Daily Blessings

Special time!

2012-02-11T05:52:00.000-08:00

Even though it is crazy hard to get all our schedules to align, it is so worth it when we finally get together! Dina and Ang are incredible women and I am so blessed to know them and have them part of our lives and family! We struck out with our first night out due to snow...hence the post a while back with the leg lamp :) But when we finally had a night to meet up, all the resturaunts that we wanted to go to were closed. Apparently, resturaunts in small towns close on Mondays :) So, we ended up being the youngest people at the resturaunt we finally saw that was open! It didn't matter, we had a great time, great conversation, and of course great laughs!!!

Because we are close, naturally our kids are as well :)

What is it about little kids in glasses...SO ADORABLE!!!

We gathered around the table for the perfect dinner!!! It was definitely loud, but so much fun!

We always try to get a group picture. Take 1: Ethan I believe ran up and punched a couple people in the leg right before this one :)

Take 2: Much better....what a great looking group!!!

Too funny, I am not sure why this picture is so small :) But it was great to be able to interact with each other's families!

Things I LOVE....

2012-02-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

FAMILY TIME!!! We went bowling! Tyler's first time...Gracie's second. We had a blast! And Amos got FIVE STRIKES IN A ROW! He is awesome!

ACTS OF LOVE!!! Friday, Grace had a snow make up day and with this year's winter it meant she had a day off. So Amos stayed home with Grace and Tyler. Amos and the kids cleaned (picked up/dusted/swept) the entire house and went grocery shopping. And when I came home, Amos bought me this orchid! I am so BLESSED!!!

Tyler's First Wrestling Tournament!

2012-01-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

It was such an exciting day! Tyler was very nervous when he first walked into the gym filled with boys he didn't know. He said he didn't want to wrestle. So we took it slow. We got him in his singlet and then Amos took him down to warm up. They found boys from the wrestling club, so that helped. One of the older boys came over immediately and worked on calming Tyler down a bit and saying that he could sit by him. It was so sweet! Tyler warmed up with the other kids and then he told us he was ready to go and wrestle. It was great! Below are the videos that I got. Then of course, pictures to follow! :)
Below are some pictures that I was able to take!

This was so cute! Tyler is making friends :)

Here is one of his buddies too. They are watching another boy from the club wrestle his match.

Tyler did such a great job! He won his first match by points, pinned the little boy in his second match, and lost his third match. He got a silver medal for SECOND PLACE and was so EXCITED!

Amos and Tyler...LOVE

2012-01-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

God has blessed me with some incredible males in my family! Let's start with the leader :) Amos never ceases to amaze me.

He got a smoker for Christmas and made the most incredible pulled pork a week ago! It was so moist and delicious right out of the smoker and ranked right up there with the beef jerky he made! Also, today at work, I got an email from him...

"Good morning BEAUTIFUL!!!

Tonight I want to do something special for you. I want to do something to help you out or to make you feel better. Anything at all…something you want done but don’t want to do or anything. It could be laundry..it could be a massage…it could be anything. Think about it and let me know what you want. I want the make it a great relaxing evening for you!

Love you tons!!!

Amos"

SO SWEET!!! I am so very lucky to have a husband that loves me so much and went out of his way to show me today...and is currently doing laundry :)

My sweet Tyler feels pretty tough right now since he is doing wrestling :)

He is so excited about everything that deals with wrestling. He is doing his best and we are proud of him. I told him to smile for the camera and immediately corrected myself...wrestlers apparently don't smile for pictures :) He is a pretty special little boy!

I am super BLESSED!

The power of popsicles...

2012-01-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

Throughout my life, I have learned that there are many ways to serve each other. There are many ways to show love to each other. There are many ways to show Christ's love to each other. But, can popsicles become a ministry?

We started out as people who lived next door to each other. We would say the occasional "Hi" when we saw each other. When we were outside during the summer, Dave and Nancy would always offer the kids a popsicle. This started the friendship! Conversations would get longer between us and our lives would become intertwined. We were even comfortable enough to talk about our faith and churches with each other. More often than not, our kids wanted to visit Dave and Nancy. They would be over there for hours, playing with their pets and eating popsicles! Our kids always wanted to be near them and around them and in their lives! This is the point when they became part of our family.

Sadly, Dave passed away recently. He was a believer and relieved from pain and struggles, for that I give praise! But we miss him. We stopped to visit Nancy last night. We shared hugs and took her popsicles. We shared! Popsicles started it all! It was a way that showed love previously and it worked out perfectly last night. So my answer to the question is YES! YES, popsicles can be a ministry!

Life is so short. Make everyday count! Reach out to others! We are so glad that Dave and Nancy did! If you can't figure out how to get started...offer a popsicle...it really works!

Brought to you by the letter "D"

2012-01-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

I had Dinner with my Dear friend Dina!

We had planned a ladies night with me, Dina, and Ang. But the weather had different plans and left Ang miles away. We MISSED YOU ANG! But since Dina and I live a minute away from each other, and already had plans for dinner, we decided to go out anyway. Ignore the leg lamp and my lazy left eye apparently, and I think this is a super great picture!!! :) We had a great time laughing and catching up. Thank you Dina for a wonderful night and an even better friendship! Love you!

Oh those little boys...

2012-01-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

Jerry and Stacy (Abby and Wilson "Will") invited us over for dinner! We missed Jeremy, Nicole, and Olivia, but we still had a wonderful time! Dinner was great as usual and Wilson is such a good baby. The kids watched movies while the girls stomped on the boys in bid euchre! Jenn, you will be surprised to know that Gracie fell asleep during the last movie! (In case you forgot, she stayed awake at your house until after midnight at her first sleep over because you let her watch a movie in bed :)) I love that story since as soon as you turned it off, she fell right asleep :)

Of course the other little boy is Tyler loving his wrestling practice! Dodge ball...not so much...but loves wrestling :)

Here are a couple of his take downs...or tackles as he seems to call them :)

Our Annual Hana Yoris Outing...

2012-01-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

We go out to Hana Yoris annually to celebrate birthdays! It started out because several of us had December birthdays, but since we go in January now...it is a birthday celebration for all of us for the upcoming year! :) We missed you Jenn!!! Afterwards we go to Matt and Alicia's and play games. This year it got a little out of hand :) Jessica was referred to as "slow", Jessica called Amos "Aim"...apparently a special nickname she came up with. John said everything backwards (which come to think of it is pretty normal for him :)). Alicia and Matt kept everyone's drinks filled! I am sure I did things...but this is my blog and I do not need to call my own self out :) Either way, we love this group and had a special evening as usual! :)

We have a wrestler...

2012-01-05T18:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it was just his first practice. But we were still excited!!! He has been so excited all week. You should have seen him the day before! He was pretty shy when he first walked in, but then he finally warmed up. He can't wait to go back! It was fun to watch and I know Amos loved seeing him out there :)

"I can't see!" He didn't really say that...I just thought the height difference was funny in this picture :)

It was neat to see the older kids come and help him with form and technique.

Hey Jenn...does this man look familiar???? He is their coach!!

This would have been the ultimate picture of Tyler's double leg take down! It probably could have made it into Sports Illustrated or something...BUT...this little boy ran right in front of my camera as I pushed the button down :) Ok, so it wouldn't have been that great of a shot, but you could have at least seen Tyler better :) Great pictures or not, we had a BLAST seeing him out there and I think he is excited to have his own sport to focus on :) We are blessed!

Rockin' Out New Years...

2012-01-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

We started out by having a New Year's Eve Eve Party at our house. Because we had friends that wouldn't be able to come to our Annual New Year's Eve Party, we moved it a day early. It was an awesome time!!! The videos below show the live band! The first video showcases Micah the lead guitar and the second video highlights Evan the drummer :) They did awesome and we were so very excited they could play!Now for all the pictures...get ready!

Our specialty drink was an Andes Mint Martini...it was DELICIOUS!

We had our annual Euchre Tournament :) Congratulations to Steven!!

Kristina made her famous pigs in a blanket and they all had hot dogs in them this time! :)

"Oh Christmas lights how I love thee, how they tangle so easily!" - Alicia Hahn :)

We wanted a ball drop since it was New Year's Eve Eve, we made our own. Alicia, Kristina, Amy, and Jessica created the ball and then we wrapped it with foil and Christmas lights :)

Our second tournament was a Skill Ball Tournament (Ski Ball) on the Wii :) Congratulations Spencer!

Then we played a trivia game and Ping Cup on the Wii :)

Nate struggled :) John was doing better than him laying down, so he tried that position too. It didn't help :)

Before we knew it, it was time for the ball drop! We did the count down and it worked out fabulous!...much better than the real ball drop I think :)

Next we got ready for some Just Dance II :)

Emmy wanted in on that action :) It was a great New Year's Eve Eve Party!!!

Then we were invited to spend New Year's Eve with our friends Mikel, Jessica, and Gunnar! We had a great time!!! We met new people, had incredible food!, played some intense Settlers, ate more incredible food!, and had great fellowship!

