Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures

Just a few pictures . . .

We recently experienced some flooding in our area. I'd never seen flooding like this-- so we had to join all the other people gawking at the flood waters. This is the park we like to frequent:


These are both taken from the main road:



Here is our baby girl enjoying the swings at the park a few days before the flooding:


Isn't this guy handsome? These two girls LOVED having Uncle Spencer visit a few weeks ago.


Here's Allie enjoying some of her birthday presents:



Here's our Easter fun:


Lindsay really does love her Uncle Jesse.



***Note: there was a picture here from the Easter egg hunt at our friends' house. However, as pointed out by some of the comments, there was some inappropriate crackage going on. We apologize for any mental anguish we may have caused to the person whose crack was showing, and to anyone who viewed said crackage.

How random can you get?

Here's a quick update on the last month in pictures:

We had a great Christmas. Here you see Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, and the cow. I played the part of angel/shepherd/wise man/donkey. You see now why I didn't take a picture with me in it. My costume would have been very confusing.


The kids LOVED their Christmas presents. This is Allison saying, "Thank you Grandma!!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new clothes."


Santa Claus lined up all of the Allison's stuffed animals so that they could watch the kids open their presents. Lindsay sort of blends right in, doesn't she?


Allison was badly in need of a makeover before Christmas. This is before:


This is the after.


Lindsay enjoyed hanging out with her dad for Christmas.


Here is my brain spewing some thoughts that I've been thinking on lately:

I smell like maple syrup. I've been taking a supplement lately that makes me smell like maple. So if you have a sudden craving for pancakes when you are around me, you'll know why.

Recently Allison has been fascinated by baptism. We've had many a baptism of her toys in the tub, but I had to put my foot down when she wanted to baptize Lindsay.

Steve and I had a really fun date a little while ago. We would like to have an international night about once a month. This month was Cuban night. We dropped the kids off at a friends house and made dinner together. We had this yummy Cuban black bean soup and picadillo empanadas. We had SO much fun.

Allison told me the other night that she wanted to go to Kentucky. How did she learn about Kentucky, you ask? Beats me. But I think that she may have somehow picked up the strange idea that the My Little Ponies live in Kentucky. Anyway, if someone knows a good horse farm we can visit in Kentucky, we're ready for a field trip.

Okay, that's enough randomness for today.

Our Christmas List

Dear Santa,

We weren't sure if our Christmas list arrived at the North Pole (we don't really trust the postal service). We thought that this might be an appropriate forum to share our Christmas list with you. We are so grateful for the advances in technology that make this possible.

Steve:
Steve has been a very good boy this year. All he really wants for Christmas is some time off to spend doing this:


Jamie:
Jamie's list could be very long, but she will try not to be greedy. Mostly Jamie wants more time to be spent with this guy:

But if you can't do that, she would like a maid or a year's worth of cleaning service. Thank you very much.

Allison:
Allison has really loved watching Frosty the Snowman over and over and over this year. So what she wants for Christmas is for a magic hat for this gentleman:

She also needs a new hat so she will stop wearing inappropriate things on her head like this:

Or some new clothes so that she doesn't have to wear this all the time:


Lindsay:
Lindsay really would like a new pacifier, we think:

But we had a hard time understanding what she was trying to ask for, so maybe you can figure it out:

Sincerely,

The Gammons

News from the front

It's official.

The parents took a huge hit tonight in the sleeping wars. The battle was almost lost. Enemy #1 and Enemy #2 pulled out the heavy artillery--the piercing, shrieking cry of Enemy #2 AND the bum-scratching-rash-that-keeps-her-awake-and-smelling-like-stinky-rear-end of Enemy #1.

It was a lengthy battle, one full of tears, yelling, and temper-tantrums--from both the parents and their pint-size enemies. The parents had to fight with limited resources. One of the parent soldiers was MIA because he took the night off and spent it taking care of injured kids at the hospital. That left the cranky, emotional female soldier, and she is currently experiencing a little PTSD. And a little PMS.

