The Curtis Family

I Want to Win a Food Storage Giveaway...

2011-09-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

So I'm posting about it in this blog to get extra entries :). I should probably do a real post coming up here soon, haha. Megan

http://beprepared.com/article.asp_Q_ai_E_1092&sid=INEM1084&EID=ALL0811b&lm=emer

To My Extended Family on my Mom's Side

2011-03-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

The beginning of this story is that I am the Laurel Advisor and our lesson tomorrow is on Extended Family. I wanted to bring something to show my girls a little bit about my extended family and my first thought was to bring a couple of the family calendars. So I got out all of the ones that I have-and was surprised to realize I have 7 years worth-pretty cool!

I couldn't believe how much everyone has grown up. The first calendar I have is from 2005 and has pictures of Rachel and Ryan's wedding in it-the first of the cousins to get married. To put that in perspective there are now five married cousins. In the 2005 calendar Jamison, Olivia, and Luke were the little ones, not so anymore, although they're all still cute and fun as ever.

Flipping through the calendars led me to go to Grandma and Grandpa's blog and then I was catching up on reading everyone else's blogs. Anyways, I have discovered that I am not a blogger (sad but true) but I wanted to put a post up about this because I miss everyone. I haven't been to a reunion in a while and I've been able to see some of you here and there thank goodness, but it's just not enough. I love our Davis family and I miss the reunions. I love having cousin time, and teasing with our crazy uncles time, and boogie boarding with our ever young grandparents time, and laugh with the aunts time.

You all mean a whole lot to me whether or not I've seen you recently and I'm really grateful for the good memories I have of everyone and the love that we have in this family. I feel really lucky to have so many people in my life that care about me and I just wanted to say that I care about all of you! Alright I'm done being mushy and sentimental for now. Love to you all.

Megan in Michigan

Starting with Christmas!

2010-06-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a while! So I thought I'd pick up where I left off.

Over Christmas we had tickets to go on the real live Polar Express in northern Arizona. Unfortunately, a terrible accident caused our highway to be cut off. So instead of a train ride we had a fun sleepover at a hotel.

Jadie's first Christmas! Here we are opening presents.
Three of my absolute favorite girls ever-aren't they gorgeous!
We took some family pictures, here are two of our favorite of the bunch.

The Adams family in our ward had us and several other young families over to their beautiful home to dye eggs on Saturday evening, and then come over Sunday morning for brunch and the big egg hunt. It was a ton of fun. Jadie is seen here collecting Easter eggs in her bucket.
These are all of the other Easter egg hunt participants. Fun crowd, not to mention adorable!
ELDER KYLE DAVIS RETURNS! We're elated and Jadie and I were so happy to be able to be there.
Jadie with Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Dix-yay!
Jadie turns 1! I can't really believe it. I had a lot of fun making her birthday cake and throwing a party for her. Thanks to the Needs for letting us use their basement as the party house-it was perfect.

Jadie is dressed up here for a Mother's Day Tea Party themed play group. All the kids had a great time dressing up and making cute crafts.

Jadie received several gorgeous Sunday dresses and really cute outfits-thanks so much everyone!

Jadie has recently begun to respond to our request that she smile for a photo, I love it! She also enjoys wearing very girly things like crowns and will bring them over to me so I can put them on her.
Life is really good and we are so happy.

As far as what's happening with us, Rusty has changed jobs and is working for a Republican candidate for the US House of Representatives named Rocky Raczkowski. If you want to know more about him his site is www.rockyworksforus.com. A new website is coming out soon :).

I am enjoying lots of different things. Some of my greater successes as of late include:

-Baking some really yummy four-grain bread that the whole family loves.

-Working on genealogy and finding a link in Rusty's line that was truly amazing. I got in contact with the person working on the files who is a member in Salt Lake City and found out that Rusty's great grandmother is the sister of this guy's grandma. Anyways, he was kind enough to offer to send us the cards for Rusty's great grandparents so we can go do the temple work and we're really excited. What's amazing is that this one link has information going back to ancestors living in the 1100's. It's really cool stuff and you really feel the Spirit when working on it.

-I just crocheted some little slippers for Jadie that are pretty cute, no pictures yet :).

-Because I am the Laurel advisor I decided I want to do Personal Progress again for various reasons. I'm having a great time doing it. I decided to do the virtue project in 1 month (reading the Book of Mormon) and I beat my goal. I got a lot of new insights this read, so that was great too.

Hmm-Does Anyone Else See It?

2009-11-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

Seasonal Fun

2009-11-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

Raspberry Picking with my other mom friends. My friend Sierra opted to leave her daughter at home, I was only just getting brave enough to bring Jadie on such an outing :).

My friend Miriam and I. Her daughter Elizabeth is one week older than Jadie, and is in a pack on her back in this picture-unfortunately not visible.

Because Rusty missed out on the raspberry picking, we decided to go back the next week to do some apple picking this is the hay ride out to the orchard. Note Jadie's love of her snugli-it is the perfect level for her to suck on. No breaks necessary!Jadie showing off her muscles-I couldn't do that at her age!