The kids had a wrestling session with Matt :)

Gracie and Emmy had a great time playing together :)

I would have pictures of Gunnar wrestling too, but he was napping at the time I had my camera out :) I didn't get Jessica either because she was too busy being a perfect host and preparing all the food! We had an incredible time with this group...we always do...and it was a great way to celebrate a new year! I am so thankful for the past year and praise God for another wonderful year! Welcome 2012!

Gracie's First Gymnastics "Meet"

2011-12-30T05:58:00.000-08:00

Grace did great! She competed on the Beam and the Bars :) She was pretty nervous. She puts a lot of pressure on herself, so we try to lighten things up a bit for her...

Uncle Scott helped by making silly faces with her before her competition :)

She got a red ribbon for the bars!....and....

for the beam! We were so proud of her!!!

Below are the videos of her performance on the bars and beam :) She can do the pull over by herself, but after warming up and using her arms so much during the practice...she definitely needed the extra assistance :)

This gymnastics club does such a great job with all the kids! If anyone lives in our area, I would definitely recommend it! Thank you God for our precious daughter and for this opportunity!

The Faces of Christmas Time...

2011-12-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Time 2011

Ok, so not really a face, but the channel is decorated with luminaries on Christmas Eve!

Amos reads the Christmas story and the kids set up the Nativity Scene.

The kids in their Christmas Best (thanks mom and dad) heading to church.

Our Christmas Eve PJ's...Amos and Tyler picked them out for Grace and me and vice versa. Opening Presents to follow :) I tried to focus on facial expressions :)

Praise God for the birth of His son and the great sacrifice that was made for us! Merry Christmas and God bless you!

Get Ready Future Wrestlers...

2011-12-23T17:19:00.000-08:00

Here comes Tyler... :)

Here is his tough...do not smile face...

This is what I got when I asked for an angry face :)

Cookies for Santa....

2011-12-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

It was another fabulous Friend Christmas this year! John and Jessica go out of their way to make us feel welcome, cook us dinner, and let us all make a mess of their house :) We get together so all of our kids can make Cookies for Santa together. It is such a fun tradition and a night that we all look forward too!

Matt and Alicia...Matt does have food in his mouth...sorry Matt :)

The wonderful hosts...Jessica and John!

Almost all of us...Tyler was eating at the other table with th eother kids :)

Greyson didn't make this picture, but he was eating there too. It was hard enough trying to get three kids to look at me at the same time....two out of three isn't bad :)

We cannot get enough out of Kenna...she is so sweet.

Time to decorate the cookies!!

So we ran out of red food coloring :)...the kids didn't mind the pink frosting :)

These are the super cute dishes that belong to Jessica. She has three of them and let's us use them each year!

Tyler broke his arm and ended up the ER. Ok, not at all. It was sore after some wrestling so we just iced it and he was good to go :) (Jessica, he didn't say one thing about it today so DON'T WORRY! John, you still have full permission to wrestle with our kids!!!) :)

Greyson is at such a creative stage. He likes to wear his dad's tie and tell us the weather! It is the meteorologist game :)

We have a lot to be thankful for and praise God for traditions like this that make incredible memories!

Christmas Parties :)

2011-12-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

Tyler had a great Preschool Christmas Program! They were all singing at the top of their lungs so that Santa would come at the end :) It was super cute and super loud! :) He did great and talked a lot to Santa.

Disclaimer: Tyler is in this "forced smile" stage so none of his pictures really display how cute he really is! :)

Then we got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house (my parents) for the weekend and celebrate Christmas! We had a great time...eating cookies, being lazy, going to see a live nativity, eating more, and eating more! As you can see below...the kids were super spoiled, but loved everything they got!

God is so good and we are so thankful for these family memories!

Christmas Play 2011

2011-12-11T14:31:00.001-08:00

Our little Angels...

E is for everyone, God came for everyone :)

Landon and Emmy did great! Landon LOVED the microphone :)

J is for Joseph so noble and strong. Obeying God's word all the day long. :)

All the kids did great! We are so blessed!!!

I'm Thankful For...

2011-12-04T12:30:00.001-08:00

OK, here is a catch up post :) A lot has happened since my last post. Since our internet was out due to the snow storm, I couldn't post. So get ready :)

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving as always!

Amos and Gracie made Turkeys :) Amos came up with the project by himself and it even involved a drill gun :)

While Amos and Gracie were working hard, Tyler was his silly self as usual.

The finished product!

The kids love to help cook, so it was a family event :)

We had plenty to eat!!!

Then a week later, we went and got our Christmas tree! It was a lot of fun and everyone was excited. We didn't get to cut it down this year, but it was still a good time!

We had our second big snow already! But it was beautiful! :)

I was invited to do a cookie exchange for Christmas and I was so glad I said yes! I made some special Monster Cookies in honor of Randy and put them in cut boxes with a clay ornament :) I had to make 13 dozen :) I made 16.

I came back from the exchange with some incredible treats! I had a fabulous time meeting new ladies and getting to know others and praying for one another.

Then Amos spoiled me for my birthday! We went shopping all day at Michigan City Outlets...fabulous deals!!! Then he took me out to dinner at William B's Steakhouse. It was so fancy and delicious! We even got ice cream in between courses to clean our palates! It was a special treat and I enjoyed spending the day with him!

Then we decorated the tree and the house :)

Craft Day with the Ladies...

2011-11-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

The last time we had a craft day together, Alicia, Jessica, and I made a bunch of bows for our daughters. This time we made bow holders! It was super easy and a lot of fun! Thank you Jessica for leading us through the project and inspiring me to become more crafty! :) Thank you Alicia and Jessica for spending the day with me and Grace. We always have fun with you all!

Gracie took our picture with the finished product! They turned out so cute. I would have done something more neutral :)...but Gracie's room is bright green and she loved zebra print, so I went a little wild for her :)

Here it is hanging in Gracie's room. We will get an official hook, but this will work for the short term :)

While we were having our craft day with the girls, the guys took the boys to Bass Pro to see Santa and the Christmas activities...and shop a little too :) They seemed to have had a good time and the boys were wiped out! We are so blessed to have such active husbands/fathers in our life!

Harvest Celebration and Movie Night

2011-11-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

Our church is part of the FRB...Food Resource Bank Project. We have several farming families that volunteer their time and equipment and acres to grow crops. Then we sell the crops and the funds go straight to farming projects in other countries to help them sustain themselves. It is such a great mission! So when it is time to harvest the acres next to the church, we come together to celebrate and eat and bless the harvest. And people get rides in the combines :)

Then Saturday evening, my work had a movie night. They offer this quite a few times throughout the year and this is the first Saturday we could go :) Plus, they were showing Megamind, which we hadn't seen yet! We got a new meeting space several years ago. It is one big room that actually has moving walls to make 5 separate meeting rooms. They open it all up and bring down all seven projector screens. They set up little areas in front of each screen and load us up with free popcorn, snacks, and pop. It was so much fun and free! The kids and I had a blast! Amos wanted to go, but he had already made plans to go hunting.

More people came :) We just go there early enough to get one of the front rows :) I praise God for these opportunities that I can share with my family!

Trick or Treat Time...

2011-11-01T19:43:00.001-07:00

We had the best time trick or treating with the kids! We had planned on handing out candy during the last half, but we were having too much fun taking the kids around! Oh well, more candy for us :) We made our rounds through our neighborhood, "Aunt" Dina's neighborhood, trunk or treat, and even hit the library for a story tour and candy. The kids had a blast! They loved running from house to house and even said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You!" And if you know our kids at all, that is a big deal! :) I think they are already looking forward to next year. The weather was perfect and we had great family time!

This year, Tyler was Bumblebee (the transformer) and Gracie was our Notre Dame Cheerleader!

Then the kids had to check out their loot and organize it apparently. This doesn't even include more candy on the counter, the candy we already ate :), and the bags of cotton candy they got :) Can I be thankful we don't have dentist appointments coming up soon? :)

Halloween Celebrations...

2011-10-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

It was a great weekend! Saturday started off the festivities. Gracie went to her friend's costume birthday party. They were all so cute and had a blast!!

We didn't have enough people for the Halloween Party this year, but that didn't stop us from having fun!!! Matt, Alicia, Mikel, Jessica, Amos, and I went out to eat. We had a great meal and great adult time! It was nice to spend time together and connect with each other! It was great to see Mikel and Jessica too because they live farther away.

Then we headed back to Matt and Alicia's and played games and laughed pretty hard! It was a fantastic night and an excellent time!

Relationships!!!

2011-10-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

Words cannot express how blessed I am! By the special relationships in my life, it is proof to me that God has a plan when He brings people together. I thrive on relationships and I just love spending time with close friends and laughing and sharing our hearts! This is just what happened this week :)

Wednesday night, I got together with friends that I have known for 14+ years. Jackie and I wanted to celebrate our friendship with Carrie and treat her to a fun time on the town! She is one of the most incredible and loyal friends anyone could ask for and it was a joy to help plan the night with Jackie who is just as awesome! :)

We went to a paint your own pottery place and had a blast! I forgot how fun those places are! Plus, free popcorn :)

Then we went to Cheddars and ate together!