We're thinking about calling in back up. If the Super-Nanny isn't available, then we might have to call in the Marines.

Help.

A Friday Favorite

My good friend Stephani blogs every Friday about something she loves. Stephani and her husband are currently out of the country on vacation, so while she is gone I thought I would steal her Friday Favorite idea.

I have two Friday Favorites to blog about today. One of the things I miss the most about St. Louis is Eckert's farm. Eckert's is a pick-your-own-produce farm that has a fun fall festival each year. I have yet to find something akin to it here. I miss the apple picking, hayrides, and the FABULOUS gift shop and restaurant at Eckerts.

While on our recent vacation, we went to another fun fall activity. Gardner Village is a collection of shops and restaurants set up in an old mill and factories. They have different events throughout the year. Around Halloween they decorate the old mill and shops with giant witches. They have hayrides with a witch and they encourage customers to dress up in their costumes while they shop. It was hilarious to see a bunch of middle-aged women dressed as witches while they perused the boutiques. We had a great time!

My brother took some cute pictures of the kids.



Then we took some pictures of these strange, but good-looking people.

We're seriously thinking about hiring a dating service for my sisters. Anybody know any single men between the age of 25-30? (NO LOSERS NEED APPLY! MY DAD OWNS SEVERAL LARGE RIFLES AND IS AN EXCELLENT SHOT.)

This man is my real Friday Favorite. Look at how cute he is!

Halloween fashion show

Did you know that November is National Blog Posting Month? The people at this website have issued a challenge to post something everyday during the month of November. Can you imagine? I would never get anything done--I would be too busy reading blogs all day. So I don't know if I can make the challenge, but I thought I would start by at least trying to post every day for the rest of this week. We'll see.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids for Halloween. We went through many options to arrive at our FANTASTIC final costumes. (I think that all kids must go through this, Dory!) Allison originally wanted to be a princess. As you can see here, we really like princesses at our house.


Next she decided that she wanted to be the black Spiderman. I think she got the idea from this little friend. Allison ran around the house for several days singing the Spiderman song and shooting pretend spiderwebs out of her wrists. I was glad when the Spiderman costume was no longer a popular option at our house.

Allison went through many other costume ideas--clowns, mermaids, pumpkins, etc. I personally thought it was funny when she decided to try out the whole Lucha Libre look. I was going to buy her some stretchy pants, but Steve thought that it was a little too macho for his little girl.

(Yes, that is a pair of Little Mermaid underpants on her head. Don't ask.)

Steve and Allison then decided to try out the popular pirate theme.

(Yes, I do know it is not politically correct to make fun of handicapped pirates. I had a serious talk with Steve.)

Lindsay decided to get in on the action. She liked being the queen of the house, but Allison didn't like anyone else moving in on her current title.


Then Lindsay thought she would try to recreate that scene from A Christmas Story--the one where the kid can't move because he's got too many winter clothes on.



So here are the final costumes. This is Allison as a ladybug princess. I had her ladybug costume from last year, and I didn't want to make or buy a new one. Allison became really fixated on being a princess, so we compromised by letting her be a ladybug princess. That way, all I had to do was give her a crown and a wand. (Thanks for the idea, Lindsay P.)


Our little Lindsay was the cutest bunny on the block. Okay, she was the only bunny on the block, but she was still cute.


Steve decided to go a little crazy and be a doctor for Halloween. I decided to be a witch for Halloween--that way I didn't have to dress up too much.


I hope you enjoyed our Halloween fashion show. We had a great time trick-or-treating with the kids and spending time with Rachel and Jesse. Have a good day!

I love my lips . . .

Twenty points to anyone who can figure out where I got the name of this post. I thought I would lighten the mood around here a little by posting some interesting pictures that I've found on my camera recently.

We have been discussing our "Extreme Makeover" options around here. Allison thought that she'd like to see what she would look like with lip-plumping treatments.



