December and 2009 are almost gone!

What a crazy month....we celebrated Christmas early with all of the Madsen clan, it was a great time with dinner, awesome white elephants (many of which came from Grandma Madsen's house) and ended with a pinata.

Unfortunately the next day Jill's Uncle Earl had a brain aneurysm and passed away two days later. The most beautiful funeral we have ever been to followed. The spirit was SO strong and it was very cool to listen to each of Jill's cousins and her aunt take part in the Celebration of his life.
It also helped that he was very involved in the LDS music scene and there were many musical numbers that were just phenomenal.

Next came the craziness of UPS at Christmas time...it took a little time to get crazy this year, Luckily Adam survived! :)

Christmas was SO fun! Spencer is at such a fun age...when we asked him what day it was and told him that it was Christmas...he thought for a moment and said...." Santa, TOYS!" He was SO excited. He loved everything he got and would play with each thing for a few minutes then move to the next...and so on.

We all survived the day and enjoyed a nice weekend together. The Day after Christmas we celebrated with Adam's family! We had a great time together, ate some fantastic food and enjoyed a little Beatles rock band. What a great Christmas!

We also would like to announce that we will be adding a new member to our family in June...We are very excited for this next big adventure!

Oh What Fun...

It has been so awesome to have a 2 and a half year old this time of year. Everything is SO amazing to Spencer. He remembers what Santa Claus says...and everytime we see one he tells you. Thanksgiving was fun with all kinds of really great food that we don't really eat the rest of the year. Even though there were a lot of "ew, gucky" he still ate it and actually really liked most of it.

He helped Jill with some decorations, they will need to be edited a bit, but he was so gun-ho to help she didin't have the heart to stop him.

What a great time a year!

Also, Spencer is growing like a weed. He has grown 3 inches since August....CRAZY!

Happy Halloween

Spencer had a blast this year! He dressed as a cowboy and really got the hang of trick-or-treating. We all had fun at the ward trunk or treat and visiting some of our other neighbors. I was really nice weather too! What a great Halloween!

Happy Anniversary!

Today Adam and Jill have been married for 5 years! What great adventures we have had...and plan on continuing. Two apartments, one house, two dogs, one awesome little boy, two trucks, one car, three wards, two jobs for Jill, thankfully the same job for Adam and who knows how many miles later we are still cruising along having the time of our lives (most days) :)

Happy Anniversary!

Scenes of Summer

Watching the Magna 4th of July Parade

On our front lawn

Playing Outside

Sliding and Posing for pictures.

Skinned Knees
Searching for Bugs with Grandma

Fishing with Daddy

Playing on the Beach at Bear Lake

(24th of July Weekend)

Spencer was sure to let us know when he was ready to go back to camp.

Trying out is Floaties in the Bathtub...

Swimming in the backyard

We have had a great time this summer....

It's about Time!

So Jill realized that she'd been looking at other people's blogs wondering....why don't they update their blog more often...then she looked at her own and low and behold...she's one of those people.

We have had a great summer. Several camping trips with Jill's family, fun 4th of July parade and BBQ's and a great 24th of July at Bear Lake. We will be sharing photos as soon as they can find their way off of the camera and on to the computer. We are just keepin' it real and livin' up the summertime!

Manly Man...and boy

Since Jill is outnumbered, she decided to make the Family Blog reflect the family. It is all about diggers, trucks, cars, trains, dirt and tools at our house...

Binky Free is the way to be!

Adam and Jill are braving the Binky Free world with Spencer...it's a little scary, for Mom and Dad that is! Spencer has done great, it's Mom and Dad that struggle!

Spencer has really only had his Binky at nap time and bedtime for almost a year, but we decided it was time to get rid of it. Partly because the only kind of Binky that he likes we can't find anymore.

He's a trooper, the first night and nap he looked at us like "Aren't you forgetting something?" but since then he's been pretty good. Jill almost gave in last night when Spencer woke up at 2:00AM and didn't want to go back to bed...but Mom and Spencer got through it with a little help from really boring early morning television.

Great Job Little Buddy! We can't believe how fast you are growing!

Memorial Day

We spent all weekend outside, Spencer was in Heaven! Adam and Jill got a lot done around the yard! Hooray!

Every now and again Spencer would stop playing and go to the fence to say "Hi" and wave to our neighbor who was mowing his lawn. This is a video of Spencer swinging, he finally figured out that it is just as fun to ride on the swing as it is to push it around. He as also figured out how to go down the slide all by himself, or with a truck, or racing with a ball...anything that he can pick up goes down the slide now.

