Matt's Invention

Over the summer Matt had been doing some research regarding an inventor's conference in Wisconsin. The deadline quickly came up and so we decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to go since he'd learn things there. At the time of signing up for the conference he also entered his idea into their contest. He received notification from the university on September 9th that his idea was accepted to show. He quickly got to work in getting all his material together and begin the building process of his dog bed.

We left for Wisconsin on the 29th (Amelia's first birthday), our poor baby wasn't feeling well. But once we arrived there she was fine. The competition was on the 30th. Since it was only for people attending the conference I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go but he asked for permission and they allowed Amelia and I to be there. There were 7 judges and 14 contestants. There were all sorts of ideas and the majority were ideas that people have invested A LOT of money into their ideas and display. Matt had a simple display and the bed had recently been made by Rosemary's sister, Sara. She did a great job!

Well, once the judges came out they immediately began to announce the winners. There were 4 prizes. They announced the first winner, the Deuce Mop Wringer. Next was MATT!! YAY! He won 3rd place!!! I was soooo excited for him, he was shooting for 1st but of course was happy with placing! He has been awarded $895 worth of research services from the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center.

Our entire trip was a hit! We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing the colors of the fall up north.

Our Little Lady's Birthday Celebration

On Saturday we celebrated Amelia's First Birthday! It was great fun! We had it at Gatti Town in Amarillo. Amelia was unsure of all the singing that occurred but loved seeing the people there. When it came time to cake time she was very dainty (almost lady-like HA!) she ate the icing with the tip of her finger until both grandmothers motivated her to dig in. In the first picture there were so many cameras flashing that we didn't know which one to look at so this is the best I have. The last picture is of Amelia in her toy box that was made especially for her by Grandpa Stokes.

Painting with a Twist

So last night we went to Painting with a Twist to celebrate Kelly's birthday. She'd told me about this place and I immediately wanted to do it! When she decided to celebrate her birthday there I was excited to sign up. So the idea of this place is that they have a picture that everyone will paint for that night. The instructor guided us and showed us which steps to take.....here's the twist: throughout the evening while we're painting she rings a bell that signals us to take a drink of wine. It was lots of fun and now I have my very own piece of art! HEHE!

Amelia is 11 months old!

My little girl is 11 months old, she will turn ONE on 9-29. She's so funny keeps both Matt and I entertained, she even laughs by herself sometimes. She's just crawling and pulling herself up all over the place. At this time she does not seem to be too interested in walking or standing on her own so we're not even practicing with her. We figure that she'll do it when she's ready. She has 2 bottom teeth and 4 are coming out on the top. She sure does like to use those sharp things! I have videos but have not been able to share because my personal computer is on the verge of dying. She continues to enjoy music and loves people watching! If we are out running around she rarely cries unless we're in the car. Last year at Christmas time we spent 9 hours at the mall and no peeps came out of her.....she just enjoys running around! (Like her momma, grandma and great-grandma!) Oh and obviously you can see here that she's a thumb sucker. She's wearing her new headband that a girlfriend of mine made, I love the buttons! Very cute!

Happy Birthday!

My birthday was on Friday and had a pleasant surprise from Amelia. She walked her very first 3 steps on her own that night! It was very exciting and we all witnessed it. It was great! Plus over the weekend she said "Momma" for the first time with meaning. She has been saying "ma ma ma" but this time she actually said "Momma!" Here is a picture of our birthday tradition to have a homemade cake from Matt!

OH! The Face!

Amelia is sooo funny. Here is a perfect example of her throwing a fit. She had Matt's phone in her hand, he grabbed it from her so he could take a picture of them, needless to say she got mad! hehe She gets sooo mad when she wants something or has her heart set on getting something and we take it away, just the other day she did that to my with a q-tip. She didn't even have it in hand I grabbed it before she got to it. She got so mad she had to try hard to catch her breath. AHH! LITTLE GIRL!

Reynosa!

About 1 month ago I was at church and during the announcements see that the group going to Reynosa, Mexico had an ad in search of a "Female Spanish Translator." After the announcements I ask Pastor John who I'd need to talk regarding the "ad." He said "ME." We talked about it and I told him that I'd have to discuss it with Matt. Matt said he would be okay with me going (he was going to be with Amelia all alone all week). I left for Mexico on July 25th and got back on the 31st.

We arrived at Camp Vamonos http://www.vamonos.org/ on Sunday night. The camp was soooo pretty! The people that ran it were so great and the food for the week was authentic Mexican cuisine! It was great! No tv and no wifi. The entire trip was great! I was the translator for the women's bible study group and the eye doctor. Working with the eye doctor was really fun because I immediately saw how the people were being helped with simple fixes such as reading glasses. In all here is what our group did: vacation bible school for the kids, sports team (to reach out to the teens), work team (for the building of the porch and the pouring of the foundation for house #10), women's bible study, children's daycare for women in bible study and the medical team (a general doctor and the eye doctor).

I laughed so much throughout the week! I think we all came back to the U.S. with interesting stories to tell. I know I did! Glad to be back with Matt, Amelia and Millie! I missed them! I managed to talk to Matt everyday of the week so that was good because I was thinking I wasn't going to have access to a U.S. tower but I was able to find them!

FYI I added all the pics from the trip to my shutterfly shared account on the lefthand side of this page.