She looked so good that I thought that I would try it too.



Steve wanted to see what he would look like with cheek implants.



Lindsay thinks we are all a little crazy. She is quite confidant in her own good looks.

Moving On

I don't know how to start this blog. I've had so many feelings and thoughts swirling around inside me today that I don't know how to begin. Today was our daughter's birthday. Elizabeth would have been four years old today.

When we lost Elizabeth, we felt surrounded by the love of our family and friends. So many of them seemed to know just the right thing to say and do to touch our hearts. We appreciated that love.

Steve's boss at the time, however, came to him one day and said, "I was sorry to hear that your baby died. Um. Well. You know, these things happen, and we move on." Then he turned around and walked away.

Steve was stunned. Surgeons are known for their lack of tact, but this seemed pretty insensitive. This conversation became a running joke between us--whenever something bad would happen, we would just say "these things happen, and we move on." As time has passed, I have come to see this conversation a little differently though.

Bad things DO happen to everyone. People lose their jobs, spouses get sick, children lose their way, and sometimes we lose the people that we love. These things happen, and the only way we can heal is to keep going, to move on. Some days it is excruciatingly painful to keep going, but we have to move forward with our lives.

Steve and I felt overwhelmed by the love of our Heavenly Father at the time of Elizabeth's birth and death. As I listened to the talk given by Elder Tenorio during the Sunday afternoon conference, I understood a little how he felt when his children died. The blessings of the temple are extremely comforting. Even though it was hard to lose our child and to be faced with the possibility that we might never have children, the concept of eternal families enabled us to move forward with our lives.

At the time that Elizabeth died, I didn't want the pain to go away. I thought that if I stopped hurting, that I would forget. I was wrong. As I have "moved on" the pain has lessened, but I have not forgotten our sweet baby. Today we talked to Allison for the first time about her sister Elizabeth. We showed her the baby blanket and Elizabeth's picture and we told her that she has a sister that lives with Heavenly Father. Steve even baked a cake for Elizabeth's birthday and we had a little party. I was amazed at how much Allison understood. She was excited to have another sister and kept talking about how she has two sisters--Lindsay and Elizabeth. It was one of the sweetest experiences I have ever had.

I have rambled for too long. The bottom line is that I AM happy. Our family is happy. I would not change the experiences that we have had and I am so grateful for our blessings.

Happy Birthday little one!

Blogging school

To whom it may concern:

I thought I would do a little tutorial for you on how to comment on the blog. I know it may seem a little intimidating to try something new, but you can do it. It is SO easy.

First, notice the bottom of this post there is something that says COMMENTS. Click on the comments section and it will bring up a new screen. Just type your comment in the "LEAVE A COMMENT" section. It doesn't have to be profound or funny. It doesn't even have to be nice--though I might cry a little if it is mean. What is most important is that you leave a comment! I love getting feedback.

Anyway, once you have typed your comment you have three ways of identifying yourself. First, if you have a Google email account or blog, you click on the circle next to GOOGLE/BLOGGER. Then you enter your email into the USER NAME space and your password in the PASSWORD space. Once that is done, just hit publish and your comment is on the way.

If you do not have a Google account, you can click on OTHER or ANONYMOUS. Use OTHER if you already have a web page that you are linked to. Enter your web page address and your name. If you do not have a web page, then include your name in the text of your comment and click on ANONYMOUS and the PUBLISH button when you are done.

See how easy it is. Okay Ellison family, there are NO MORE EXCUSES!

Steve quits his job to become a royal smoothie maker

These are the pictures of the kids that I promised. This is what Lindsay looks like when Daddy does her hair. Steve's thinking about quitting his current job to become a stylist. What do you think?



These are my pretty princesses. See how they love each other?



Allison is trying to learn proper ways to express her affection. She still has some work to do.



This is Lindsay's response to being smothered.



