Dec 2010 - Nashville

Well, now that I am caught up (somewhat) I will end 2010 with a post about our trip to Nashville. We are here just to visit a part of the country we've never been to. Grandma and Grandpa Lium came too and Uncle Joel as well. So far we have seen the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman Theater, the Gaylord and the New Grand Old Opry and most important.....Garth Brooks!!!!!
After making the reservations for the condo, we found out Garth Brooks would be doing benefit concerts for victims of the Nashville floods on dates we were here so thankfully we were able to get 6 tickets. We sat behind the stage, but it really didn't matter. It was an amazing performance....definitely a highlight of the trip. We are here until Christmas Day, unless bad weather forces us to head home early. I do think we will see snow on Christmas morning if we stay.
Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy New Year!

Garth really is down there. On the left. The video is much better.

December 2010 - Braces

The time finally arrived for Laurin to get braces. There was no time for hesitation...check up appointment was Dec. 14th and she got them put in on the 16th. She said it didn't hurt too bad but these days since have been a little painful. For all those wondering, she went with the rainbow colors, knowing she can change them every time she goes in for a visit.

December 2010 - Science Fair

Laurin created an "Edible Earth" for her science fair project. The inner core was a gumball, the outer core was frosting, the mantle was rice krispie treats, and the crust was peanut butter and oreo cookie crumbs. Yum! This was one project that was fun to help with.

December 2010

Lucy has not stopped growing since we got her. I sure hope she stops when she turns one (January 9th). She is a constant source of amusement (and annoyance). Coconut is doing well adjusting to her "big" sister.

November 2010 - Disney Cruise vacation

We did another Disney Cruise in November - the week of Thanksgiving. It was an amazing vacation. So many fun and exciting things for our family. Laurin got the braids she has always wanted, she was selected as an "official pin trader" of the cruise (which meant she had to "work" one evening with the officers and trade pins with every one who participated in the pin trading event), and she got to see Duffy (our favorite bear) at Epcot. She also got to try out the new Pelican Plunge at Castaway Cay....a great new addition to an already wonderful place. We will definitely be going again.

Laurin and Tink

Laurin (and Duffy), Official Pin Trader

Laurin's braids

Laurin and Duffy at Epcot

Nov. 2010 - DCL Vacation (cont.)

Pelican Plunge - Laurin at the top
Pelican Plunge - Laurin at the bottom:-)

Mine and Ron's favorite place - Serenity Bay

October 2010

October had some exciting activities for the Mendelsohn family. The most exciting was the Playoffs and the World Series games that the Rangers brought to the Metroplex. Ron really enjoyed the exciting baseball atmosphere during the month of October. Unfortunately, they didn't win, but we love them anyway. Laurin attended the Sally Ride Science Festival held at the Univ. of Texas-Arlington. A great day of science activities for girls in the 4-8th grades. It was a wonderful opportunity. Laurin also got to sing at Bass Hall for the Carry the Light performance given by choir groups from various churches in the metroplex. It was really an amazing performance by the children's choir and the adult's choir.

"It's Time!" Ranger post season baseball!

Finally, Ron's season tickets purchase pays off...he was able to get tickets to all the playoff games and World Series games without having to wait in line.

Sally Ride Science Festival

"Carry the Light" performance at Bass Hall in Fort Worth

August/September 2010

Well August and September were pretty uneventful. Laurin started back to school, we got a new fence, and Laurin got the highlights for her hair that she has been wanting forever.
Laurin loves Icenhower Intermediate where she is in the 5th grade. She is on Student Council, in a photography club and a cooking club.

New Highlights

Back to School

New Fence

(finally replaced the whole thing after losing a panel at a time when ever there was a big storm)

A long overdue update

Well, it has been quite a summer and thankfully it isn't quite over yet. Summer 2010 was mostly spent swimming - well, for Laurin anyway. Her summer swim league had meets almost every weekend, culminating in the State Champs at the end of July. It was a great season and she is ready for the Fall/Winter season now. Thankfully, meets are only about onec a month instead of every weekend.
July 12th-17th, we made a quick trip to St. Louis to visit with everyone. It was a wonderful trip, but too short. Yesterday, we got to spend time with the Lium side of the family up at Lake Texoma. It was a wonderful day....even though one of the hottest days of the summer. So thankful to be able to beat the heat in the water.
Up next is a trip to North Dakota for Laurin. She is going along with Grandpa and Grandma for their 50th High School reunion. Should be a fun trip.
Laurin is excited to start her new intermediate school (5th and 6th grade), and is anxiously awaiting the start of school on Aug. 23rd.