So she wasn't interested in being a cow, the snugli was far more interesting to suck on. But really the funniest part of the petting zoo was when a sheep "baahed" at her and she began to cry. Rusty and I had a good laugh. It was a mean scary sheep after all!

Jadie enjoying the fall leaves.

A big thing out here is to go to Cider Mills in the fall season. Fresh cider and homemade doughnuts are hard to beat. We visited one and took some cool pictures with their decor.

Halloween time! Jadie was a ladybug for her first halloween. Fitting since her nickname is Jadiebug :). The first one is Rusty with Jadie and some friends at the Halloween mutual. Rusty is the Priest Quorum Assistant Advisor (teaches on Sundays) and I am now the Laurel advisor. This means family mutual every week!
This is at our ward "trunk or treat" that was moved into the building due to rain. Yes we have had a baby boom in this ward, with another wave on its way. It's a lot of fun to have so many other moms with babies to talk to and relate to.

From left to right we have Elizabeth Franson (baby in the pack from the raspberry pic.) who is a week older than Jadie, Camilla Kesler (flower baby from the picture right above this one) who is a week younger than Jadie, and Jadie! It was so fun to get a picture of these three girls together! What cuties!

Grandpa's Sweetheart!

If Mom says no...ask Grandma!

Jadie makes a fashion statement with bloomers on the head :).
I can't help myself when it comes to photo shoot fun...

Tutu courtesy of Aunt Rachel and Uncle Randy: thank-you!!!

9/11

2009-09-11T08:24:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about the original 9/11 today as I'm sure many other Americans are as well. I first found out what was happening in my high school library and saw the footage of the first plane crashing into the tower and then the second one live.

I remember that things were somber and then began to get panicky as kids couldn't reach their parents who worked in NYC and didn't know if their parent was alive still or not. Everyone went home. I remember that my dad had a meeting in Stanford that day so he wasn't in the city. I don't think he's ever had another meeting either before that day or after in Stanford. I'm so glad he wasn't there and that he was okay!

Months later I sang at a wedding for my teacher's son. The song I sang was a tribute to his best friend who died in 9/11. It was an experience I will remember for a long time.

Ligers

2009-09-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

Rusty is embarrassed by this but I think it's pretty funny.

One day a while ago-before Jadie came-Rusty and I were at the grocery store together. We had gotten all of our items to purchase and were standing in the line. As a gentlemanly gesture Rusty always insists on unloading the groceries onto the belt, loading them into the cart, and then into the car. He was especially insistent about these procedures when I was pregnant.

As we were standing in line I began flipping through some silly magazine to waste the time and so I wasn't really paying attention. When I looked up it was our turn to start loading groceries onto the belt. In fact the belt was almost empty from the last person and I looked at Rusty wondering why he hadn't started putting our groceries on the belt. His eyes were glazed over because he was completely lost in some thought. I snapped him out of it and he began loading. Needless to say I was curious what he was thinking about.

When I asked him about it on the way out to the car, he said in seriousness, "Okay. Well I was trying to imagine what I would do to protect you if a liger walked into the grocery store. "

To which I replied, "Are you being serious?"

And he said, "Well you have to be prepared for emergencies right?"

And I said, "Do you really think that is a likely emergency? Okay, so if a liger did walk into the grocery store what would you do?"

And he said, "Well I was thinking I'd go for a broom and make some kind of spear."

At this point I was either holding the stitch in my side or wiping a tear from my eye due to laughter. But then again it is nice to know my knight in shining armor thinks about these things and is prepared to protect me from the ligers in the world. :)

A Series of Events

2009-08-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

The best attempt of a family picture on our 4th of July outing. Yay for fireworks! Boo for the picture.

Jadie took her first plane ride on July 13th. We made it! Traveling solo with a baby is not my favorite thing to do. Thank goodness for angels like Mary who sit next to you on the plane and are nice to you since they have their own grandchildren and understand.

Jadie snuggled with Aunt Chelsea.
Jadie snuggled with Aunt Natalie.
Jadie attempting to snuggle with Grandma Lora but being challenged by Uncle Tyler.
Jadie getting some prime time with Grandpa Jeff.
The Ty Guy getting ready for Hollywood.

Jadie trying on a swimsuit that happens to be Megan's first swimsuit. My mom saved it and pulled it out. I think the look suits her-ohhhhh very punny! Ok, I'm lame sometimes.
The two compadres.
Tyler enjoying a birthday present. Apparently it works better if you blow in both ends.
Jadie meeting her Great-Grandpa Jack and Great-Grandma Nathel. Between the grandparents and the very kind nurses we all had a great time.
Two great grandchildren having a playdate in Michigan. While I was in Mesa apparently Amber and her fam decided to visit Michigan. Luckily Jadie and I got back in time to see them one afternoon and this is Addie holding Jadie. What a cute pair of girls!
Jadie showing off her dimples.
Jadie's first playdate with a box.
Some Sunday lovin'. I like photoshoots!