Happy 30th Birthday Adam!

Adam turned 30 on May 24th. We love you Adam and are so grateful for all that you do for our family! Happy Birthday!

Spencer really liked it when mommy and daddy were franically waving so that the smoke from the 30 candles wouldn't set off the smoke alarm-our alarm system is very sensitive and we live about a block away from the Fire Station. Lets just say the alarm company isn't as fast as the fire fighters-which would be a good thing if we weren't just say burning dinner...

Fishies

Friday Adam took a day off work and Jill took half a day. We decided to take the opportunity to have a family outing. We went to the Living Aquarium in Sandy. It was really nice to have some family time, Spencer had a blast! Thank you Dan and Dionne!

Happy Easter!

Spencer loved Easter! He was so fun to watch, he really understood finding easter eggs. Mom and Dad hid a few for eachother (which Spencer found as well).

St. Paddy's Day

This is just a cute picture of Spencer all decked out for St. Patrick's Day.

Jill's Visiting Teacher brought this cute temporary tattoo over, thanks Natalie!

March went out like a LION!

March is gone! We have had a million things going on, Birthday parties for cousins, busy work schedules, crazy Saturdays...on top of everything our modem is not playing nice. Jill finally had a free moment at work to post some photos of Spencer's Birthday. We had a small little get together with Grandma and Grandpa. Jill got some balloons on the way home from work, they were a big hit, she's pretty sure that she could have stopped there!

Spencer loves anything that has to do with any type of ball, basketball, football, soccer. After Spencer stood on the foul shot line and tried to shoot some baskets after one of Adam's ward basketball games we decided to get Spencer a basketball hoop for his birthday.

We also got him a Little People train...we have started quite a collection of Little People toys, Spencer loves them and Mom and Dad like whatever makes Spencer happy!

Happy Birthday Spencer!

March 16th Spencer turned 2! It is amazing how time flies! Happy Birthday Spencer, thanks for making our life so much fun, and keeping us on our toes!

BIRTHDAY FUN

When Jill got home from work, Adam and Spencer had been busy. Adam cleaned the kitchen and made a cake...Spencer helped with the decorating... And yes, there are only 5 candles, we didn't want the smoke detector to sing "Happy Birthday" with us... What a great birthday surprise!

Happy Birthday Jill!

Today is Jill's 29th Birthday...Happy Birthday Jill!

Stir and Drop Sugar Cookies

2 large Eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 C. Vegtable oil
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 teaspoon Lemon Extract
(Almond extract or another teaspoon of vanilla can be used)
1 Cup Sugar
2 1/4 Cups Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix everything together in a large bowl, mixture will be sticky.
Use 2 tablespoons or a small scoop to make round balls on a cookie sheet.
Squish each ball of dough with an empty spool of thread that has been dipped in sugar.
Bake for 8 minutes until bottoms are golden brown.


These cookies are super easy and VERY tasty. Kids love to help make them! We love to eat them.

Silly Spencer...

Spencer really keeps us hopping...

Grandma is fantastic and watches Spencer 3 days a week (Jill waits for Adam to get home the other 2 days). This week Grandma decided to make cookies with Spencer. She is a very brave woman.
They were making stir and drop sugar cookies which are heavenly, we will be sure to post the recipe. Even a 2 year old can make them!

Spencer helped to mix and to squish the cookies. He was so proud that he wanted to take some home. So Grandma put some on a plate and put them in a plastic sack. He very carefully, and very proudly marched them out to the car with the edge of the plate getting lower and lower to the ground as they went. Luckily Daddy and Spencer didn't eat them all on the way home (they are very adicting) and we polished off the entire plate that night. Spencer was still so proud that he wanted to be the one to put the plate in the recycle bin. He very carefully, and very proudly marched it over and placed it delicately on top of the bin. He then turned around, ran over and gave both mommy and daddy a hight five. What a silly boy!

Spencer is also very independant, he has figured out how to open the fridge. Monday, Mommy and Daddy were working on a project downstairs. The next thing they hear the fridge open and some rustling and the door close. Mommy went to investigate, and there was Spencer standing at the top of the stairs eating an apple. After every bite he would stop and say "Mmmm....". He ate the entire thing, skin and all.

We have finally joined this Century!

Hurray! This is the first blog, not very exciting for you, but it is for us!