (our dog)
Me - "Okay that sounds good."

Andrew - "Mommy I like your black legs." (I'm wearing tights)
Me - "Thanks Andrew."
Andrew - (Pulling up his pants) "My legs are white."

Andrew - (handing me his toy bat) "You be up at bat. I be the pitcher."

Andrew - (every night when the sun goes down) "It's darking outside Mommy."

Coming Soon

I promise there will be an updated post soon. Including great pictures of Andrew and lots of Lance family news! Stay tuned!

Misc.

Here is Ryan's Dad, Ron, after making a hole in one playing in a golf tournament in Thermopolis. We were there for the weekend and Ryan played with his Dad in the golf tournament that day!

Afterward we all had to head to the bar so that Ron could buy a round. Andrew sadled up to the bar for a glass of juice with Peyton (aunt Haley's friend).

Andrew and cousin Hannah at the Frontier Days parade. Andrew absolutely loved the parade!

Andrew wearing his cute overalls from Papa Dave!

Andrew and Hannah at Frontier park riding rides. They both had a fun time!

In early June I walked the Deadwood Half Marathon with Ryan's Mom, Cathy. Ryan's sister Haley ran it. I was sore for several days afterward. Ryan's Mom tolerated it better than I did. I think I'm out of shape, but we had a really fun day and we finished!! We had a great weekend in Deadwood and Ryan and I celebrated our anniversary with an elegant dinner at Jake's restaurant (owned by Kevin Costner).

* * *

Well, now summer is already reaching its end. I've had a nice summer, but there hasn't been near enough warm weather for my taste. Hopefully, it will be a nice fall and the weather will hold out for the football games. I can't believe football starts in only a couple weeks!

Is it July, already?

My new favorite picture of Ryan and me.

Ryan, Ken and Mike

Amy and Me

Our friends Mike and Amy invited us to attend Denim and Diamonds with them this year. Well, actually they have been inviting us for the past 3 years, but this year was the first time we could make it. A couple years ago we had a really lame excuse...I think I was having a baby or something. Anyhoo, we were finally able to attend this year and we had a great time. I found a beautiful vintage dress at my favorite store in Denver (actually Ryan found it and convinced me to try it on, I was sure it was too small, Ryan knew better, it fit perfectly). I didn't get any pictures of me where you can see the whole dress, but it was empire waist and long, think Jackie O. Denim and Diamonds is the big charity dinner/auction fundraiser for the Hospital held annually. Since our good friend Miss Amy is also known as Dr. Trelease-Bell she and Mike support the event every year. There was drinking, eating and dancing and I bid on a piece of local art work at the silent auction that we got to bring home. My favorite thing to buy at charity auctions is art, by Wyoming artists of course.


Then over 4th of July weekend, my dad his wife Lauren and my brother and his girlfriend all came to visit and celebrate with us!

Sunday we decided to head to Denver for another Rockies game. The last one we went to was such a big hit with Andy we wanted to take him again. Above is my brother and his girlfriend.

Here is one of Ryan and my dad.

And here is grandma Lolo holding Andrew while he contentedly sucks his thumb and watches baseball.

It was great having them here over the fourth. They went on from our house to spend the week in Yellowstone and they all had a great vacation there. I was pretty jealous, considering Yellowstone is probably my favorite place on earth. They saw 6 bears! I guess the population came back:)


Wednesday night this week I had my final exam for my golf class. I passed without any problems. Not that this means I in any way feel like I am any good at golf now. But, I have the fundamentals now and if I were to play 4 hours a day every day maybe I could be considered something other than a complete embarrassment. So, basically, maybe when I retire I can become a golfer? Regardless, I came home from golf to this...

Ryan took Andrew to dinner and then through the drive-thru for ice cream. Um? Ryan? What on earth made you think you could just hand an ice cream cone to a 2 year old? It was pretty funny though even Andrew thought it was a hoot! He headed straight for the bath and luckily ice cream comes off of seat belts, who knew?

TWO!

These are the cake pops I made for his daycare treats! Recipe can be found here www.bakerella.com. Very yummy!
Andrew had his best buddy Jonathan over for his birthday dinner and party!
Andrew even enjoyed opening the cards!
Opening, "Happy Feet!"
Thomas the train!
Opening gifts!

I absolutely cannot believe that my baby is 2! We made his day as special as possible. We sang happy birthday as soon as he woke up. He had a party at his daycare and had treats and fun all day. The kids and Mrs. Kathy sang happy birthday many times to him! Then in the evening we had Mike, Amy and Jonathan over for dinner, cake and presents! Fun was had by all.

Andrew had a Cars cake and he was excited about it. We let him stay up late and play with his new toys and read all his new books. I stayed home a little late this morning so that he could sleep in and he didn't want to go to daycare because he wanted to stay home and play with his new trains! His new Thomas the train set was the biggest hit of all.

Andrew is truly the light of our lives! He has only been here for 2 years, but I can hardly remember life without him. My life has been so enriched by his presence. I can't wait to see how you continue to form over this next year, Andrew. Happy 2nd Birthday...and many more!