The food was incredible, but our time together was most special. Carrie and Jackie will always be amazing friends of mine.

Then the next night, I got some quality time with my dear friend Becky! God must have known I needed some quality women time, because it worked out perfectly with my time with Carrie and Jackie and then Becky. A HUGE thanks to Amos as well who played with the kids, fed the kids, and tucked them in while I was gone. He is the best husband and father!

Becky and I have only known each other 3 years now, but we connected instantly! Who knows that one day at swim lessons would be a life changing meeting :) Becky is someone who speaks to me with an honest heart and points me to God every time we meet.

We went to the coffee shop and we seriously talked for 4 hours...ending with conversation at her house. INCREDIBLE!

So, when I say I am blessed, I mean it! God has a plan for all of these relationships and I am nothing but THANKFUL! Thank you ladies for our special time and allowing me to be a part of your days!

Pumpkin Time!!!

2011-10-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

So, you can probably tell by the clothes in the picture...it was a two day process. But Amos did an amazing job and the kids had a blast!!! We love decorating pumpkins! Now we have to find candles to put in them :)

Gracie was excited about the kitty face!

Tyler had to go for the spider...because it was a bug! :)

We also had a big one that says Trick or Treat :) I will add that soon. Happy Halloween everyone!! :)

We "heart" Camping in the Fall...

2011-10-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

A huge thank you to mom and dad for letting us use the pop up! It is so nice to be protected from weather elements :) We decided to try out a new campground. We went to Twin Mills since we got their reduced fall rates! It was a blast!!! They even got shirts...buy one get one free due to the end of the season :) "Twin Mills...Where Camping is the Bomb" :)

Amos got the perfect spot for us. The kids had their own path to the playground and could go there without us since we could see them from our campfire! They loved it!!!

We also have bike rides of some sort while we are camping :)

Of course, you have to play with leaves and make leaf piles to jump into!

We had a great time playing miniature golf there too!

Then we went for a hike to the river. Who needs a path when you have Amos :) We might have poison ivy, but we had a blast making our own path :)

Our fearless leader :)

Tyler had to take a break and beat up a tree stump with a stick :)

On our way back. Good thing the kids took gymnastics with balance beam training :)

We had a great weekend and will definitely go back to that campground! We love camping!

Pumpkin Patch Time...

2011-10-10T16:49:00.001-07:00

The weather was nice today so we decided take the kids to the Pumpkin Patch before it got too cold! It was a great time as always and we got pumpkin donuts! Yum!

The theme this year was toys and games. Not the greatest, but the kids still loved the "I Spy" game at each one and had a good time :) We gave them the option of skipping the decorated pumpkins this year, but to our surprise they voted to go :)I loved this game :)

This better be the only time she plays this game :)

I'm going to go back to last year's post to see if Tyler has grown any :)

Amos was the picture taker today so I could actually be in some this time :)

Tyler wanted a picture by himself...so how could we say no :)

It was a GREAT day!!!

A very special weekend...

2011-10-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

What a weekend of very special events!!!

Thanks to good ol' Manchester, we have added to our family. We had one of our Taco Night get togethers at our house on Friday. Honestly, someone was missed. It was different, but still very special! I just know Randy was looking down on us, laughing at all the stories we told and was saying, "those girls of mine." :) This was a special night and we definitely made memories! Thank you God for this incredible group of family that you blessed us with!

Ang and Susan (AKA "mom")

Dina and me of course :)All the kiddos...Gracie, Addie, Tyler, and Ethan!

The adult table...if you can really call it that :)

Dina always makes it a point to get down and play with the kids!!! They love her!

Time to build a fort!!

Hug time...it is cute because Ang, Dina, Susan, and I all hug when we leave too :) Important point...Jenn was also included in this spectacular evening! She skyped in at midnight her time just to see everyone and send her love! It was a very special treat!

Then Saturday....

We kicked the day off by going to Manchester Homecoming. We go every year and really enjoy getting back on campus! It brings back a lot of great memories! Well, this year was special because it was our 10 year anniversary!!!

They had a free carnival for the kids!

We ate lunch at the Sandwich Cellar!!! Then we watched the game! MC lost by a field goal in overtime, but at least the game was fun to watch.

I think Tyler was watching the cheerleaders here :)

The kids got pretty tired toward the end of it. I guess the grass was soft enough to nap :)

Then we got to celebrate the 3 year Old Birthday of a very special little boy!!! Landon turned three this year and he is as smart as a 5 year old! He really is a great little boy and so sweet! They went with the Diego theme and it was a fantastic party!!!

They actually go to play outside this year! The weather was beautiful!

Here is the awesome cake Matt and Alicia made!!

It was a great day, a great weekend! We have a lot to be thankful for!!!

Old and New...

2011-10-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Our home! We say over and over it was definitely a God thing the way it all worked out. We are so very thankful! We still have a lot of work a head of us, but we have had time to enjoy the new house :) You will have to excuse the kids in the "before" shots. Amos took the pictures and we were viewing the house right before we made an offer :)

The Living Room...

After...

View from the loft...

After...

The dining room...After...

The kitchen...

After...

Our half bath "after"...we didn't take a before picture. But the entire bathroom was peach.

Gracie's room...

After...

We put a white stripe of corkboard around her room so she could hang her artwork and stories :)

Tyler's room...

After...

The loft...there isn't a before picture. But it was yellow like the rest of the living area :)

Our bedroom...This is an after picture :)

Here is an after picture just to show you we didn't do much in here :)

Another after...

The view from our living room and deck...The white pier is ours :)

So, the main living area is getting there :) We still have stuff to finish up, but we aren't as stressed out as before :) We are also working on the basement. Amos gutted it down to the studs. That will probably be a winter project :) We really enjoy where we are and the neighborhood and neighbors! Praise God! :)

Family Pictures 2011...

2011-09-21T16:43:00.001-07:00

We are blessed to have talented family/friend photographers...1st family pictures back in 2007 Jenn took with Alicia acting silly in the background for smiles! In 2010, Jackie took our pictures and did an awesome job!! Then this year, Jessica helped us out and she did an incredible job as you can see below!!! We are so excited and love all of our family pictures!!! Thank you all!

Gracie wanted her picture taken for when it is her time to be the friend of the week at school and share pictures and facts on the bulletin board :)

Thank you God for our beautiful family!

Friday Night Lights...Bike to Church

2011-09-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

It was Friday night and we wanted some family time. So we picked the kids up from their schools and got dinner at the apple festival. Then we headed to Northwood's homecoming game because they were playing Wawasee. Since the kids will go to that school eventually, I talked Amos into sitting on their side instead of where he played and graduated (Northwood). He said it was definitely weird but we had a blast and Wawasee won! It was a great game! :) Amos and Tyler played catch together at the game as well.

Then on Sunday, it was bike/walk/carpool to church day. We biked 30 miles there and back and Amos pulled the kid cart almost the entire way! It was a nice ride there...definitely harder on the way back. But we did it!

Praise God for every opportunity we get to spend together!

God provided once again!

2011-09-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I am pretty shy when it comes to meeting new people. But I can definitely say it was a God thing that we got some incredible neighbors (when we lived at the old house). I instantly connected with their whole family and they are definitely great friends of ours! Thank goodness they are just minutes down the road! Gretchen is one incredible woman, mother, and person! She does so much for her family!!!! It is a total honor to be friends with her! She helped me out greatly! And she is part of a FANTASTIC MINISTRY! It is called the Wakarusa Missionary Church Children's Resale and it happens twice a year! It is packed on Saturday, so I never really attempted to go before. However, this year...she got me in on Friday evening and with a gift certificate! IT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER! I had so much fun shopping for the kids and felt great being a great steward and spending money wisely. The prices are incredible, the clothes are in such great shape and I came home with a laundry basket full of clothes! Below are pictures of my loot of course! Ignore the safety pins. I didn't take them out before the pictures :)

Gretchen, I can't thank you enough for giving me this opportunity and for opening my eyes to how great this resale is!!!! I owe you big time!

So God gave me an great friend, and an opportunity to get Gracie (and Tyler) more clothes for the winter!!!!...at a price we can afford!!!!

The total amount spent...wait for it....wait for it...$91!!! And I didn't even pay close to that much because of the gift certificate! But even then 9 pairs of shoes and 24 items of clothing for $91 is a steal!!!!

A Labor Day to Remember...

2011-09-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the weather was perfect lake weather by any means...but we made the most out of it and ended up having special time together! We all rode our bikes to the park. Not much to really write about here...it is your average park with swings, slides, monkey bars...I guess you had to be there to really understand the fun time we had...I can still hear the laughing and running around!

And then we sat on our deck and relaxed!

