WOW Christmas!

Well, we have made it through almost two weeks of Family Christmas gatherings. We started in Odebolt on the 22nd of December with the Scanlan's. Here is a photo of all of the cousin's that were at Grandma & Grandpa's. Jordan loved playing with Cousin Ben and still talks about if this car is Ben's or Jordan's and tells us lots of the things that they did together. Who knew that the 3 year olds knew what cars were theirs better than the adults that bought them.

(Jordan, Emily, Ben, Breanna, Amanda, Alexa, & Brittany)

Then to Audubon on Christmas Eve at Taylor Hill with the Levis bunch and was quickly followed by Christmas Morning at Great Grandma Nielsen's.

On Christmas Eve, Jordan was able to keep up with both Megan & Madison although it was hard sometimes to tell who was following who. All three of them knew they were the stars of the night and made sure that every adult was watching when they did cute things. Then Christmas morning, Jordan was the only kid there and again, KNEW he was the center of attention and took full advantage.

(This was Jordan's response to getting his picture taken AGAIN, at about 10:00pm on Christmas Eve.)

Saturday, December 29th was the party with Nielsen's in Waverly. As usual Jordan had a great time with Megan & Madison. Grandma had a cake and the kids helped her decorate it so that we could celebrate the birthday of Jesus.

(Megan, Grandma, Jordan & Madison singing Happy Birthday)

All of these parties gave Jason lots of pictures to take and Jeni to label and try to get into some kind of order for everyone's viewing pleasure. Here are just a few of them, but to see all of them try these links:

Scanlan Christmas2007

Levis Christmas 2007

Nielsen Christmas 2007

We wish everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year.

The Scanlan's

by Jeni

Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas is coming very fast and the weather this weekend forced me into getting some things ready. Jordan & I set up the tree on Saturday then Sunday we decided to take a family photo for our Christmas cards this year. So, here is a preview of what the might be on your card.

by Jeni

Thanksgiving Travels

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. This is one of the first years in some time that we have actually traveled for Thanksgiving, usually we stay home and have a small "Thanksgiving Dinner" here. This year was different, not only did we go to family for Thanksgiving, we also stayed around for a SURPRISE birthday party for Jack.

Thursday morning we left our house to go to Jacks for Thanksgiving where most of the Scanlan family was going to be. Jordan was really looking forward to playing with Cousin Ben and realized once we were there that Cousin Alexa was a good playmate also. He even shared his cars with "my Lexa".

The boys spent lots of time playing with the trucks, cars and tractors. We discovered that they are a lot alike, or at least are when they are together. This was a favorite way to play with the cars.

While the "little boys" were playing with cars the "big boys" went on a geocaching trip.

Friday and Saturday morning we kind of hid from Jack, since he thought we were heading home. But Saturday night......... SURPRISE!

Ben & Jordan are getting ready to surprise Uncle Jack with one of his gifts.

SURPRISE!

To see more photos of Thanksgiving, check out Jason's smug mug site:

ScanlanThanksgiving

by Jeni

Jordan's Newest Toy!

Papa brought the four wheeler up to our house a few weeks ago and Jordan LOVES that he can drive it "all by myself"! For only being 3 he does really good driving it around the yard and between the cars in the drive-way. Mir followed Jordan around the yard, just in case, on his first tour.

WATCH ME GO!

by Jeni

Feeding the Birds

Daddy & Jordan keep the birds well fed. Daddy holds the feeders while Jordan is great at pouring the food into them.

Jordan really looks forward to helping Daddy with just about anything, even though this day it was VERY cold he wanted to help.

After feeding the birds we like to sit in the baw window and watch what birds come to the feeders. Jordan's newest fun time is "taking pictures" of the birds with his phone.



by Jeni

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat

Smell my Feet

Give me Something Good to Eat

As hard as we tried, he just wouldn't sing the song once we got to the homes. Jordan sang all the way to New Hampton tonight. But do you think he would say ANYTHING when we got to Uncle John's house? NO! Anyway, here is our little fireman.

by Jeni

Sunny Sunday morning

Today the weather was great and we decided to go outside to a local park and get some pictures of nature and our "little ham", Jordan. The park is along the river and we ended up getting some great shots of Jordan and the great colors of the trees behind him.

Enjoy these photos, you can also see more at Jason's other photo site.

ScanlanPhotos

Thought maybe I would add a picture of our primary photographer.....Daddy!

by Jeni

Birthday Weekend for Cousins

On Saturday Cousins Megan & Madison had their birthday party for friends and of course it wouldn't be complete if Mommy, Grandpa & Jordan didn't joined in the fun. Grandma would have been there too but she wasn't feeling well. Grandma did make the cake and gave Mommy instructions on how to finish it but Grandma could have done so much better.

After cake & ice cream, we opened presents then went outside to play.....

And the entire day wore Jordan out!!!

by Jeni 10-29-07

Busy Weekend

Well, It has been pretty busy around here of the last week. First of all, Jordan decided that he wanted to use the big boy potty. It has gone very well. He goes into the bathroom and goes potty whenever he has to. This was a challenge this past weekend as we made the 4hr drive to Audubon for Jeni's Cousin's wedding. We just put the potty in the back of the van and just pulled over whenever he had to go. (He is going to hate graduation)




Before the wedding, we took our photo in the Audubon city Park.





Then on Sunday, we went through Swan Lake on the way home and Jordan and Jeni fed the goats. One of them pulled on Jordan's shirt. He wasn't sure about that. Than one sneezed on him. He was telling me again tonight how the goat sneezed on his arm.



Finally we decided to stop at uncle Jack's. There we got to feed his cows. That was pretty exciting also.