I was so jealous of the Blendtec blender that I bought a new blender. Unfortunately, my 30 dollars didn't produce the results that I wanted. When I put golf balls in my blender it just laughed at me. Then it exploded.

My new blender does make a mean smoothie, however. This is us after trying Steve's delicious Orange Julius.

The GamFam will be proud

Warning: If you have a weak stomach or are opposed to reading about bathroom habits DO NOT READ FURTHER. I post this mainly to impress Steve's family.

Before I married Steve I had no idea he had a family secret. A BIG secret. A secret I discovered on our honeymoon. Late one evening Steve went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. I waited for him to come out so I could use the bathroom next. I waited, and waited, and waited. Then I timidly knocked on the door. (We were still on our honeymoon, so of course I knocked.)

"Steve, are you okay?"

"Um. No."

"What's the matter?"

"Um."

"Steve, are you sick?"

"Not exactly."

"Then, what's wrong?"

"Well . . . I sort of plugged the toilet."

"You what?"

"I flooded the toilet, okay? There's no plunger in here, so can you please go down to the front desk and ask for one?"

At this point we argued for a few minutes because I was too embarrassed to go ask the attendant at the front desk for a plunger. I'm can't remember why I caved, but I eventually trudged down to the front desk. The attendant at the desk looked at me dumbly when I made my request:

"You want what?"

"A plunger. You see, my husband flooded the toilet." (Notice that I make sure to specify that I was not the culprit. Heaven forbid that someone think that I clogged the toilet.)

The girl at the desk looked at me strangely and then went into the janitors closet to look for a plunger. She returned empty handed.

"We don't have a plunger."

"You're sure? You don't have one anywhere?"

"Nope."

"Um. What am I supposed to do then? It's almost 11 o'clock at night."

"I dunno." (Did I mention that the attendant was probably still be in high school?)

"All right," I sighed. "I guess we'll figure something out."

I realize now that I probably should have made the attendant look again. I mean after all, this can't have been the first time the hotel had this problem. They had to have a plunger SOMEWHERE. Instead I hauled my confrontation-avoiding hiney back to the room and told Steve the sad news. We ended up at some grocery store at 11:30 at night buying a plunger. Our first plunger. How romantic. I should have seen the signs then.

It wasn't until I shared this experience at a Gammon family get-together that I found out the full secret.

The Gammon siblings have intestines of steel. Apparently, it was at least a weekly occurrence for someone to plug the toilet when the kids were growing up. And it wasn't just the boys. Steve's brother-in-laws swear that they have to keep industrial-style plungers in their homes to keep those Gammon girls from overflowing the white throne. And according to Steve's toilet-clogging siblings, the toilet does not flood from an over use of toilet paper--if you get my drift.

Anyway. I have a point to this disgusting story.

This afternoon, in an effort to avoid a nap, Allison informed me that she went "poo-poo in pants." I took her to the bathroom and pulled down her pants to find a baseball-sized mess in her pants. After disposing of the "poo-poo ball" (this was Al's term, not mine) into the toilet, I went to flush.

My two-year old flooded the toilet.

Eww.

Back to Reality

So our vacation is officially over. Steve went back to work yesterday and was on call overnight. We had such a good time during his time off. After we got home from North Carolina, Steve's brother John and his wife and baby came to visit.






Little Spencer is only a few weeks older than Lindsay.





He is a fun little guy and is the spitting image of his father:










We had fun hanging out with John and Kori and Spencer. Rachel and Jesse also played with us when they were available. We enjoyed some awesome barbecue, played some pretty competitive games of cards, saw some of the sights and sounds of our fair city, and enjoyed the paddle boats at a local lake.










It is amazing to me how happy the girls are when Steve is around:

Sometimes I can't decide if vacations are good for me. I think that they ruin day-to-day life for a while. Even though I can't wait for our next vacation, I dread it a little too. I've heard of post-partum depression, but is there such a thing as post-vacation depression?