Please Buy My House!!!

This is for some who have expressed an interest in seeing what our finished bedrooms look like
after new carpet and a new paint job....well, here you go. Not really exciting. But if you all new what they looked like before you would be really excited. Unfortunately, I have no before pictures. But, if you would like to see the house we are on www.realtor.com, and our MLS# is 112661.
P.S. If you know anyone looking for a house in Dubuque, Iowa, send them our way ;)

Generations Gathered

Again, going through pictures and finding things that I just can't leave out. This summer my aunt Karen had her 7th child, a little girl named Kylie. My grandmother came in from Salt Lake to help her out, and we were all able to gather together at my parents house. The first picture is of Karen's family. Her husband John, and all of her kids(good looking, aren't they!) Brandon, Justin(holding Kylie), Jonathen, Jared, Brittany, and Jeremey. They are a great family, and they all love their new little sister. The second is my Grandmother with all the grandchildren, and great grand children present. It was a great visit, and we had a whole lot of fun.

Lydie's Adventure

Just going through my pictures, and I realised I forgot something pretty significant that happened over the summer. One Saturday evening Maddy and Lydie were arguing over the same toy...Well Maddy ended up on top of Lydie, and Lydie's arm was beneath her in a funny angle. Lydie complained loudly about her arm, and wouldn't use it, and cried whenever I touched it. This would lead some to call the help nurse, which I did, and then head to the emergency room, which I did.
Lydia was then touched, proded, and x-rayed. She wasn't a very happy person. Then 2 hours after we got there, they put her in a plaster cast "just in case" because they couldn't see any actual fractures, but the radiologist wasn't there that evening. He would give us a call the next day after veiwing her x-rays.
After all that fuss it ended up being nothing...that is right nothing. But I had to get a picture of Lydie and her plaster cast. It was about 3lbs and it was very cute watching her try to move around with it. Pictured with her is the tiger they gave her for being such a good girl at the hospital.

The Halloween that Almost Wasn't

Well, I am almost caught up. Halloween was only 11 days ago, so I think I am doing great!
Most of you know that we are currently trying to get our house sold. During the week before Halloween we were feverishly trying to get things painted and repaired so we could go on the market that following week. We were able to meet our deadline, but Halloween this year was almost an after thought. We never got pumpkins, and never got around to decorating the house. I felt a whole lot of mom guilt over this. However, the kids still had fun and Halloween night was a success!

The Shed Aquarium

We decided to visit Chicago, as we will be moving out of the area soon. We tried to take advantage of
the free days that Chicago Muesums sometimes offer. I remember them being every Monday or Tuesday, but now they are scattered and grouped together strangely...so we ended up being able to only visit the Aquarium which was O.K. We decided to add on some of the extras and got to see the shark tank, and an interactive movie that was 4-D....if you don't know what that means I will explain:
When the whales on screen spray water, you get sprayed in real life..bubbles on screen, bubbles are blown around the theater; weird eel on screen, things under you chair rub against your leg; pokey things on screen, and a little pokey ouchy thing pokes out of your chair back..oh, and you get to wear special glasses. It was fun, but we enjoyed the special tanks better. All in all it was a fun trip. We stayed at a hotel the night before, so it wasn't crazy driving in that morning...although Chicago traffic downtown is still nasty at 10 am. The kids had a blast looking in all the tanks, and looking at all the "Nemo" fish.

Our Apple Orchard Excursion to Gays Mills, WI

This was our farewell tour of the Gays Mills, WI Apple Orchards. We went with good friends of ours, the Wood family, who incidentally just moved away as well. We had a lot of fun eating yummy apple stuff, and good 'ol Wisconsin beef sticks! We all played very hard, and were extremely tired on the way home. But it was so worth it!
P.S. If you live anywhere in the midwest you MUST visit this area in Wisconsin. It is to beautiful to miss!