Zoo time and FANTASY FOOTBALL time :)

2011-08-29T14:59:00.001-07:00

A while back our daughter Grace won a prize on the radio. She was the first caller and answered the kid's quiz right. The question was, "What is the number on the side of Lightening McQueen's car?" It is 95 for those who don't have kids :) She won 4 passes to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo and a McDonalds prize pack. We used the zoo tickets this weekend and had a blast! We just surprised them by showing up at the zoo! They were so EXCITED! It was a great time also, because they asked questions about the animals so Grace read some of the story boards for us!
We rode the sky ride and Grace and I had a nice chance to really talk!
Tyler and Amos rode together and I am sure they had great guy bonding time :)

The log ride was by far the best!

Then after the zoo, it was date night for Matt and Alicia. I just had to include this picture. I just can't get over how much Emerson LOVES Kenna :) It is pretty adorable!

Then we had our Fantasy Football Draft on Sunday!!! I always look forward to this time of year! Bring on football! Plus, it helps me stay more interested in football since I have players to cheer for! Good luck to you ladies, but I have a feeling this is going to be my year!!! :)

The two wonderful ladies not in this picture are Jenn and Kristina!!! They are still part of the league though...you know...just not in this state :)

Of course I had to include a picture of our girls! We have to start them early :) Plus, they have the same bows in their hair...we made them a while ago :) They did great!

Tyler's hair cut...

2011-08-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally gave into what Tyler wanted and what most boys are wearing now :) He thinks it is pretty cool and doesn't want anyone to touch it :)

Frye Happenings...

2011-08-06T12:12:00.002-07:00

Well, other than moving and unpacking and working on our new house :)...we finally got our internet up, so I can share what we have been up to. No house pics just yet :)

Gracie attended her first gymnastics camp in July. She LOVED it!!! She improved quite a bit and learned a dance and got a t-shirt. We were so very proud of her!!!One of her best friends was attended the camp too!...The little girl to the left of her in this pic.
Here she is dancing! Sorry all these pictures are so dark...my camera didn't do well in the big gym :)

I loved the theme of the camp...We put the FLIP in FLIP FLOP :)
Then we of course had to take the kids to the fair! They loved all the animals and worked up quite an appetite :)

They also went on some rides! :)

This last picture might be a bit random...but it was super special. John and Jessica asked us if the kids could spend the night on Friday so that we could get some work done on the house. It was so nice! Saturday morning, Amos woke up and made me breakfast! He made me my most favorite omlet with ham and green pepper and cheese! It was a great first meal to cook on our new gas stove! I just praise God for the thoughtful people in my life!

Another highlight was my ladies dinner with Ang and Dina! Our plans changed a bit, but the food was delicious and the conversation was so encouraging and honest! Plus, I got a few more hours with Dina after dinner :)

Grace Dancing at Gymnastics Camp...

2011-08-06T12:12:00.001-07:00

10 Year Anniversary Celebration...

2011-07-19T05:29:00.000-07:00

Amos and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! Ok, so our anniversary is August 11th, but we decided to celebrate early :) So, get ready for lots of pictures!

We went on a cruise with Matt and Alicia...who happen to be celebrating their 10 year anniversary too! We had a blast with them!
We started in Miami...
Our first stop was Half Moon Cay (Key), Bahamas. Amos and Matt went on a deep sea fishing excursion.
Alicia and I decided to do some yoga on the beach! And it was very adventurous :) We almost missed the boat to the island with the group and then we didn't have our towels. That didn't stop us! We completed our yoga class in the sand! :) I was proud of us :)
Then we hung out at the beach and had a great time!!
The boat behind us was a bar. It was pretty cool inside and if you went to the top, you got a nice view of the island.We got to snorkel at Shipwreck Cove in St. Thomas before we went shopping!!

Alicia and I loved going to the Piano bar! Brad was excellent!
And of course Alicia had to do Karaoke! She did awesome!!!
Then we all played in a corn hole "Bean Bag Toss" tournament.
And our men won!!! Way to go Matt and Amos!! :) Alicia and I gave them a run for their money though :)...Ok, not really :)
Above is a picture of a watermelon sculpture. I thought it was pretty cool! The ice carving the man did in 15 minutes was pretty awesome too!
It seems like you eat a ton on a cruise! Although, Amos didn't beat his record of 31+ ice cream cones on the last cruise...he gave it a good shot :)
Here I am with food! And I am proud to say that on the last meal I had two starters, two main courses, and three desserts! Yum!
Here is our final destination...Grand Turk! Our third stop was San Juan. Amos and I had been there before, so we just stayed and played on the boat!

Grand Turk had some incredible water and a really nice beach. But we were tired of salt water at that point. So we were so excited to see a fresh water pool open to the public at Margaritaville! Oh, and we did a little shopping too :) I got Alicia and I these cool visors for sun protection! :)
We tried to catch some sunsets...
And we did a little miniature golf!
Amos was the big winner! So, I shot the max amount of 6 strokes...twice! :) It was still a lot of fun!
We got a good sunset on the last night!

The entire cruise was so much fun!

Then we got back to Miami and it was so great to see the kids right away! They were so excited! We enjoy our adult time and investing in each other, but we were definitely ready to see Grace and Tyler...their hugs were incredible! And boy did they have a lot to talk about during the ride!

They had to take us to the stop where they saw these gigantic grasshoppers. Seriously people, they were the size of my palm!
Then of course we saw lots of gators! Including one on the road, that we got close to. It was dead :)
Then of course they had to show us all the swimming moves they picked up the during the week!
They both did great with their dives, jumping in, and swimming under water :)

Below are pictures that I bought from the ship! Sorry about the quality. It isn't easy to take a picture of a picture :) Some look blurry here, but they are clear...I didn't pay for fuzzy pictures :)

It was such an incredible time and I just praise God for the opportunity...and for a wonderful family and friends to share it with!

Now we are back to our busy lives and on top of that...packing everything up because we are MOVING into a new house! We are pretty excited! I am sure I will blog more about that later :)

Gracie loves "Dolphin" rides :)

2011-07-18T19:46:00.001-07:00

July 4th Weekend and Swim Lessons

2011-07-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

Blessing number 1.

Kristina came and spent time with Alicia! So of course we had to see her! We had an incredible time spending time together and getting some shopping done as well :) What girl doesn't like shopping :) Thanks Kristina, Alicia, and Jessica for a fabulous day!

Blessing Number 2.

We have some of the best next door neighbors! They called us on Sunday to see if we wanted to have a steak dinner with them....ummm...YEAH! Then we took them on a boat ride and came back and we watched Adam set off fireworks! It was so fun! Thanks you guys...we really had a blast!!!

Blessing number 3.

July 4th was a great day with family and friends!!!! We had boat time and a delicious rib dinner topped off with homemade ice cream and brownies....and of course fireworks! This group of friends is very special to us and we had a great time as always! Thanks Matt, Alicia, Landon, Emerson, Jessica, Greyson, and Kenna for spending the day with us!!! (Sorry, I realized I didn't take any pics of Matt, Alicia, and family...so sorry!...but we are so very glad you came :))

This was cute because Tyler really took care of Kenna with her pacifier and he brought out toys for her :)

Blessing number 4.

Gracie and Tyler did great at swim lessons!!!! Gracie is swimming without floaties. She jumps off of the diving board by herself and swims to the side. She is learning to master her strokes now. Tyler is doing great with floaties on :) Still not a big fan of the diving board, but is getting there :) And he is doing fantastic and going under water :)

So as you can see, God has really blessed us! We are so very thankful!!! God is AWESOME!

Bergers and Fryes...

2011-06-26T14:50:00.001-07:00

The title of this post was brought to my attention by Jessica and I loved it! So of course, it had to be the title to my post :) We visited our friends this weekend and had an incredible time! In fact, the two days we were there felt too short. Everyone was sad to leave. Thank you Mikel, Jessica, and Gunnar for opening your house up to us! We will definitely be visiting again!

We got their Saturday morning and we spent time catching up! Then we got the awesome priviledge of going with Gunnar to his very first movie at the movie theater!!! We watched CARS 2 and all the kids loved it!

Then Jessica made us all a fun picnic complete with homemade fruit salsa! It was delicious! We ate at the park and the kids loved the playground!

On Sunday, we all went to church and it really was a good message! It was great to learn how the church and family are connected! Then we went out to eat! After that, we took the kids to the free zoo in town! Yes, I said it...FREE! And it was a really nice zoo!

All of that being said, it totally doesn't include the incredible food and drinks we had...the fact that I won Settlers :)...and the water gun fight the kids had! We really had a wonderful trip and can't wait to see this wonderful family again!!!

A Father's Day Weekend...

2011-06-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

We are blessed! God knew what he was doing when He brought our family together! Amos is an incredible father!!! He loves spending time with the kids, helping Grace with her gymnastics, wrestling with Tyler, reading them stories, building projects with them...he just loves being around them. He pours into our children and gives his all to our family! WE love you Amos! We had an incredible Father's Day weekend :)

We took a couple days off of work to go camping with the kids! It was a great time...minus the loud neighbors on the second night! The kids had a blast and we had a great time spending time together!!! Matt, Alicia, Landon, and Emerson even joined us for a couple days!

Emerson had a great time eating roasted marshmallows...she got a little messy :)

We always had a great time at the playground!