Father's Day

Andrew pointing at the Zebras, "wook it, wook it!"
Getting a ride on daddy's shoulders and looking at the flamingos!
A train ride! Andrew loves trains, so this was exciting for him.
Andrew's favorite animal of the day was probably the elephants.
"Big trunk thing, Mommy!"
Coors field
Daddy and Andrew enjoying the ball game!
The fam

We had a great weekend in Denver over father's day. We first we down on Sat. to the Denver Zoo. Andrew was so happy to see all the animals that we talk about all the time. His favorites were: Zebras, Giraffes, Lions, Polar Bears, Elephants and Penguins (Happy Feet!). I think he could have watched the elephants all day. He kept talking about their big feet, and big trunk thing. I think it was hard for him to previously imagine how big they are and when he saw it first hand he was awestruck. He also petted a Madagascar hissing cockroach. He thought that was neat! We had great weather that day, the rain came just as we were heading to the car. We walked all over downtown Denver that evening and had a great meal. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco and really enjoyed the stay.

Father's Day was Sunday and we went to the Rockies v. Pirates game. The Rockies won! Andrew got a new shirt which says, "we want a pitcher, not a belly itcher" which if you know Andrew and how much he plays with his belly button this shirt was perfect:) He was totally into the game the whole time. Ryan was explaining what was going on and Andrew kept saying, "throw the ball, catch the ball, hit the ball." Andrew thought it was great fun to watch. There was also excitement when two foul balls came right near us. The people in front of us and next to us both caught the balls. Every time a ball came up our way I was ducking and Ryan was trying to cover Andrew's head! Andrew ordered a foot long hot dog and ate the whole thing! He was truly in baseball heaven.

Thanks to Ryan for being such a dedicated and loving dad! We love you bunches!

Quote of the Day

"Mothers beat themselves up about things much more than most other people, apart from elderly Catholic women." ~ from the book Slummy Mummy, by Fiona Neill

NY and NE

A walk with my sister-in-law and nephew at a nature conservancy where we saw a bog.


Doubleday Field - home of the invention of baseball.

Ryan and Andrew with Ted Williams, Ryan's favorite Red Sox player at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Me and the Babe, my favorite Yankees player.

Andrew and my nephew Sam feeding the chickens at the Farmer's Musuem in Cooperstown.

My niece Sonja and Andrew at the Visitor's Center on the farm owned by SUNY Oneonta where my brother is a professor of biology.

My dad, younger brother Matthias, and step mom Sybille (she is a professor at his college, Dana, thus, she was also in graduation attire), at Matthias' graduation from college in Nebraska.

My brother and his girlfriend Zuzana.

My grandparents, my brothers, my sister-in-law and the kiddos!

****

We spent our vacation this year primarily spending time with my family. We flew out to Albany, NY a week ago Saturday to visit my older brother and his family. They have just relocated to Otego, NY near Oneonta, NY where my brother is beginning his tenure as a professor of biology at SUNY (State University of New York) Oneonta. He spends time teaching and continuing to do research, primarily at the lake near Cooperstown, NY. We loved seeing their new house and the area where they lived. It was very picturesque. Rolling green hills, perfect red barns and black and white cows like right out of a painting. They have a large lot and live in a very nice rural area. You could watch the neighbors Alpacas out their front picture window. It was great to catch up with my brother, his wife and their two kids. My sister-in-law is studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Her school work is really rigorous. Basically, it is like Medical School, but not in vein of traditional Western medicine. My niece Sonja is 7 and doing well at school and my nephew Sam is 4 and was a big hit with Andrew. Andrew continues to ask about Sam every day. Because they live so far away and we are all so busy we just don't see each other enough, but the trip was nice.

***

Of course, there is always some hiccup in any vacation with us, and we all got sick toward the end of our time in NY. Andrew and I went to the Doctor upon our return and we continue to take our antibiotics.

***

Then we had a one day turn around before driving to NE for Memorial Day weekend to see my younger brother graduate from college. He had a double major of History and International Studies. He graduated with honors and also received a special Community Enrichment award for beginning Nebraskans for Peace on his campus and an annual Peace Fest. But, don't ask him what his plans are now, he is going to take some time and figure that out...I think he's allowed. It was great to see a lot of family over the weekend and the weather in NE was really warm. Andrew had a great time playing really hard with his cousins. We also visited my mom and her parents and they were really happy to see Andrew again, even if just briefly.

***

We had a great time over our family vacation, but home feels good too and we all slept really well last night:)

Vacation

We are heading to upstate New York for our family vacation tomorrow morning! We will post pictures upon our return.

Andrew latest news is that he can now count to 10 and say his ABCs. We are having a lot fun these days!

Easter

Thursday night I made these cupcakes for Andrew's Easter party at daycare on Friday.

Saturday we got a call that Andrew had won 3rd place in the Egg & I coloring contest. Here is his masterpiece!

He won this bunny.

Here is Andrew on Easter morning. He was very excited about his basket. He seemed a little amazed at the story of the Easter bunny coming to the house and leaving the basket. He just looked at us and said, "Easter bunny?"

He was pretty happy with the presents.

Also, on Saturday (sorry wrong order) we all colored Easter eggs. Here is Ryan helping Andrew place "cars" stickers on the eggs.

Look rainbow hands!

Our church had an indoor Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday after the service. (Which was good since it was raining and cold). Here is Andrew offering an egg he found to a smaller girl. AWWW!

Andrew and Jonathan were stylin' in their nice outfits and carrying their baskets.

Andrew and his pastel tie. He wasn't really happy about having to wear a tie, but after seeing Ryan in his tie he became convinced that it was okay.

Whew! We had a busy Easter weekend. We also got to spend time with my good friend Vickery and her mom on Saturday. We don't see them too often because they live in Cody, so that was a special treat. I hope that you all had a nice Easter weekend too!