W.ONDERFUL W.ORLD OF W.ADHOLMS

“Mommy, I love pink!! Pink is my favorite color!!” says Abbi. You think? Here she is all bundled up and ready to go play outside in what else, but pink, pink, pink.

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

At the age of 13 months, Cambria has truly become a member of the household. This is done by having a household chore. This special chore is called “help mommy unload the dishwasher”. The chore consists of Cambria grabbing whatever is nearest to her (usually it starts with the silverware) and starts handing it to mommy. Mommy then proceeds with a “thank you,” followed by the next dish, and so on and so on. She’s actually quite fast with this chore and mommy needs to move quick to keep up. It could be a spoon one second and a bowl the next–a fork, then a plate. You just never know what she will pick next. Mommy has to be ready to either move to the drawer or the cupboard. The only part she hasn’t mastered (well, I guess there’s actually two) is unloading the top rack (she can’t reach that yet) and learning whether the dishes are clean or dirty. Sometimes mommy is loading the dishwaher and Cambria starts to “help” put the dishes away. Oh well. It’s all gotta start somewhere.

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

Here is the sequence of events tonight involving Bryce and his tooth. First is Bryce being hysterical while Rick is trying to pull out his tooth. Second, the tooth comes out! Bryce is relieved, and the proof is in daddy’s hands. Finally, Bryce can show his pearly whites (minus one). What a proud moment–when your child looses that first tooth. You should have seen the week leading up to this event. Oh the tears and screaming, oh the toothache (Bryce) and headache (mommy), oh the fears and finally joys! I still have bad memories of my dad pulling my teeth. Hopefully Bryce won’t have those same tramatic memories.

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

Well it looks like Cambria has mastered a new feat. I was upstairs and Rick and Cambria were downstairs when I heard a little noise on the steps. I look down the stairs and lo and behold there was little Cambria half way up the steps. As you can imagine my heart went into my stomach! She should be too little to be doing that yet.
And that bug just won’t go away! First Bryce contracted the bug at school (as well as most of the rest of his class–one day they were missing 1/3 of the class to this bug). Then on to Cambria it went (and the runny nose has not stopped yet). Well, Abbi decided she didn’t want to be left out, so she got it next. And as you can see, she loves it a lot!! Now it’s my turn! Yeah! :0) Rick, so far, is the very fortunate one to be left alone. Bugs….’sigh’, I guess it is truly winter.

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

We had a fun weekend get-a-way. Although it was way over in Duluth (which we were just at a couple of weeks ago), it was fun to get out of town. On Thursday, we took off–stopping in Thief River Falls on the way for Cambria’s one year check up (hey, when you live far away from everything, you are somewhat forced to multitask on trips). Then two days of swimming in the pool with three kids. It actually was fun! Bryce is big enough to swim on his own, and Cambria is little enough to be completely satisfied sitting in her swim toy for two hours straight. Abbi was the only one who had to cling to mommy the whole time. She is our timid one (the nice way of saying she FREAKS out with anything new or things she’s just not used to). Rick had a great time at his conference (EMS– the reason we went away). He got to be a part of a cadaver lab. It was even hands-on, which although sounds a little morbid, was actually fun (according to Rick). And now that we are home all the kids are sick with colds. Yay!!

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

This is the failed attempt to recreate some fond childhood memories (Jenn). When I was little, my mom would put those pretty pink foam curlers in my and my sisters’ hair–and oh were we so cute! So when I found some pink foam curlers at a dollar store the other day, I couldn’t resist. I’m not really sure what happened….When I took all the curlers out, this was the result. Abbi’s response was, “Mommy, I think I need ponytails!” (This was said with a hint of crying and agitation). Even ponytails couldn’t help, so daddy decided to just start over and put her hair under the faucet! Good thing I am not a hair stylist.

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

On January 6th, Cambria turned 1. It’s so hard to believe it has been one year since she was born. We had a little family party, and of course Cambria had her first birthday cake (well, her own first birthday cake, anyway). She made sure to smear the pretty pink frosting all over her face and into her hair. Unfortunately we only got that on video camera.
We have been busy this last week, which is why we are a week off on our blog. Last Saturday we had our church board over for our belated Christmas party–lots of fun. On Sunday we had our church sectional fellowship meeting in Bagley. Then on Monday-Wednesday we were off to Duluth for our Minister/Spouse Seminar. And thank goodness the kids have such a wonderful grandma (Carol) to come “play” with them for the days we were gone! :0) Thanks Grandma!!!

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

Here’s Amanda and Jor-El (Jenn’s sister and brother-in-law) who surprised us by coming up for Christmas. They weren’t planning on coming home, but because of some changes in plans, they decided to pack up and come (in 30 min. or so I was told). Then they drove straight through, leaving the 25th and showing up the 26th at 10:30pm. These newly weds are just oh so cute!

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

Jordan and Amber Rose and Josh and Cindy: the newly engaged!

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.

Well we definitely ended 2005 with a big bang. So many things happened this past week. Jenn’s dad said, “Most people would be thrilled to just experience one of these during a holiday!” On December 26th, Jenn’s sister, Heather, had her baby–a little baby boy, Michael David. Yay! Cambria also started to walk that day. Wednesday the 28th, Jenn’s brother, Jordan, got engaged to his sweetheart, Amber Rose. Then on Saturday the 31st, Jenn’s brother, Josh, got engaged to his sweetie, Cindy. What an exciting end to such a fun Christmas break. We had a great time with Rick’s family right before Christmas with his sister Holly and two boys, and his sister Racinda and husband, Clark, who have just moved back to the US after being in Japan for the last two years. (plus all the other Wadholm’s of course–except for Bob, Grace, and Emily who were unable to come home this year) Right after Christmas we went to Jenn’s family’s house. Not only did all the exciting things listed above happen, but we also got a surprise visit from Jenn’s sister Amanda and her husband Jor-El. They drove straight up from Albuquerque unbeknownst to the rest of us. And now we are in our own home, ready to get back into our routines, and ready to start out this new year fresh!! Have a Happy New Year!

By: Rick Wadholm Jr.