Gracie loved the monkey bars!!! She wasn't sure about them at first, but then we couldn't get her off of them :)

Emerson climbing up to the big slides :)

Matt felt like a kid again :)

I believe Landon called this Tyler's slide :) Either way, they all loved it :)

Then we spent some time swimming!!!

We also got the opportunity to celebrate a special little girl's birthday! Addie turned 5 and we were so happy we could spend time with her and Brad, Ang, Ethan, and Susan :)

She is such a special girl with a big heart! She is such a blessing to so many people!

Then on Father's Day, we had a fantastic church service! We took Amos out for lunch. We took naps and let Amos watch some golf :) Then we got to take the kids tubing! They had a blast!

As you can see, we have a lot to be thankful for! And God keeps blessing!

Family Times...

2011-06-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well, they are pretty much family :) In May, we got to celebrate the wonderful life of a beautiful two year old!!! She is such a sweetie and we just love her curiousity! She is such a blessing to so many people and you can't help but smile when you are around her! God will certainly do wonderful things with her life!

Then this past Sunday we had a "Spoil" the kids day and after a great time at church, we surprised them by taking them to the movies to watch Kung Fu Panda 2!!! We went through two medium popcorn buckets and had a great time! The kids loved the movie!!!! And I actually enjoyed the 3-D aspect as well.

Then afterwards we went swimming and played at the lake!!!

Relationships are so important and I just love quality time! Praise Jesus for these moments and memories!

She's so smart :)

2011-06-01T13:08:00.001-07:00

Our little Gracie...we are so proud of her! We went to her Kindergarten parent teacher conference and found out she can read at the second highest fifth grade reading level!!! She told us before the conference, but we didn't really think she heard it correctly. Then the teacher confirmed it! She was one book away from being at the highest fifth grade level. She is such a blessing and we just praise God for this incredible news!! Awesome!

Memorial Weekend 2011

2011-05-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

We started out the weekend by camping!!!

We camped in our backyard using mom and dad's pop up camper...thankgoodness because it rained :)The rain had us become a bit more creative...So Amos and the kids finished their surprise wood projects! They were so excited! They made their own desks. Amos is an incredible father and they had an awesome time together!

Then on Sunday we went to the Cubs game with Brad and Ang!So, there was a 2 1/2 hour delay and it was cold and we were wet, but we had a blast together! It will definitely be a memory :)On Monday, Matt, Alicia, Landon, and Emerson, John, Jessica, and Greyson came over and we enjoyed the warm sunny weather on the boat and playing in the yard!

I praise God for my family and loved ones and the memories we create!

Let's Share Ideas and SERVE!!!

2011-05-24T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a call to action! EVERYONE who reads this (all 3 of you :)) MUST go to my sister's blog (Jenn) to the right! First, you have to keep up with her blog! She is doing some incredible things serving our wonderful Lord! Second, she created this INCREDIBLY AWESOME tab called "POSSIBLITIES". Click on the tab!!! This is a place for us all to share ideas to serve others. We can use this in our own communities you all! We don't have to be in another country or spend a lot of money. We just have to be passionate and committed to God to serve! I have started by adding two ideas and I know you all can come up with more!!! Please get this going! This can be a great resource to us all!!! If we get enough ideas, I know I would like my family to go to it and pick a project to do once a month. Please check it out and share!!! It can be small or big...just anything to bring a smile to someone! Share this with everyone you know so we can get lots of ideas listed!!! Praise God for this opportunity...don't let it go to waste!

Enjoying Spring...

2011-05-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

It was a great evening to walk down to the lake....

Amos and the kids wanted to do a little fishin'...

Then it was time to go home..

We didn't catch any fish, but we had a great time enjoying the lake together!

A trip to SLC...

2011-05-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to attend a work conference out in Salt Lake City. Amos went with me and we had some great adult time...and missed the kids too :) We got to meet up with our good friend Sanders and his family. It was great spending time with them and catching up.

We went out to eat on Mother's Day and had a delicious meal and a great skype with the kids :)
The hotel we stayed at was incredible! And the conference was a blast! I had a great time meeting new people and socializing...and even the sessions were awesome! The picture above are the Flying Aces and our dinner enterainment for the first night. The two in the back are olympians. The girl on the right was in the last winter olympics in freestyle skiing and is going to the next olympics. She is only 17. The taller guy on the right was also an olympian in ariel skiing...ski jump :) They were a lot of fun doing tricks on the trampoline with skiis and snowboards.

One of the networking activities was a trip to the Olympic Park where they held the Winter Olympics in 2002 I think. It was cool to see the torch and the park.

This is where they practice ski jumps and land in the water!
We had a fantastic suite at the hotel with a balcony! The views were awesome...city and mountains!!!We also visited the temple...well the temple square. It was pretty interesting and they tried to convert us :)...but we stood strong.

This is the new conference center for Mormans.
The temple was huge...we weren't allowed to enter...totally fine :)
Here is just one of the very many flower arrangements that were all over the hotel! I saw them switching the flowers out and asked them how often that is done...every Wednesday! Wow...that is a lot of money!!!
When we got back, there were so many Navy men creating a row in the airport. And then we saw thousands of people in baggage claim with flags and the Navy band. It was pretty neat to see. Apparently, a group of WWII vets got to go to Washington DC and they were returning. It was neat to see the support!

The entire trip was incredible!!! It was a great get away and busy and relaxing at the same time! A huge thanks to Dina for spending special time with the kids! I got some great pictures of Linus walking the kids :) and an ice cream trip :) They couldn't stop talking about the fun! Thank you for making them feel so special! God is good and I am so thankful he kept us all safe :)

Our Marathon...and Marriage Builder!!!

2011-05-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Amos and I ran our own marathon! We started at our house and ran several country roads and made our way to Matt and Alicia's house 26.2 miles later! We had a hyrdation pack and some recommended supplements. It started out great! We felt great! We were making great time! Then we got to the 13 mile marker. It got hard from there. The weather wasn't as warm as it was supposed to be. A huge thank you to Matt for bringing us sweatshirts! Amos was FREEZING so you can only imagine how cold I was :) We kept going. By mile 18 we hit another wall. Our bodies were aching pretty good. But we kept going. There were times where each one of us wanted to quit, but we didn't. It was an incredible feeling when I was ready to quit, and my husband grabs my hand and holds it and leads me on. If it wasn't for God and Amos, I wouldn't have finished my goal! It was an incredibly hard race! But with God and Amos by my side, I completed it! I am so very thankful! A HUGE thanks to Matt and Alicia for the sweatshirt run, a place to shower and delicous meal, and watching the kids!!!

Here is my before picture :)
Here is my after :)

Easter Visit 2011

2011-04-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

Before I start this post, I just want to praise God for His great sacrifice! He is alive and because of Him we are alive! God is incredible and I owe Him everything!!!
We traveled to my parents house this weeked and celebrated Easter. We had a great time and ate very well as usual!

The kids decorated cookies and had a great time coloring eggs! Even though Tyler's smile is forced for the picture...he honestly loved it! Oh and they definitely both loved decorating the eggs more than eating them :) They aren't boiled egg fans :)
They also had an Easter egg hunt...yes, more candy! The Easter bunny also came...so let's just say we might be handing out some of this candy for halloween :)
Then we went to church of course! It was a great service and the choir sang some really incredible songs. Thanks mom and dad for a great visit.

Birthday Party and Gymnastics...

2011-04-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

I am going to try more pictures and less words....

We had an Easter Egg Hunt at the house this weekend :)

Jenn, you were missed :)...Landon even called me Jenn a couple of times.

We also had a wonderful birthday party for Grace and Tyler!!

I made Grace's cake and Amos made Tyler's. Gracie loves zebra stripes so I tried to decorate her cake that way!
Amos did a great job with a sports theme cake :)

The kids got a lot of AWESOME stuff. They love the Bendables and Operation and their sunglasses! And they love their Barbie Jeep and Four Wheeler. They drove them down in the basement and then they got to drive them outside :)

We started gymnastics this week! Both kids did great!!!

You can't really tell, but Grace just did a back roll by herself on the flat mat. We were so proud and she was surprised she could do it!
Here is Tyler learning how to do a back roll :)

We are just so proud of them! They are such huge blessings in our lives! We pray that they follow God and become active believers! We pray that God blesses each moment of their lives! We pray that they are successful in all they do and that through everything, they give God glory. Thank you God for these blessings in our lives and giving us the opportunity to love and care for Grace and Tyler! Live is good and God is great!

Happy Birthday Amos!

2011-04-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Because of the recent passing of a part of our family, I wasn't able to post a birthday blog for Amos. But we love him and it is a special day for us because we are celebrating his life! So even though this is late, it is still important :)

We love this man! We are so blessed to have him in our lives. He is the most incredible father to our kids and husband to me! He is extremely talented at everything he does and never stops impressing me :) I have known him for 14 amazing years and I love him dearly! Amos is a very busy man. After working full time and supporting our family, you can usually find him cooking dinner, wrestling with the kids, helping Gracie with her math workbook, playing ball with Tyler, and spending time with me. He is such an incredible family man and we adore him! For his birthday, mom made him tacos and rice! I took him out to dinner this week and we bought him the new Tiger Woods Wii game.