Bob and Pat's Boat - Lake Texoma - July 31, 2010

Laurin kayaking

Campfire performance by Grandpa - his biggest supporters in the background (Uncle Bob and Laurin)

Lone Star State Swim Championships - July 22-25, 2010

Ready to swim

Swim tatoos - "Eat My Bubbles"

Diving in

Ron ready for athlete parade - Hawaiian theme

He was busy during the meet as well, he was an official all three days. Too bad he may be banned for wearing coconut suspenders. LOL :-)

Joey, Mitchell, and Laurin ready for the parade of athletes

Bettas Swim Team marching in the parade

Coconut and Lucy - July 2010

Coconut's Great Escape

After the escape

Lucy - July 2010 - 6 months old and almost 60lbs....Yikes!

Lucy in her favorite place

June 2010

Richardson Swim Meet - June 12, 2010

Richardson Swim Meet - June 12, 2010

Baby Ducks (picture by Laurin)

Graduation Day

It has been a long time since our last update, hopefully I'll remember all the happenings of the Mendelsohn family. Pictures below are from Lucy and Coconut's graduation from puppy 101 class. They both did great.
Other Mendelsohn news: Laurin found a new swim team to swim with. The Cooper Street Bettas (YMCA). She has been having a lot of fun getting to know her coaches and teammates. Her first meet with them will be May 16th so I am sure we'll have results to post. At the end of July is the big State meet and Laurin is very excited that she will get to participate in a "State" event. (It is all the YMCA swim teams from around the state).
Other than that, we are just counting the days until school is done and enjoying the great weather we have been having lately.....lots of trips to the dog park.

April 26th was the one year anniversary of Coconut joining our family

Lucy and her favorite ball....an old volleyball.

Lucy: 4 months-34 pounds. Coconut: 20 months-16 pounds

Laurin's Surgery

Laurin's tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy went well yesterday. We checked in at Cook Children's around 7:10 (a little early) and everything stayed right on schedule. It was her first time in a hospital so finding out about all the "surgery" things was a little scary. But once she had some "giggle juice" in her, all was well. It took her a little longer than usual to come out of the anesthesia, but it was all fine. They had to remove a loose tooth and the tooth fairy visited her there at the hospital. When she woke up from surgery, she had a dollar:-) The quilt she made (Christmas gift from Linda) was the hit of the surgery floor. Everyone was so impressed.
Now she is home from school for 5-6 days and just resting and recuperating. Scrambled eggs and jello seem to be the food of choice.

Going home

Spring Break update

I guess since it is Spring Break, I should give a little update. Spring Break has been good. Can't believe it is already Thursday. Thankfully the weather has been decent. We are getting to spend more time with Lucy. Hopefully we will all make it through this puppy stage.
Laurin is getting her tonsils/adenoids out next Thursday. We tried to do it over Spring Break, but it was already booked. So the surgery is Thursday morning and then she will rest and recover the whole next week. Technically she could go back Thurs. April 1st, but there is no school on April 2nd so we'll take advantage of those few extra days to insure a complete recovery. Her teacher isn't too worried about her falling behind, so I guess this was a good time to do it.
Hope Spring has sprung for all of you. Maybe we'll have new pictures to post soon.

Our new addition

Meet Lucy, the newest member of the Mendelsohn family. She is a German Shepherd/Weimaraner mix (mom is full blood Weimaraner and dad is pure German Shepherd, so she is 100% German:-) She was born on January 9th so her and Laurin will have to share their birthday cake. We met her on Monday (2/15) and got to bring her home Friday (2/19) evening. She is a great little girl and she gets along great with Coconut and vice versa. She won't be little long, so Coconut better take advantage of being bigger as long as she can. Coconut is enjoying having a playmate again.
This was our chance to get Ron the German Shepherd he always wanted without going to a breeder.

SNOW

Okay...I know it is nothing unusual for all you North Dakotans and Nor'Easters, but we had the first real snow here in DFW we've ever seen. It started snowing early Thursday, Feb. 11th and didn't stop until Friday morning. We had school and work on Thursday because it wasn't icy yet, but no school today and a late start for Ron. Driving in it wasn't too bad, until we got to our driveway....pretty embarassing getting stuck in your own driveway (though we weren't the only ones). Many thanks to Kevin, probably the only one with a snow shovel on our street, he got our driveway shoveled so we could at least get our cars in the garage.
Very happy to have a snow day in DFW (and a school holiday on Monday too!)