This weekend was full of family. On Friday evening, my cousin Lorri married Steve. It was a beautiful wedding and we all had a nice time. Grandma and Grandpa Nyhlen came and so did Uncle Robby and Aunt Nicole--and of course Kylie!

Many of my cousins were at the wedding--including Eric and Deanna, who have a little boy, Aiden. So here is a picture of the three cuties (Zoey, Kylie, and Aiden). By the way--it is very difficult to get three babies to look at the camera at the same time--please appreciate this photo. Thank you.



Zoey really got along with Uncle Robby this weekend. She practiced saying his name and they played together a lot.


On Saturday we took Zoey and Grandma to the Minnesota State Fair. It was a first for both of them. Zoey got to visit all the animals. I think her favorite part of the fair was when we let her out of her stroller and she could just walk and dance around to the music.

Here is Grandma and Zoey.

On a side note--for those of you who are curious about my tacky tactics to sell our townhome--I did recieve St. Joesph in the mail. I did bury him in the backyard and said a little prayer. And we did have an open house on Sunday with no visitors. I won't loose the faith yet though! As my parents tried to teach Zoey to cheer. . ."Go Joe!"

Zoey speaks some more. . .

To help Zoey feel better we let her play around with the video camera. We also wanted to share a few more words that she has been practicing--enjoy! (sorry it is long. . .but the grandparents don't seem to care!)

I am a believer. . .

Yesterday while Zoey and I were at the Nelson's visiting Grandma, we got to talking about selling our house. I mentioned to the people there that our house went on the market on July 5th. We have held 10 open houses with NOBODY (not even nosey neighbors) coming by to check the place out. We have barely even gotten our real-estate facilitator to return our phone calls. We realize that the market is slow and that it takes awhile for houses to sell in today's market, but it has been frustrating to say the least.

After telling this story, Sarah and Matt mentioned that when they were selling their home in Colorado they were facing the same frustrations and were told by someone to buy a statue of St. Joseph and put it in their yard. So they did and three weeks later they sold their house.

I left with a mission--to find a place to buy this statue and put it in my yard. So I looked on line and found www.StJosephStatue.com. I figured that I would just buy it off the site instead of looking all over town. The website states the tradition:

The solemn tradition of burying St. Joseph in the earth began hundreds of years ago in Europe. During those times, an order of nuns prayed to St. Joseph (the patron saint of the family and household needs) when they needed more lands for convents. The Sisters were encouraged to bury their St. Joseph medals in the ground. The medals evolved into statues, culminaing with the complete "Underground Real Estate Agent" Kit currently available. Today, thousands of homesellers and real estate agents nationwide continue this successful tradition; they are looking for a little divine intervention. The St. Joseph Statue "The Underground Real Estate Agent" Kit was developed to assist you in continuing this tradition. The kit contains everything thing you need to successfully bury your own St. Joseph Statue. Be it fact or be it fiction, it's worked more than once.

I also read the testimonials of a lot of people that have bought the statue and have sold their houses. Seriously, I have wasted my money on worst things than this. I took a leap of faith and put in my order for one St. Joseph.

As it would happen, Zoey woke up this morning with a cold. Tyler refers to her condition as "Faucet Face." She is leaking from everything--eyes, nose, mouth. So we made the decision to cancel our planned open house today so that she could stay in her comfort zone and have a great nap--which she did.

At about 1:30 this afternoon there is a knock at the door and a lady was there wondering if she had the right house for the open house that was advertised throughout the week. We explained to her that our daughter was sick and sleeping, but we would love for her to come in and look at what she could. She explained that she and her husband are looking to downsize and she works at the elementary school that is behind our complex.

I really don't care if she ends up buying the house or not, the point of my story is that St. Joseph has started working already--ONE person coming to an open house is more than we have ever had.

I will keep everyone posted on the St. Joseph story--but for me it is already a success!

So, Grandma called today and said that she was in White Bear Lake. So Zoey and I hopped in the car and drove out to see her. She and some friends from church were suppose to be doing some mission work that didn't pan out so instead, they headed to WBL to help Matt and Sarah Nelson move into their new home. They just happen to be two friends that I went to high school with AND they have a 15 month old son. It was fun to see grandma. Thanks for calling us!

Zoey was excited to see Grandma, but she also got to meet a new friend. This is Liam.

On Friday, Zoey went with us to the Mall of America to meet up with Lisa, Aiden, and Kiera. I believe that this was her first trip to the MOA. It was great to hang out with the Derrs for the afternoon.

Zoey didn't seem to care that there was a chain meant to keep the kids off the stage. Tyler claims that he was not there to enforce the rules. His main job was to wrangle the kids .

Zoey played around with Kiera and Aiden on the stage. She is quite the performer!

Zoey and I decided to practice for the State Fair by eating at Hot Dog on a Stick. They even gave her a little hat to wear.

We ended our trip the Mall by visiting our friend Curious George who was there for the Mall's Storybook Summer.

Zoey the gifted pianist. . .

So, it isn't my best editing work, but Zoey really enjoys the camera--so here are some clips from her evening. Whenever I take the camera out, she tries to turn the LCD screen so she can watch herself. She is learning so much everyday--it is hard to slow her down. She is practicing her jumping all the time. She can almost get off the ground. She likes to dance. She can also play piano by ear. . .just watch!

Auntie Tammy. . . Where are you?

We all gathered at Nana's and Grandpa's house today to celebrate Tammy's Birthday. Zoey entertained us all. . .

Which of these folks are Auntie Tammy?

 

I was foolin' you

 

Bath Breaking News.

I was all set for my bath when I heard some very upsetting news.



















This news was so upsetting that I dropped my towel and told Dad to wait a second. I needed to make a very important announcement.





















Ahem..."It was my Auntie Tammy's birthday last week, and my parents forgot to tell me! Happy Birthday Tammy!!!"



















Now back to my regularly scheduled bath.

Zo on the Cob

The other day Judy and I enjoyed some corn on the cob for dinner. Zoey was not eating her meal all that well, splashing and swiping her food across the room and all over the floor. Usually at this point we pull away the tray and wait for a bit and try again.

After her diner was over, I pulled the tray off and sat her on my lap. As she sat there, she uttered a grunt that has become synonymous with "Gimme" though sounds more like someone having difficulty moving their bowels.

She was reaching for the corn. We didn't think she'd get what to do, but why not try? I held the corn and Zoey bit right in, taking down a 2 x 2 section of the cob.

Judy ran off for the camera to take several pictures. This was the best of the bunch (I was laughing...really. Not sure what's with my sour puss here). 

Better keep a closer eye on this one. . .

As I was checking my email and catching up on all the blogs this morning, I heard a doorknob turning. Tyler was upstairs and Zoey isn't tall enough. Or is she?!?!