Amos, Happy Birthday! We love you and are so excited to be able to spend another year with you! Love you!

Mom and dad and the kids decorated the house for him :)

And they decorated his chair :)

They got him his favorite...brownies...instead of making a cake!

And of course I had to take a picture of the delicious taco meal! Thanks mom and dad for coming up and watching the kids over spring break. We enjoyed your visit and we know the kids had a great time with you!

This Man of God...

2011-04-09T18:11:00.001-07:00

Words cannot express just how special Randy is, but I am going to do my best! This man holds a very special place in my heart. This man is a part of my family! This man showered others with love and respect. This man was a reflection of God's love! I didn't make it in time to share with him the love that I have for him! I didn't get the chance to tell him that he is such a blessing to me. I missed the opportunity to thank him for how much he has blessed my life. I just pray that he knows deep in his heart how I feel. I don't just define family as blood relatives, but those who have connected with my heart. Randy is definitely family!...and of course so are Susan and Ang! Randy has blessed so many lives and you can tell that by the outpouring of love for him and his family! Randy went to heaven on Saturday. And as sad and heartbroken as I am, I praise God for the years I got to spend with him. I praise God that there is life after death and that I will see him again! John 11:25-26 Please pray for Randy's family. I love you Susan and Ang and thank you for letting us be a part of your lives!

Amos bought me an appliance for a present...

2011-04-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

And I LOVE IT!!!

It is Amos' birthday and he bought this for me. Ok, so more for the family...but I love popcorn and he knew I wanted one!!! I am so blessed!

And we met her...

2011-03-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to be able to meet Kenna Lynne! She is so ADORABLE and fun! You can already tell that she is going to be a wonderful daughter for John and Jessica and Greyson will be a great big brother!!! Congratulations you all! We love her already!

Kids Slumber Party #1

2011-03-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

It isn't a secret that we do a lot with Matt and Alicia and John and Jessica. They are incredible couples and are not only encouraging, but great examples of christian parents, and we just have so much fun together!!! Not only are they special but so are their children. We want to invest in their children too! They are all incredible and special and will do great things with their lives! So Amos and I decided to have the kids over for a slumber party...the first of many! None of them cried when their parents left which was a very good sign :) We started the evening off by enjoying the warmer weather and playing outside! We pulled out the bubbles and that kept them pretty busy :)Sorry Matt and Alicia, but Emerson might have eaten a couple of the bubbles :)

They really enjoyed our old play set and had a good time playing and chasing each other!
Everytime Landon and Greyson saw my camera, they would say "cheese" :)

Then we all came in and ate dinner. Hot dogs and french fries!!!

...and a peanut butter cookies and brownies :) Of course we spoiled them!!!
After everyone ate, we all played with play doh! It was a success and no one ate any :)
Then they all got into their jammies and we watched a little bit of a movie...no scary parts :) It was the very beginning of Kung Fu Panda...which is such a fun movie :) Everyone behaved and we had a great time! They went right to bed and all slept very well! I can't wait until they get older and we can all camp out in the living room! :) They all slept in until 7:30am. We played and watched cartoons and had pancakes for breakfast! It was so much fun and definitely a special time for my family! Thank you Matt and Alicia and John and Jessica for letting us have your kids over night :) I pray that everyone invests in the kids in your life! They all need love and encouragement and strong dependable relationships!

Our Weekend Parties

2011-03-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Friday night it started out with a sleepover party at Brad and Ang's house. We had pizza and played the wii and laughed as our kids played together! Gracie and Addie were so excited to have a slumber party and sleep in the same bed. I think they thought they would talk and stay awake all night, but they were asleep in seconds :) We always enjoy our time with this family and count ourselves truly blessed to know them! Thanks you all for an amazing time!

Ang and Brad were really getting into "Speed Slicing"...I love that game :)
Addie and Grace of course got dressed up and decorated her room :)

Ethan and Tyler dressed up too...Tyler is black spidey :) Ha...it was too cute :) He even played the Wii with the mask on!

Our second party was Greyson's 3rd birthday party!!! He is a very special boy who you can see is truly loved by many! He is such a smart little boy and he is so fun to watch with his facial expressions and excitement about everything! John and Jessica had an incredible dinner and some amazing cupcakes! Jessica even put together little party favors for all the kids to take home...and yes Jessica, they are still blowing those whistles :) Greyson got a lot of cool stuff, but his favorite was his four wheeler :) Once he saw that, his face lit up and he got so excited!!!
Greyson is such a wonderful little boy! Happy Birthday!!!

It's A Bo Prde...

2011-03-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, so that is how Gracie wrote it in her book :) We had a bow party with our girls! It was so much fun! Emerson was fabulous, Gracie helped make one bow and modeled them nicely, Kenna behave extremely well as well :) Ok, so maybe the mom's made all the bows, but it was so much fun! Our husbands took the boys to Bass Pros and had good bonding time there as well. All the little boys, and the adult ones too, looked pretty tired when they got back :) And no boats were purchased :) A huge thanks to Jessica for sharing her expertise! Gracie and I had so much fun and just loved being able to have girl time with these special ladies!!!Check out all the bows we made! Grace loves it!!! She wore her first one to church on Sunday and felt extremely special! God definitely blessed us with these relationships!

A wedding celebration

2011-02-27T18:16:00.001-08:00

We were honored to attend Danny and Kayla's wedding! It was beautiful! I didn't get any good pictures of this wonderful couple because.the church was FULL!!! You could definitely see how many people love them. But at least we snuck in some cute pics of the kiddos! Then it was great to meet up with the Davis' for a movie afterwards :)

SUITE!!!

2011-02-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

We got free tickets to watch the state finals for wrestling in a SUITE at Conseco from my brother!!! The seats were great and we had plenty of room to move around. The kids loved it and got to have their own couch and watch their dvd player. It was quite a treat and we felt pretty special!!! It was an incredible opportunity!!!

She finally lost it :)

2011-02-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

We have a very excited little girl at home! Now we have to figure out what the going rate for a tooth fairy is :)

Our new dining room set

2011-02-13T17:57:00.001-08:00

Thank you mom and dad! We love the dining room set. We have really enjoyed our family meals around this table!

Happy Valentine's Day to Me...

2011-02-13T11:34:00.001-08:00

I am truly blessed! Let me just tell you how WONDERFULLY AMAZING my husband is! Amos took charge on planning our Valentine's celebration. We had someone to watch the kids and the kids were going to spend the night. So we had the entire night to ourselves! So on Friday we headed off on our date. I didn't know anything at all. I just expected a nice dinner together. So as we got closer, Amos had me shut my eyes. When I opened them, he had surprised me with a hotel room! It was so awesome and relaxing! I was so excited! We went to check the room out and when I walked in, I was surprised again with TWO DOZEN multi-colored roses and candy! The picture below doesn't really do them justice and now they are opening up and so full! They compliment our new dining table perfectly!!! (thanks mom and dad!!). Then we had an awesome dinner together and relaxed the rest of the night. For those of you who are wondering...Amos did an incredible job packing for me!!! He knows me so well. It isn't easy for a man to pack for a woman. So I was very impressed with that! But that wasn't the end of our celebration! We slept in the next morning and then had breakfast. We got to take our time and just be with each other. Then he took me shopping!!! We walked around stores for several hours and I got to shop just for me without any complaints and it was so nice! And for those of you who know Amos, that was a huge gift in itself :) Then we ate out for lunch and headed home!

Amos put so much planning and preparation into our time together and that is what I truly appreciated! He put me first and made me feel so incredibly special! God brought us together and I couldn't be any happier! After almost 10 years of marriage we are still in love with each other and still in our "honeymoon" stage and we love it!! Love you Amos and thank you for your heart and love!

Blizzard Feb 2011

2011-02-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

Well, we got quite a bit of snow! Not that we aren't used to a lot of snow. We usually don't get it all in one night :) We easily got 12-14 inches...which means school is closed and we couldn't go to work. So we got to spend the day together!! The kids went out to play of course.

Gracie wanted to help clear the snow :)
It didn't work out to well for her :)
Here is a better way to use a shovel :)
Until Amos nailed them with the snow blower :) Don't let them fool you...they loved it!
Gracie had to help Tyler get out of the way.When all the work was done it was time to have fun! Sledding with the neighbors down the driveway :)

Afterwards, I made them hot chocolate. We also spent time playing the wii :) Yeah, I had to work at home for a while, and I had laundry to do. But it was great to be home and spend time with the family!

He met me here...

2011-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

We talked. I cried. I shared my heart and became vulnerable and He surrounded me with love. I didn't want to fill my time with activities to make the time go by...I wanted to fill it with God. I felt God's presence and I cried again.

