This was our first Christmas away from family. It was sad to not be home, but thankfully we have made some very great friends out here in Maryland so we have been celebrating the holidays with them. These are some pictures we took Christmas Eve.

This is Libby's favorite outfit for dress up. Her grandma Clark gave it to her for her birthday. She thinks she is pretty cute when she is dressed up like a princess.

It was Saturday and my friend Shelly and I were on our way to Walmart. Libby was snacking on some Almonds and peanuts in her car seat while we drove. When we pulled into the parking lot, Libby started telling me "ouchy, hurt" I went to get her from her car seat when I noticed she was pointing to her nose. I bent down to look up her nose to see what on earth would be hurting her. There sat a chunk of almond lodged just far enough in her nose that I could not reach it. She was now bawling hysterically screaming ouch. I began to get anxious as I realized I could not get it without tweezers. Shelly ran to buy tweezers from Walmart and I called my Mom to get advice on the problem as I had no idea if I should fish around in her nose with the tweezers to get it out. I was scared I might actually push it up higher. My Mom told me I would probably have to take her to the ER to have them remove it. I tried to get her to blow her nose, but it didn't work. When Shelly got back with the tweezers we tried holding Libby down to get it out, I really didn’t want to take a trip the ER. Libby was not going to let me get NEAR her nose and was certainly letting me know she was not happy about the whole situation. Finally, I decided to just go to the ER as I knew I wasn't going to get it out on my own. As I buckled her back into her car seat she calmed down and began to sniffing. I started yelling "don’t' sniff Libby, don't sniff!" It was too late. I bent over to examine the damage and I could barely make out the shape of the almond. She had sniffed it so far up her nose you could barely see it. I dropped off Shelly, picked up Dave and about 30min later we were in the ER strapping Libby to a bed so she couldn't move a muscle as the doctor and two nurses fished the Almond from her nose. Libby was bawling so hard her face was bright red and you could see fear in her eyes. I almost started to cry just wanting the doctor to hurry and get it out! The almond was getting soggy from being in her nose so long so he just kept pulling chunks of it out, but not the whole thing. When he finally got it out he held it up and started laughing. He said he could not believe how big the almond piece was and he wondered how it could fit so far up her nose. The nurses agreed they had never seen anything quite like it. Immediately after getting it out Libby was saying "all better, feel better." They unstrapped Libby and she jumped into my arms. She kept telling the doctor through her tears "thank you, all better, thank you, no more, no more" she wanted him to know she wasn’t putting stuff up her nose anymore! I hope she remembers to really not do that again! It was quite the day. The picture I have posted does not do justice to the actual size of the almond as there were chunks missing from the doctor trying to get it out, but this was the biggest piece.

Libby decided that her coloring would look much better on the kitchen wall. To her shock I did not praise her for what a pretty picture she had painted, but I gave her a rag and told her that she needed to help me clean it off the wall. She seemed to think that was fun for some reason, but when she was sent to "time out" after wards she started to re-think her future plans of graffiti.

Trunk Or Treat

Our ward had its Trunk or Treat this past Saturday. Libby loved going from car to car. Once she relized she got candy at every car she went to, she started to literally run from car to car. She would barely slow down enough to let the people put the candy in her basket. It was pretty funny.

Libby really wanted a sucker that someone gave her but we told her she needed to wait until we got home because she makes such a mess when she eats them. She was not happy about that at all!

If you can't tell what are costumes are, Dave is a biker, Liberty is a pirate, and I am a cowgirl.

Libby helped us carve our pumpkin this year. We really thought that she would especially love when it was time to take all the seeds out, but it turns out she wanted nothing to do with it. She kept saying "to messy mama."

Pictures from our recent adventures

This picture was taken at the park on base. Libby was scared to go near the hole in the tree at first but after I told her that it was a "hut" she was thrilled.

This was taken at Fort Mchenry in Baltimore. My parents came to visit us so we were able to see some of the historical sights. This place was so neat!

This was an underground storage on Fort Mchenry where they kept the gun powder so that the cannons that were being fired at there base would not come in contact with the powder and explode.

When Dave came home there was a photographer from Chicago at the airport. She started taking pictures, here are a couple of the pictures that she sent me. She sent us a dvd slideshow, a book with hard copies, and even set up a website with everthing on it. She did all this for free!

Our Trip To Washington D.C.

Daddy was so busy enjoying the sites he let Libby's stroller roll into a parked car. He wasn't quite used to being a dad again.

Libby wasn't to happy about it.

Libby's new favorite place to hid. She thinks she is pretty tricky.
Libby and I at P.F. Changs....Dave's idea of course. :)
Libby and I come to this park and feed the ducks about once a week. She loves it.

Dave made this nice hat of bubbles for Libby the other day. It was a hit!She kept wanting us to hold her up to the mirror so she could see it.

I know this is a goofy face, but it is so weird...Libby makes this face almost everytime I ever try and take her picture. Sometimes she will just do it for no reason, almost as entertainment. She has such a funny personality. I must say she keeps things pretty interesting around here. We love her, thats for sure!

Mothers Day 2008

Dave was still in Florida, but he made sure to still remember it was Mothers Day. He called my sister and asked her to get me a braclet that I had told him about. It turned out to be a great day.

Liberty's party was small, but we had a good time. We didn't have any furniture in our house yet, if you were wondering why everything looked so bare!

Dave, Maren, and Libby Clark

Family Picture, taken while visting Dave in Florida. We are so glad that he is finally home.