Jacob's First Trip to the Dentist

We love Jacob's dentist!  His first visit was so fun and so cute.  He got to learn all about each aspect - Mr. Water, Mr. Sucker, the loud toothbrush, and his new Lightning McQueen toothbrush!  He also had tons of fun riding the dental chair up and down.  The hygienist was so great with him and he had such a pleasant experience!  At the end, he was given a coin to put in a prize machine and he got a "stretchy guy!"

Ben's 31st Birthday

We celebrated Ben's 31st birthday with a date night out to one of our favorite restaurants - Revival.  There was a huge wait to be seated, but we lucked out and snagged seats at the bar.  Check out the chicken and waffle sandwich that Ben had!  When we got home, we celebrated some more with our favorite cake - Patticake - from Yum! Bakery.

January & February WINTER highlights!

Jacob's FAVORITE thing to play with / his comfort item = my hair.

Visiting Dad at work - it's so fun that he works on the Pillsbury Biscuits desk!

Frosty!

We got A LOT of snow this winter.

Blocks became a great inside toy.  It's also fun to through them around and make a big, loud, mess.

Icicles on our house!

Valentine's Day sugar cookies.  Yum!

Forty-degree Valentine's Day!

Jacob was OVER-JOYED to be outside!!  It felt so good to run around!

Fall in Minnesota

Apple Jack Orchard - such a fun day for our little family!  Looking back at these pictures, Ben was like "It was cold.. and wasn't it like, July?"  Ha!  Early October and definitely chilly, but Jake is a fantastic apple picker and we had such a fun & happy day.

Ben & I splurged on tickets to see Aladdin!  It was so much fun!  

We entered Jacob in the Toddler Trot for the second year in a row.  He's still scared of large crowds.

He said that the capital building was "Dumpy's House" - Humpty Dumpty's house - one of his current favorite nursery rhymes.

The autumn season in Minnesota is blow-my-mind gorgeous.  Here are some pictures from our last few park days where we enjoyed good weather and gorgeous views.

This was our last park day in 2017.. sometime in October.. the day before the snow arrived and it was COLD!  This is Chloe, one of Jacob's best friends, and she just moved!  We are so sad.

As soon as we had a warm day in 2017, I took Jacob on a walk down to our favorite park, exactly a mild from our home.  While on that walk I wondered how many times I'd walk to that park over the summer, and thus, how many miles I'd walk.. that turned into "I wonder how many miles I CAN walk?!"  So from March - October of 2017 (the vast majority of our walks being in June, July, and August, some walks in pouring rain, and our last walk in freezing temps) Jacob & I walked ONE HUNDRED MILES!  

Here we are after mile 102!  Finished!!  I wonder how many miles we'll walk in 2018.

In October, Ben & I were invited to a murder mystery party!  SO fun.  A little out of our comfort zones, but I think we hung in there!  Ben grew out his beard all week and then shaved all but this mustache for the party.  I had to fill it in with make-up.

 

Jacob was the cutest Buzz Lightyear ever at our ward Halloween party and trick-or-treating in 25 degree temps!!

We finished up our Fall with Ben's parents coming into town for Thanksgiving.  We had a blast!  Right before they came up, Ben was called into the bishopric of our ward, so his dad was about to ordain him to be a High Priest!