My Bible Study decided we need to have quality time with God. Honestly, I thought it was a challenge that someone threw out to the group that I never thought would be scheduled. And then a day and time was picked. We went to "The Quiet Place". We needed a place to be free of distractions. We held each other accountable by going together. The entire house was ours to use. We each picked a room to spend time with God. Not just to talk, but to listen. Not just to go through the motions and the generic prayers, but to dig deeper and open our hearts to God.

We got there around 8:15am and and had our personal quiet time until 11:15am. Then we met up for lunch and shared our experiences and struggles. I wasn't sure how I was going to spend the three hours so I brought some activities. However, when it came time to meet with God, I wanted the time to be valuable. I didn't want to fill it with activities and jump from one activity to the next just to get through the time, I wanted to fill the time with God. And that is what I did! He met with me, we connected, and I am renewed!

God is great! My Bible Study group is great! Amos is great! They all made this possible and I am so thankful for it! When is the next one? :) Thank you all and love you!

Three...

2011-01-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I took Jenn to the airport yesterday. I only cried THREE times so far...that is good for me :) We miss her greatly, but we know she is in good hands! Gracie told me the other day that she might be an adult before Aunt Jenn comes back. I think she has a little trouble understanding time, but it was still cute. All I can say is thank goodness for Skype and the internet :) Grace and Tyler are pretty excited about having a pen pal! :) Sunday was her last night at our house and a member of our church gave us money to take her out for dinner. It was definitely a gift from God! It was the perfect gift. We could relax and just spend quality time with her and not have to worry about cooking and clean up. We took her to The Boat House and we had an incredible time!

We love you Jenn and are so very proud of you! Keep spreading God's love! Stay safe and keep serving! Love you!!!

Definitely in love...

2011-01-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

After 9+ years of marriage, I can easily say that I look at my husband daily and am reminded of how much in love with him I am! God created the perfect man for me!I am learning in my women's Bible study just how important it is to have a day of rest. A day to be filled and not be running around so much and working all the time. It is definitely something that feels weird and hard to not feel like I am wasting a day of the week. However, I have found it to be very rewarding! And it helps me not get overwhelmed and keeps my attitude in check. I am in love with my husband who does everything he can to support me! Just today I was helping him make lunch and he asked me what I was doing. I said I was helping and he said that he had it taken care of and that it was my day to rest. He also took care of the last loads of laundry I had to get done. Again, he steps up and makes sure I am taken care of and I love that about him! Thank you God for blessing me with the perfect husband! Love you Amos and thank you!

F-A-M-I-L-Y

2011-01-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

We had a great dose of family time! Mom and dad came to visit and stayed with us for a couple of days! It was great having them here! They helped Jenn get ready to move to Spain and they played with the kids and just connected with us all. Thanks for coming and glad you had a safe trip! Love you!!!

Then on Wednesday night we had more family time. We got to visit Randy and Susan at the hospital and really enjoyed our time with them. They both are incredible people and their trust in God is amazing to see as they are going through this rough time. Thank you both for opening your hearts to us! Afterwards we went to spend more time with Ang, Brad, Ethan, and Addie at their house. We all had such a great time talking, eating, and catching up :) The kids also played extremely well together. We will definitely have to schedule another get together. Thank you so much for being a part of our lives.

I am blessed with an extra big family and I love you all!

These Ladies...

2011-01-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

These ladies are wonderful. We don't get to meet often, but when we do, we never want it to end. Thanks for coming over for dinner and thanks Jenn for making dinner :) Love you all!!!

I can't wait to meet up again!!!

Annual Parties...

2011-01-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

We started it off with our annual dinner at Hona Yori's!!! It was a blast...the weather was warm...the food was amazing!...our cook talked football...and we just have a great time hanging out! Then the party headed to Matt and Alicia's house and we played on the Wii. I don't know if you would call what I did "playing", but I did my best :)

Then Amos and I had our annual New Year's Eve party!!! We had a Euchre Tournament and a played "Quarters" or "Fire". Then we played "Just Dance" on the Wii and some volleyball! We also had delicious drinks :) All the kids had a great time playing together and did very well! Everything was almost perfect! The only thing that could have been better is if Kristina brought pigs in a blanket which included the pig part and not just the bread and cheese :) Ok, so there were only a few that had that...and I got one of them :) Amos and Kristina killed everyone in Euchre and Mikel came from behind to win Quarters :) Nice job guys!

It was great to see everyone and to get to catch up and spend time together! I can't wait until next year :) I hope everyone has a year full of blessings and gives God all the credit :) Love you all!

Family Christmas and Traditions!

2010-12-25T13:47:00.001-08:00

It started out with our second annual Friend Christmas and it was such a blast!!!! The food was amazing, the cookie decorating was so much fun, the sledding was awesome, and everyone had the best time! I can't wait until next year...hopefully we can remember how to play that quarter game? :)Matt and all the kiddos on the sled!

Gracie didn't drive it by herself of course :) John did a great job!
She took a turn on the sled for a while too :)All the kids did a great job decorating cookies and eating them too!!

For dinner we had some incredible pizza, jello salad, and brownies...Jenn had her favorite...brownie batter :)
Gracie wanted Aunt Jenn to help and they made some great cookies together.I love this group because we love all the kids there and help out when the parents are too busy taking pictures :)Here is a picture of the ladies!!! What a good looking group :)

Then it was our Family Christmas on Christmas Day!

Santa brought Gracie some pom poms because she like cheerleaders. She came up with the pose herself :) Too funny...totally a girl thing :)
Santa brought Tyler a football :) Later in the day, Amos and Tyler were playing football and Gracie was cheerleading! :) Definitely a fun memory :)
Melanie gave Gracie her first zhu zhu pet and she has been hooked ever since :) We got her zhu zhu stuff :)
Tyler is totally into Transformers. He has 3 good guys and 3 bad. We got him his favorite...Rachet and he was so excited and recognized him instantly...so fun!
We also got them sleeping bags this year since we love to camp! They were so excited!
Tyler helped Amos make our traditional Christmas breakfast casserole.

...and more cheerleading :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I hope you enjoyed time with family and friends. Most importantly, I hope you spent time with God today and remember all the blessings He has given you....eternal life! Love you!!

The Best Aunt Ever...

2010-12-19T19:13:00.001-08:00

We are blessed to have Jenn in our lives. She made a special evening for the kids and taught them about charitable giving! Wow! They had a blast and she made giving fun!!! Thanks Jenn! We will definitely use this video while you are out serving! Love you!!! This is just a small glimpse of the night they shared. It shows how much fun they have together and how much she loves Gracie and Tyler.

Christmas Memories!

2010-12-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

It started off with Tyler's Christmas program at school. The teachers were all shocked about how quiet he was because he shouted all the words out at every practice. We knew better...that it would change when there was a crowd watching him. So he wasn't the happiest reindeer, tree, and angel...but he was a still the cutest boy up there to us and we are very proud of him!!

Then on Friday we drove down my parent's house to celebrate with them! It was great and we were all excited to see them! Jenn and I always try to get a picture taken together...especially since she is leaving soon.So, let me explain the picture above. Let me start by saying that mom is a lot like Alicia. She never takes a good candid shot. You really have to let her know when you are going to take a picture :) But she does take great pictures when she knows about them :) So I wanted one good picture of them with the kids. I told them that I was going to take a picture. Dad came out in his PJ's. Ummm...I said, "Dad, you have got to change. I am taking a good picture of you with the kids." So he says ok and goes back into his room. The next thing you know, he comes out in an o.k. shirt with neon blue jogging pants. Oh dad, really? Luckily, mom sees him, grabs a pair of slacks, gives them to him and says, "Honey, put these on. This picture is going on her blog!" She knows me too well!!!! Thanks mom! :)

Tyler loved everything he got...especially his race cars!
Sants struck gold when he brought these :)Gracie loved her bows that she got!We had a great visit! I hope you all are enjoying time with families and sharing the love of Christ with each other!

Christmas Plays need Penguins and Dragons :)

2010-12-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Our church had the kids' Christmas Play today and it was so fun to see all the kids that were involved! All the little kids were sovenier ornaments (AKA: they pretty much wore their Halloween costumes as long as they were appropriate :)). So, as you can see by the pictures below, my kids aren't stars on the stage. But we don't mind, we are still very proud of them for doing their best...even if it means not getting the best smiles up there.

We also used the projector again to watch the Bear's game. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good game to watch in such a big view, but it was still fun to watch the other games :)

It was another wonderful weekend and I praise God for getting us home safely. The roads were terrible and yes, we just saw on the tv that we already have a 2 hour delay for today. This time, I can see why and wouldn't be surprised if school was cancelled completely...so I praise God for safety! :)

Decorating and Celebrating

2010-12-09T18:53:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we got to decorate the tree! The kids did a great job and only broke one ornament :) That has to be a record :) I just love having the tree up and seeing the kids' faces light up when we turn the Christmas lights on!!!

