November 2013 – The Rottman Family Adventures

Houston

November 25, 2013 by Beth 2 Comments

We went to Houston in September for the Mississippi State/OSU game. It’s the first State game I have been to since I graduated (which has been a while), and only Jeff’s second. Of course, it was Clara’s first time to see Mississippi State. Sadly, we did not get to see a win but we did get to see several friends that we hadn’t seen in a while.

We spent Thursday evening with Devin, Sally, and Avery and had a great time catching up. Jeff and Devin were roommates during a summer internship with Dow and had a surprising amount in common. This was our first time to meet Sally and Avery, and it turns out that Sally is a speech pathologist too (so even more in common). Clara and Avery are close in age and had a great time together at dinner. Too bad we cannot hang out more often!!

Jeff, Clara, and I went to the zoo on Friday and had a great time. We really like their zoo! They have an awesome children’s area that Clara just couldn’t fully appreciate yet. Maybe we will have to check it out again.

Friday evening we went to Maggie and John’s for a football kick-off party before the game the next day. It was great to see all of the Whites and meet some of their friends from Katy. We are normally all reunited just at Christmas, so this was an added bonus to see them at a less hectic time. Maggie and John were great hosts, and it was fun to get a glimpse into their life in Katy.

We met up with Grant, Allison, and Allison’s family at the game. It was so good to see them after several years! Several years?? Yeah, I think it really has been that long. We were all in each other’s weddings, except for Grant missed ours since he was in South Korea at the time (something I was reminded of when we saw them– I just imagine our wedding with Grant there I guess). Jeff and I both remember one of Grant and Allison’s first dates at their fraternity Christmas party when we all ended up hanging out in Jeff’s room.

On Sunday, we went to an Astros game with Grant and Allison. Although baseball isn’t really our thing, we had a good time just hanging out.

Mt Lemmon

November 24, 2013 by Beth 1 Comment

In early August, we met Ryan, Yunuen, Matt, and Dana on Mt Lemmon for a long weekend. It was so nice to relax and just enjoy time to hang out with good friends. Of course, we ate some wonderful food and even had pairings of wine for each meal and after dinner cigars for the guys thanks to Matt and Dana.

Clara One Year

November 18, 2013 by Beth 1 Comment

So we are very far behind on posting… it’s been a busy last few months and we’ve had some blog issues but hopefully we are back now! Only a few months late… Clara turned one!!

Our favorite photographer, Amber Russell of Amber Lea Russell Photography, came all the way up to Phoenix for Clara’s one year pictures. We love Amber as a person and as a photographer and highly recommend her! We went to downtown Phoenix near Lola Coffee and then headed to Encanto Park. The day was very hot but all of us managed to hang in there long enough to get some great shots. We were pleased with the result! Thank you Amber!!

The green rocking chair was Jeff’s as a child and was recently given a makeover with the green paint. Clara really enjoys it!

We celebrated Clara’s birthday with pictures on the 27th and then lots of family time on her birthday. Hopefully, we can celebrate with friends next year once we are more established in Tempe. A local restaurant chain gives $10 off for birthdays at each of their restaurants, so we took advantage of this and went to Liberty Market for brunch and then Joe’s Real Barbeque for dinner. We brought Clara’s passport along as the proof required by the restaurants. It is still funny to me that such a young child has a passport and that it will be valid until she is 5.

Clara was walking well by this point, clapping (and even began on her own when singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It”), and imitating motions to songs. I should have been better about blogging at the time or writing things down… so I am kind of lost as to what exactly was going on at the time. She was using several signs at this point for “more”, “all done”, “eat”, and “please”. She started saying “dog” and “book” around this time and could tell you what sound a dog makes. She was starting to approximate many other words too. She was (and still is) a huge fan of books and was entertained as long as someone would read. She loved the bath and would lay on her belly and kick as if she was swimming.

Mississippi

November 18, 2013 by Beth 1 Comment

In July, Clara and I were able to go back to Mississippi to visit family while Jeff went to California for a visit with Steven and work training. Jeff is officially part of the Rotation program now as the rest of his class joined him in training and began work in July. Clara and I spent our first day in Jackson with the Rottmans/Shirleys. Clara and Tucker are only a few months apart and were both so different from the last time they were together.

Mary Frances arrived back in MS after a semester in Spain. It was so much fun to welcome her home! While our parents were off at a high school reunion, Mary Frances, Stephen, Clara, and I headed to Petal to visit the Kolvites who just moved back to MS. Sibling road trip! We haven’t been all together like that in a long time… Clara and I met our newest cousin/niece for the first time. Anna Ruth is a cutie and content just hanging out. It was great to finally meet her. We were even able to celebrate both Clara’s birthday and my birthday.

We spent the rest of our time at Nana and Pop’s just hanging out, picking blueberries, going fishing, and doing other fun things that you do in Mississippi. I was awed by all of the green during this trip. It’s beautiful! I think I miss green even more now after moving to Phoenix. We are mostly back in MS during the winter, so it was really fun to see everything green for a change. Clara was not a huge fan of the grass, but she did enjoy just being outside on the swing or in the pool or slip’n slide.

Thanks to Pops and his fishing wisdom, I caught the biggest fish that I ever have (or at least that I can remember). Since moving from Mississippi over six years ago, the fish in our lake have gotten HUGE. This one was over 5 lbs.

In my mind, Pops knows all about fishing. I still love going out to our land and spending time with him as we fish– even when we aren’t very successful. Our family has some great memories out on our lake! I am excited for Pops to teach Clara and share his love for fishing with her.

All of the kids (minus Jeff- missed you!) cooked an anniversary dinner for Nana and Pops. 35 years!! Love you both!