By Jason

You can see more photos at http://scanlanphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/3371813/1/193658283

Jordan Making Supper

Sad Weekend at the Scanlan Home

Friday didn't begin the weekend very well. I had to work and had taken Jordan to "Mir" and Papa's for the day. Jason decided to take the day off and get some much needed clean-up done around the outside of the buildings and the house. A very long story made short, Kesley fell asleep under the truck that Jason was loading stuff into and didn't here that the truck was moving and Jason ran over her back half. This broke her back legs and most likely hurt some of her internal organs also because Jason said she was bleeding. I came home early and went with Jason to take her to the vet where they put her down.

We decided that it was probably for the best. She was getting VERY old, she had already lost her hearing and I am not overly sure how much of her sight she still had. Our biggest worry was how to explain Kelsey not coming back to Jordan but I really don't think he has even realized that she isn't around. We went to Waterloo today to pick up a few things and I decided to take him into PetSmart to get a new ID tag for Katie since she lost hers long ago. Jordan did keep telling me that we needed to get one for "doggie too". He never called her Kelsey, he always called her doggie.

So, we are down to one dog and sometimes that is even WAY TO MUCH!!!

by Jeni

Day at the Fair

Saturday, Jeni went shopping with her mom so Jordan and I went to the Big Four Fair in Nashua. We watched the horses for a while, seen some rabbits, and then he was determined to ride the cars. He has never been on a ride like this so it surprised me when he wanted to ride them so bad. First we had to go get tickets and then put him on the ride. Boy, did he ever like that. He is really coming out of his shell and getting a bit braver. I think this is a positive result of day care.

You can see more photos at http://scanlanphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/3371813/1/190417772

By Jason 09/03/07

"Storm Shelter"

Some of you know how afraid of the lighting and thunder Jordan is and it has been storming around here ALOT lately so daddy built Jordan his own Storm Shelter to keep him safe. Only thing is, with as much as Jordan moves around, mommy had to keep rebuilding the shelter.

by Jeni

Storm is over, time to come out.

Saturday's activities

We are receiving much need rain today. Jordan and I went to the Tripoli Parade this morning. For those that don't know, I am a member of the Frederika First Responders and an associate member of the Tripoli Ambulance. We rode in the parade in the ambulance. It rained most of the parade but there was still a good turnout. Jordan was not in the mood for photos today so didn't get any from the parade.

Tonight we had a couple of Mourning Doves so I did get some photos of them. Hope you enjoy and we would love to hear your comments on our posts. You can click comments under each post and leave your message.

By Jason

Busy weekend for Jordan

Jordan had a very busy weekend. Friday we went fishing, Saturday he and daddy built a bird house, went shopping at Menards, then he got to visit with Grandma & Papa Nielsen. Sunday we decided to go to a local park that has a variety of animals that we got to see. Cougar, baby ducks, bears, baby deer, & buffalo. Jordan ran almost everywhere! He was so tired by the time we got back in the van to come the 45 mins home. -- Jeni

Concentrating on bringing in the bobber!

Our master stainer!

Jordan's purchase at Menards.

The boys say it is for mom, I know that it really is for them.

Watching the baby ducks swim. He really wanted in that pen with them.

Watching the baby deer, daddy deer & mommy deer.

The finished bird house hanging in the tree.

Where are the birds going to live???

Saturday Morning Activity

Well, Jeni is working today so My little helper and I decided to build a nesting box for the birds. Jordan is getting to be the little helper. I built the box and Jordan stained it.




We still need to get a drill bit to put a hole in it. I didn't have a big enough one so we are going to head to Menards and see what we can find.

By Jason

Friday Fishing Trip

Friday I didn't have to work, because I have to work Saturday, and I talked Jason into taking the day off to spend with Jordan & I. We decided that we would take Jordan over to Split Rock and go fishing. We didn't catch anything but had a good time anyway. The concentration that they put into fishing, I didn't realize it took that much. - Jeni


These photos were taken by me with Jason's new camera, probably not as "professional" as Jason takes.

Watching Birds

I had vacation the week of the 4th of July this year. On Friday of that week, Jordan and I had to go to Charles City, which is about 30 or so miles away, to pick-up a part for my fire radio. While there, we stopped at the local farm store and bought a couple of bird feeders and all the trimmings. We set-up the bird feeder outside our bay window. Jordan gets excited when he sees birds eating. Here is a picture of an one of many American Goldfinch that visit. The photo was taken through our bay window.

By Jason

Moms turn

I thought that I would just post some of the more recent pictures that have been taken of Jordan for your viewing pleasure. Please check back to see what we have been up to. With Jason's new camera I am sure there will be LOTS of new pictures to share. -Jeni

On Father's Day weekend, we made the trip to Odebolt to see Grandma & Grandpa Scanlan. Grandpa just got his tractor redone so we had to have our pictures taken on it.

Jordan loves to spend time outside, on the deck or just walking around the lawn and chasing the dogs. Here he is taking a break on daddy's new chair.

A couple of weeks ago we stained the deck, and of course Jordan had to help. This picture was taken about 5 minutes after he started. Notice the shirt is already stained, what you can't see is the stain on the other cheek. At least he had a good time. If he wouldn't have helped, I am not sure if we would have needed the third gallon of stain or not.

Jason and Jordan take Picture of Moms Roses

Jordan and myself decided to play with the new camera so we decided to take a couple of closeups of moms rose bushes by our deck. Here are a couple that I thought turned out interesting. I am still pretty green at taking pictures with a camera other than a point and shoot so it is taking me a bit to get used to it.

By Jason