Maddy's 4th Birthday

More Pictures from Northern Wisconsin and Porcupine Mt. State Park

We're Wearing A Yellow Ribbon

Many of you know that my brother David is serving in the Army. His unit was deployed to Afghanistan in October. He is doing well there, but we would be grateful for any extra prayers said for him. We know that what he is doing is important, and we are proud of his decision to serve our country. It has made us a lot more aware of the sacrifices of many other families in the United States. We are very grateful for our courageous service men and women!!
We love you Uncle Dave!!!

First Day of 2nd Grade

First of all, I can't believe that Erik is already in 2nd grade. I am so not old enough to have a second grader. That being said, Erik was super excited for this year. He has the same teacher as he did in first grade. His school does something called looping for 1st and 2nd grade. They feel that because they are developing their basic reading skills during these grades, having the same teacher throughout the process is a good idea. I agree, but then I really like his teacher Mrs. Stangeland. She is wonderful with Erik. He just loves school, and I know that has a great deal to do with her. Erik is ready to get back to work, and see all his school friends again. Go Erik!!!
P.S. The first day of School was actually August 26, 2008

One Sunday I just decided to take pictures of the girls in their special summer
dresses. They were not very cooperative, but I did manage to get some cute pictures.
I really did end up chasing them around the house. My girls do NOT like to take pictures. They would much rather be getting into trouble. I blame Rus!

Summer Vacation, Northern Wisconsin and Porcupine Mountain State Park

Lydie, Erik and Maddy getting ready to leave on vacation!

Katie and Sarah crossing a bridge made of planks!

The boys cabin is hidden by some trees. Andrew is getting ready to dock the boat.

Rus carried Lydie the whole time we hiked. He is Superman!!!

We hiked along the river at Porcupine Mountain State Park. It was a beautiful place.

The trail could get a bit treacherous, but it was a lot of fun.

Summer vacation...better late than never

I know that I am way behind in my blog. I feel really bad about it. So, here are some pictures from our vacation with my family. We went up to Northern Wisconsin. The girls and boys each had their own cabin. The boys' cabin was right on a lake. They did a whole lot of fishing. The girls were in a really nice cabin a few miles from the boys. We had lots of fun swimming, boating, and sand castle building(I will have to post those later..Rus has those pics)! We got to hike around Porcupine Mountains, and spend a lot of time visiting. On our last night we had a fish fry to eat all of the fish caught throughout the week. It was really yummy. Our boys did a great job. They even filleted the fish all by themselves. Erik had a great time fishing. He actually caught fish!! The little girls and I had fun too. We had to work at keeping Lydie from drowning herself(she really likes the water), and Maddy loved playing in the sand(she isn't a big fan of the water).
We were so glad we got the chace to go. We all had a lot of fun!

"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam!"

I have decided that after your first child, all the others that follow grow up twice as fast. I only turned away for one second, and now Maddy is in primary. It seems like just yesterday that I was counting down to her first day in nursery (and I did really look forward to that day!).
Maddy has taken to primary very easily. No transition problems for this little girl!!! Her teacher, Sister Wickham, made little totes for them all. Inside each tote was a Book of Mormon with their name on it. Maddy takes it with her everywhere. She is very proud of her very own Book of Mormon!

Surprise...uh, yeah okay.

So, Santa brought us an aquarium this year. Santa thought everyone would be super excited, because everyone (Erik and Maddy) had been complaining that we didn't have a pet (I kept telling them that they had brothers and sisters instead. It didn't seem to help). Santa thought, wow, they will be super excited about this...not so much. As you can see, the reaction wasn't all that Santa had hoped it would be..*sigh* Maybe next year!

Another New Beginning

Well, it is after all a new year. So with that thought I have done some blog remodeling. Thanks to my friend Hilary (who is awesome at trying to explain how to change things with html...and then is very patient when I don't get it, and then does it for me...you're awesome!) I have a wonderful new colorful blog. With stereo sound!!! It is fabulous! I am renewed and revived! I am ready to keep up with pictures and journaling...at least that is my goal. I am going to start one month at a time..baby steps. So here it goes..wish me luck!!!