Jadie's Baby Blessing

2009-08-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Jadie with Grandpa Jeff at our favorite pizza place-Benito's! Gotta love deep dish.
Jadie with three very important men in her life. Dad, Grandpa Jeff, and Uncle Wayne Tew.
Jadie with all the visitors that came to her blessing. Left to right: Wayne and Patrice Tew, Jeff Davis holding Jadie, Rusty and Megan Curtis.
Jadie with Grandpa Jeff again-he got some good smiles out of her. Note that her dress isn't actually on-which is why her arms are missing. She screamed with that dress on. Yes that does mean she was crying almost the whole blessing.

It wasn't all her fault though-she had her first shots a few days before and was still feeling awful. Add lots of strangers suddenly appearing and wanting to hold her often and an uncomfortable dress and you'll have a sad little girl and a stressed out mama.
Because I didn't get good pictures of our little bright eyes the day of...these are pictures I recently took. She was unhappy to be in the dress again, but we got some better pictures of her.
It was a wonderful event and we were so blessed to have Grandpa Jeff and Uncle Wayne there to be a part of the blessing. After the blessing we had several jabs about her crying. For example: "Well you didn't need to bless her lungs!"

After the blessing we had a delicious steak dinner together and took some pictures. It was a lovely weekend!

One Cute Girly

2009-06-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Jadie after her first real bath.

Sleeping on Dad after a busy day at Church.

Putting up with her Mom and her incessant picture-taking.

Smiling for the camera-yay!

Grandma Lora's Visit

2009-05-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

Photos from Lora's visit to Michigan.

The Jadie / Tyler photo attempt wasn't working out.

Birth of Jadie Lynn Curtis

2009-04-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Jadie Lynn Curtis was born on
April 24, 2009 at 10:03 AM.
She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long.

Baby Updates

2009-03-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

As of December 7th...

As of March 1st...
The awesome bassinet I picked up off of Craigslist is shown here-thank goodness for Craigslist!

This is the blanket I am crocheting for the babe. I wasn't expecting it to look so camouflage-y but that's ok. It'll have pink edging by the time it's done. It has been a good learning experience if nothing else :).
And here's our little muffin...can't resist that perfect little profile!
This is another little one we're pretty fond of. These are from Christmas-go Tyler!

Two good friends.

Yes I am clean AND cute!I know-I make this car look good.
Is this humiliation really necessary big sis?

Snow for Chelsea

2009-03-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Chelsea requested that I take pictures of snow for her.

This is our front yard in Provo.

This is the pathway from our front door to the parking lot in Michigan.

This is a little snow-covered pond you see when you look to the right from our front door.

These are the icicles over our little concrete patio just to the left of our front door.
Let it snow!

Michiganders

2009-01-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

I've never heard very much about Michigan before. Since moving here I've come to realize that Michigan has a strong personality. A few cultural examples follow:

People really do use their hand to reference where in Michigan they are referring to.
The roads really are better when it has snowed a lot because the potholes are filled.
Michigan lefts exist and people here truly believe that they make things go faster.
It is more likely that it will snow any given day than not.
Anyone local is in love with "Up North."

There is a lot to love. The people are all very nice. There are a lot of beautiful woods in the area. Our community is awesome. Our little town had an event this past weekend called "Fire and Ice." Along main street different ice sculptures were on display, there were dog sled races going on, and fireworks shows on Friday and Saturday evenings. Saturday was particularly cool because our apartment is so close to the town center we were able to have a clear view of the fireworks show from our bedroom window. How many chances do you get to enjoy fireworks while in the comfort of your own bed? It was pretty awesome.

Travel-mania

2008-12-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

December 10th Rusty got a job offer in Michigan, which we accepted.

December 11th we found out that our little baby is a girl.

December 12th we began packing.

The next week was a whirlwind of finals, packing, and preparing to leave Provo. We left Provo on Saturday December 20th and stayed in Vegas until Monday morning when we left for and then arrived at Mesa, AZ to see the fam. After a wonderful Christmas we were on the road again on December 26th (my mother's birthday). We left at 8:00 AM and drove until 2:30 AM. We slept for four hours at a Holiday Inn in Oklahoma, ate breakfast and then drove until we got to O'Fallon, Illinois. Day three of the road trip we made it to Michigan. Here are some pics of the ride across our beautiful country!

The door to the right underneath the balcony is the front door to our apartment. We made it!

Our first week in Michigan was wonderful, especially since we had the chance to hang out with our dear friends the Needs family. We moved into a two bedroom apartment and have been trying to get organized.

January 3rd I called my mom from the airport and asked her to guess what I was doing. The answer...traveling! I got to go to a conference in Indianapolis, Indiana from the 3rd to the 7th. The conference was for American Humanics and was the last thing I had to do to get my minor and graduate.

Today is January the 8th and I am home, done traveling for a while at least, and feeling pretty good about it!