Kirtland Trip

This past weekend the Miami LDSSA students (plus me and Chip) traveled up to Kirtland, Ohio to see several church historical sites. We packed so many activities into the 24 hours we were there! We saw a couple of movies at the Visitors Center (my mom knows all about Mormons and how much they like their movies.....), toured historic Kirtland village, took a tour of the Kirtland Temple and their visitors center, and went to the Isaac Morely Farm and the John Johnson Farm. Whew, we were busy.

Kirtland is only a half hour away from Cleveland, in a beautiful part of Ohio. The leaves were changing colors while we were there. Bright orange, yellow, red and green mixed together to make gorgeous fall foliage. It was also freezing when we were there. Hey, wait a minute, wasn't last week (when we were at the Renaissance Festival) 85 degrees outside? Yes... yes it was. Ohio is pretty ridiculous.

Casey and Rachel in the Newell K. Whitney Store

It was pretty neat to explore Kirtland as it appeared in the 1830's. Several sites had the original buildings still standing, and we were able to see how residents enjoyed everyday life back then. Something interesting to note was the use of color in many homes. Floorboards, doors, fireplaces and fabrics were all bright and colorfully painted, depending upon the family's wealth and resources.

Our group had a ton of fun being together. We had a little surprise when I arrived at my hotel room to discover that the sofa bed I had planned on sleeping in came with a mysterious stain....

The look on Rachel's face says it all......needless to say, I decided to play it safe and sleep in another bed that night. Sketchy!

On the way home we stopped in Akron, where my sisters used to go to school. We ate at the Applebees that Brianna apparently ate at several times a week when she was there. Glad to know our family continues to keep them in business.

All in all, it was such a good time! I felt the spirit of the early Saints as they struggled with hardships, persecutions and countless other trials, all for the gospel which meant so much to them. Every time I go to Kirtland I learn something new. I look forward to going back again in the future!

We Love the Knight Time

This past Saturday Chip, Trey and I went to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. It was a great time, good food, neat costumes, and awesome entertainment!

Ow.

Nice pants, guys. Only at a Renaissance Festival could you get away with those

We saw a real joust, sword fighting, a wedding parade, royal procession, and people eating giant turkey legs! The picture above is from the pirate stunt show. I'm always a fan of anything pirate-related, yarrrrr!

Where did all the water go? And why are we in Ohio?!

Unfortunately the day was also unseasonably hot, so we couldn't stay all day. There was so much more to do and see, like sword jugglers, fire-eaters, the list goes on! We'll have to go back and visit next year.

Bowl-o-Rama

Recently our little family went bowling with a bunch of friends at Oxford Lanes...the classiest place to spend your Friday night. The night was replete with unexpected strikes, gutter balls, granny bowling, and even some celebration dancing courtesy of Lara....



<---Dancing Queen


Every time I bowl, I ask for bumper bowling, but they never let me (probably because I'm not under the age of 12). I'm not that great at the sport (I pick bowling balls based on how pretty they are), but I have a ton of fun! Inevitably I become the bowler everyone else measures their success by, such as "I didn't bowl too well tonight, but at least I beat Alissa...). Haha, just kidding. It was a great time!

Trey's Four-Month Checkup!

Looking appropriately concerned

About three weeks ago (I know, I know, I take forever to post things....) Trey went to the doctor for his four-month well baby checkup. He's grown...of course. He is up to 16.2 lbs. and 27" long, yay! He's a healthy, happy baby and developing just fine.

At the doctor's we found out a few things.... first, he's not really teething like we thought he was, he's just drooling and chewing a lot. He also has eczema and acid reflux, both of which may or may not clear up in the next few months. He takes baby zantac medicine for his heartburn, and we switched to unscented, gentle soap, lotion and laundry detergent for his eczema. We also can't use fabric softener or dryer sheets. All of these things give him an itchy, uncomfortable rash. As soon as we made the switches, his skin cleared up and he's feeling much better!

Naturally, he received more vaccinations, and naturally he was quite upset. I've also noticed a pattern - as soon as the "vaccination nurse" gives him his shots, she disappears out of the room as fast as she can! I thought about it and figured that if my job basically made kids cry every day, then I would vanish asap and let the parents do damage control. Sneaky.

Trey's First Visit to Columbus!

A couple of weeks ago Trey and I visited Columbus to see his Great-grandpa Burke and visit other family. We saw Grandpa Burke was in the hospital, but don't worry - he's out now and feeling much better! We were able to see some of Trey's great-aunts and uncles, too. It was so nice to catch up with family.

We also got to see the place where Aunt Shannon works - Taco Del Mar. Both of our families loooove Mexican food, and Shannon eats Mexican food at least twice, sometimes three times a week.... I think she might turn into a burrito any day now.

Nice mustache ---->

Girls Camp and Piqua

Girls Camp for our stake was at the beginning of August. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay the entire time, or any of the nights, so Chip's mom Tracy and his sister Lara offered to look after Trey while I was away during the day at camp. They're so helpful!

As luck would have it, Chip's grandfather - Grandpa Bud - was visiting Piqua when we arrived, so Trey was able to meet his Great-Grandfather! We even got a picture with four generations of Leon Wolfords.

