Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!

Claire is still sick today but we dressed her up for Aunt Sarah and Grandma Weyer. Then we went to some of the neighbors houses. Claire is a butterfly and our neighbor Heather came over she is a cow.

Hi to Daddy, we miss you...hope you like the photos! Here is a message Claire typed for you...

ko ;]=x\hj jn jhjhh wetr 4$3re zxdrrfwddq2r2r2raAQZWDWUYBNUYHGGH

Cooking...

Since I took Claire's pacifier away yesterday I decided to let her do something she has never done before. I explained to her that since she no longer has her pacifier she is considered a big girl and gets to cook. She got to stand on a chair and cook, she stirred together some flour, water, and sprinkles. Claire cooked for a solid 45 mintues, look at the mess!

New Milestone

So Claire has had a pacifier for her naps, bedtime and car trips since she was about 3 months old. She is a very smart little girl and lately she acts like she wants to take a nap so when I take her to her room and put her in the crib she grabs the pacifier and then wants back out. She knows she only gets it for bedtime or naps...so I told her big girls don't get pacifiers and we needed to throw it away and that is what we did. She watched me do it and then cried for about 15 minutes afterwards. I know it sounds harsh but just hiding it from her would not work, she had to know it was all gone.

So our lives have been less than great. She is still having a hard time taking her naps and going to bed at night. She also has a cold and the beginnings of her first ear infection. We went to the Dr. today. She is 20 lbs 10 oz in case you were wondering. :)

Other than that big news we have been playing in the leaves, finger painting and I have been packing our house and getting it ready to be sold. We are moving to Alliance with Matt and then to Arizona in March. It will be a good move for us but we are having a hard time since we just got settled here in Lincoln.

Hi to Aunt Becky in Memphis we miss you!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Hein

Happy Birthday Grandpa, Dad, Dad-in-Law!!!
You bring us such joy and laughter.

Love you always,

Matt, Kellie and Claire

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday Claire's Aunt Sarah and Grandma Weyer came over to carve pumpkins. I carved Claire a Snoopy pumpkin which I guess I forgot to take a picture of it. Maybe Sarah did? Anyways on Saturday we went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. This is the ultimate pumpkin patch, we road a train and roasted hot dogs on a campfire as well as getting some free pumpkins thanks to Sarah's work. We had so much fun, make sure you check this place out if you are in the Omaha area.

Trip to South Dakota and Chimney Rock

We went to visit Matt in Alliance, NE and took a trip to Mt. Rushmore area which is a 3 hour drive. Claire didn't like the scenic car ride as much as Matt and I did but she tolerated it to be with her Dad. We stopped in Hot Springs for lunch then took the scenic drive up Needles Hwy (thanks Jenn for the tip) where the rocks look like needles. We stopped a couple times along the way and got up close and personal with some buffalo in Custer State Park they were huge!


I had never seen Mt. Rushmore, it is definitely breath taking to see the work it took to carve these heads out of stone. Matt was there as a child and said they have done a lot of work since he visited. Claire enjoyed the chipmunks and running around with Daddy while Mommy got to watch the movie on how Mt. Rushmore was made. On our way home we drove by Crazy Horse which is still not finished...

Claire and I had some time to ourselves in Alliance so we drove to Chimney Rock about a 30-40 minute drive. I have only seen pictures so it was really neat to see it up close and imagine all the people who traveled so far. In the museum I learned that Chimney Rock is known as the most famous landmark on the Oregon-California Trail.

Hope you enjoy our photos...as you can see Claire had a long trip!

Happy Birthday Uncle Tracy

Dear Uncle Tracy,

You are my favorite uncle in the whole world. You make me laugh all the time. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Uncle Tracy, Happy Birthday to you.

Love,
Claire Bear