The girls had a great time canoeing, hiking, building fires, going rappelling, learning first aid and even making tie-dye shirts. Chip and I were able to make it to testimony meeting Friday night, which was really special. All in all, it was a wonderful week, and we can't wait until next year!

"Working" Weekend

So this is the first time that Chip will have ever posted something here. Usually Alissa is more creative and does a better job with these sort of things - but hey, I don't want everyone to get the wrong perspective on our family. Let me tell you how things really are around here.

The fact of the matter is, since Trey has been born, life has changed a lot. For example, instead of napping two to three hours a day, Alissa naps all the time. It's well deserved... I'm just saying, she's always sleeping. Case in point - today.

I'm going to be going on an extended business trip really for the first time since Trey was born. So Alissa and I agreed that we needed to get a lot done this Saturday so that she didn't have to deal with chores. So I wake up early so I can drop the car off to get it serviced, come back and help some of our neighbors out, take Alissa's car to get washed, and return ready to work only to find the above... The dynamic duo is once again doing what they do best - posing for photos while sleeping.


Oh well - at least this is one thing that I know is waiting for me after a long morning/afternoon of work.

Wait... nevermind, turns out this cake is for the neighbors.

Please send me food.

Family Visit!

This past week my Dad and Cindy came to visit Trey! It had been a little while since Dad saw Trey, and he remarked how much bigger he was! I guess he has gained about 4 pounds and 5 inches since he was born.

It was a great time, we had lunch together (yummy Chinese food), played with Trey, and caught up on family news. As you can see in the picture, Trey has just discovered he has hands, and he loves to try to see if he can fit his own fist inside his mouth. I guess he inherited Chip's big mouth, haha. We love it when family comes to visit, and had such a fun time with Dad and Cindy!

Chelsea and Branden's Wedding

This past Saturday, July 12th, our family attended the wedding of Chelsea and Branden Thompson. It was held at Kumler Chapel on the Miami University campus, a beautiful church modeled after a chapel in Normandy, France. We woke up that morning to lots of thunderstorms, but luckily they cleared up by the time the ceremony began. Rain on a wedding day is supposed to be good luck, of course maybe that saying was coined by someone who had rain on their own wedding day!

We got to see lots of friends Chip and I graduated with over a year and a half ago, most of whom had not met Trey. He was so alert and quiet when we arrived, but once the music began, he fell asleep right away. I think it's because I always have his radio in his nursery set to the classical station while he sleeps, and now whenever he hears classical, it's like Pavlov's dog, he's conditioned to go right to sleep! The ceremony was beautiful, with many of our musically talented friends performing.

We decided not to attend the reception, which was in downtown Cincinnati, thinking it would be a little too much for Trey for one day. We did however meet up with some friends at Wendy's for lunch, still in our formal clothes. We made Wendy's a classy place that morning!

Fourth of July Picnic: Alissa's dark side is exposed

This past Fourth of July the Oxford Branch had a picnic on the Miami University campus. It was tons of fun, even if it was unseasonably cold and rainy. There was tons of good food, great company, and neat games.

Chip and I won the egg toss game, at the end of which I got Chip with the egg.... Then we took part in the water balloon toss, and as you can imagine Chip was looking for revenge. At the end of the game we noticed a random water balloon on the ground and both lunged for it. I went to stomp on it to break it, while at the same time Chip reached his hand down to grab it up, and I ended up smashing his hand with my foot. Boo. I felt so horrible! Chip was sweet and didn't yell at me, though he did move away to walk it off. In the end, he couldn't use his right hand for the next 4 days. Not only was that bad, but everyone at the picnic looked at me like I was a monster! It's like they discovered this dark side of me they never knew before. Here's a picture of me being very sorry holding Chip's hand!

In the end, we all had a good time, and I think Trey enjoyed his first Independence Day!

Trey's 2-month Checkup!

Trey had his 2-month well-baby visit this morning. He weighed in at 12lb. 12.5oz., and was 25 inches long, that's up from 10lb. 12oz. and 22'' long last month. He's getting to be a big baby! He is already growing out of most of his clothes. I'll have to go get him more in bigger sizes soon, or else I'll have a naked baby, ha.

Part of today's visit also included getting five different vaccinations (4 injections and one by mouth), which was unpleasant to say the least. I felt so terrible, Trey was so happy and quiet right up until the nurse gave him his shots, then he howled for about 10 minutes. I'd be angry too if I was in his situation. Luckily they don't do that to adults (4 shots at once) or else we'd never show up to the doctor's office ;).

Luckily, he's sleeping right now, which is nice for us both. The doctor's office schedules infant well-baby checkups first thing in the morning, before all the sick kids come in and bring all kinds of germs to the office. Translation - our appointments are always at the crack of dawn, which means less sleep for mommy. Naptime!

The Beginning...

Hi everybody! The Wolford family has decided to start a blog. So many of our loved ones were asking for updates about our little family that we decided to post our adventures online! Thank goodness Al Gore invented the internet ;). Anyways, check back often to see what adventures we've had, we'll try to update as often as we can!