Yes, we even have football ornaments :) I can't wait until Tyler stops forcing this cheesy grin :)This one is a bit blurry, but it was fun to take even though you can see me in it too. The kids loved seeing their reflections in the ornaments :)It was Tyler's turn to put the angel on top. I am glad I blog because I am sure I am going to have to look this up when we try to remember who gets to do it next year :)Tyler couldn't quite get it, so Gracie ended up doing it...I think it still counts as Tyler's year though :)

Here is the final picture with the tree all decorated!

Then last Friday, we started my birthday celebration! :)
We all went to Antonio's for pizza and then came home and watched "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". It was a great time with the family and was really a perfect night! Then Saturday, Amos spent the day with me at Michigan City. We did some birthday and Christmas shopping and got most of it all done! I had a great time just spending the day with Amos! Sunday, we just relaxed at home and Jessica gave me the present of beating her in fantasy football!!! :) Monday, Amos told me he would make me anything I wanted for dinner and guess what I picked....POPCORN. I know...not very healthy, but very delicious :)...the real deal even...none of that microwave stuff :) I sure did miss my sister, but we are going to reschedule our birthday dinner together and I can't wait!!! This year has been full of blessings and I am so very thankful! Love you all!!!

Christmas Tree Time...

2010-11-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

We love going to the Christmas Tree Farm and cutting down our own tree! Unfortunately, they only had two types to choose from this year. I think they need more time for the others to grow. So, we didn't end up actually cutting one down this year. But it was still fun to pick an already cut one down and getting free popcorn!Here they are...all excited to get a tree!We figured we see what kind was available to cut down before we gave up completely :) FYI: these aren't the trees...these are still the ones that need to grow. :)

And we found it! It looks great...and I am sure you are excited to see the blog post of decorating it :)

So much to be THANKFUL for...

2010-11-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have a ton to be thankful for and I am super blessed! :) First, I am thankful for God that gives us so much to be thankful for...and even when there are times that are hard, He never leaves our side! I am thankful for my family who I love so very much! I am thankful for the amazing friendships/relationships that bless my life. I am thankful for football being on my tv even though I am not doing so hot in Fantasy Football! I am thankful for the food we were able to prepare for lunch and now eat for months off of it :) I am just thankful for life, for priorities, and for not just going through motions but actually LIVING! I pray you all realize how blessed you are and I pray that you are all making some incredible memories! So now of course, you can see pictures of my wonderful Thanksgiving day :)I am thankful for an incredible husband that knows his way around the kitchen! He made the kids laugh histerically with his turkey puppet :)I am thankful for the curiosity my kids have, as long as they are staying out of trouble :)
I am thankful for my kids who LOVE to read! When Gracie wasn't helping in the kitchen, she was reading :)I am thankful for TWICE BAKED POTATOES! If you haven't had them, you need to try them :)
I am thankful the JUMBO crescent rolls, because the little ones just don't last anymore at our house :)I am thankful that we are mulitcultural...notice the brown pilgrim and white native american. Yeah, that wasn't planned :)I am thankful for every minute I get to spend with the Grace and Tyler!
I am thankful we can enjoy this huge meal...yeah, there is more in the kitchen!
I am thankful for getting to spend alone time with Amos while the kiddos were napping! I always enjoy our time together! Amos is very creative and borrowed a projector so we watched our Netflix movie on the living room wall :) It was pretty cool and the picture was surprising good! FYI: This movie scene isn't as racey as it may seem. Just so you know it is "High Crimes" with Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. It was a pretty good movie!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Visit to my brother's house...

2010-11-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

We went to visit Scott and Rhi and had a great time. We watched some football, we talked to Spencer on the phone a bit, and mostly just relaxed...oh and ate lots of popcorn! It was nice to spend time with them.This pic is a little blurry, but I love it. It shows how much fun our marriage is and it is next to a popcorn machine!!! :) Jenn and I had a great time playing shuffle board.

Scott loaned Amos a bow and some arrows and a target so he can get into bow hunting...which is what he is interested in. So, he was pretty excited. It was just a wonderful weekend.

New Things...

2010-11-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

What an incredible night! First, I tried a new recipe...pizza loaf...thanks Alicia! So, I had to go to Walmart this morning before work to find frozen bread dough. So, I had to call a co-worker to find out where it might be in Walmart. So, I ended up also asking a Walmart worker. So, I had the dough thawing out on my desk :) It was worth it. The dinner was great. But even better, the company was great! Thank you Adam, Gretchen, Morgan, Camden, and Brady for joining us for dinner tonight. It has been great getting to know you! Your family is incredible and just a joy to be around. Hopefully we will be able to see each other once in a while through the winter :) I just thank God for the new experiences in my life!

Family Time at Kalahari!

2010-11-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

God blessed us with an opportunity to go to Kalahari (Ohio) on Friday night. We were blessed because it was half off :) But most importantly, the blessing came from getting to spend some incredible FAMILY time together! We packed up the kids and the whole trip to them was a complete surprise. We didn't even tell them where we were going! We love doing that! We just picked them up from school and put in a dvd :) They had a blast! We all did :)
You know you usually stay at cheap hotels, when you take several pictures of your hotel suite :) It came with a full kitchen with everything supplied, except food.

It had a fireplace and a nice tv :) It is nice to have Gracie around to take pictures too :)Yes, one more of our dining room and sitting area :) We had a master bedroom and a jacuzzi tub. It was definitely relaxing! :)We found a restaurant in the hotel to eat at. We got the buffet that had crab legs and prime rib...YUM! (However, I did let them know that the crab wasn't as good as the Davis' :))
Here is a picture of the restaurants and some shops in the hotel! Everything was in an African theme there. It was so cool to see!After wandering around the hotel and eating, it was very late. The kids were exhausted. We put them to sleep and they didn't move. They were out in minutes! I took this to show how cute they looked asleep and how small they looked under the covers :)Here is a picture of a little bit of the water park through some glass. It was INCREDIBLE!

They also had a cool playground that the kids played in while waiting for the park to open.

Here is a little bit of the kids section. Gracie loved the slides here :) She loved everything, we couldn't stop her. Tyler enjoyed it as well and loved the water slides in his little area.
This is just more pictures of the kids section where they have water buckets and guns to shoot people with water and dump water on people!
Here you can see the water coming down. It was so much fun!I enjoyed the slides and most of all the lazy river and wave pool! Here Tyler and I are just floatin' around!Here is Gracie coming off the bigger orange slide! I can't count how many times she did it!But she did like the bigger blue one better :)Here is the bar with some huge margarittas!And they had this cool surf and boogie board ride. Amos wanted to surf, but they only had boogie boards going :)

It was just an incredible time to spend together!!!! It was awesome!!!!! I love God and I love my family!!!! It is definitely a memory that will last forever!

Fabulous Fall Weekend

2010-11-07T17:39:00.001-08:00

Friday, I had the pleasure of having dinner with some amazing friends! Dina had us over for spaghetti and garlic bread and it was DELICIOUS! God definitely brought us together that night to release a ton of emotions! We laughed, we cried, we laughed, and we cried some more! It was an incredible night and I just love how honest we can be with each other. Even though we don't get to see each other that often, it never feels that way when we meet up. Thank you ladies for your friendship!
Then on Sunday, we had our annual Sunday School Hay "Straw" Ride Party! Danny and Kayla did an amazing job once again. I just love fall! I loved the bonfire, the food, and the hayride! It is so fun to get together and just enjoy each other. The weather was perfect and I am already looking forward to next year's party!

Three Buddies...

2010-10-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

Matt and Alicia had a date night on Friday, and we had a blast with everyone at our house. We played outside most of the time and had a bonfire. The cutest part was how the three boys played together. They interacted more and talked a lot to each other about fire flies and fire trucks! It was awesome to see and I know they will be great friends :)

Trying to get a picture of Tyler, Landon, and Greyson all looking at me, was quite a task :) This was the best I could do :)

Here they are talking about the fire trucks they hear and I am pretty sure Landon is saying, "Nee nah, nee nah" :)

Hut...Hut...

2010-10-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

Tyler just loves his football helmet :) I think he looks perfect :)

Trick or Treat Please!

2010-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well we did the Halloween thing and had a blast! The kids loved trick or treating...thanks everyone! And we had a great time at the annual Halloween bash!Gracie picked out her own costume. This was the first year she didn't want to be a princess of some sort...that is a big step here at our house :) It was perfect for her since she can waddle and she loves fish :)Tyler was a dragon and he loves this costume! He has a pretty big roar :) Now we just need him to learn to not roar in the house...it is kind of loud :)Here is a picture of the dragon trying to scare the penguin :)And now they are friends :)

Then Amos and I went to the Halloween party at Matt and Alicia's house. The theme was "Scary Monsters". I didn't get a lot of pictures. As soon as Jessica B. sends us one of the group pictures, I will add it to this post.Matt and Alicia were fabulous hosts!! And the decorations were perfect as always!
Here are Amos and I! I went as Medusa and he just got a scary mask :) I tried to look mean, but it keeps coming across like I am sad :) Oh well! And I have to give a huge shout out to my friend Dina who came over and did my eye makeup! It was perfect! You can't see it in the pictures well because the flash, but it was very dramatic :) Thanks tons!!!!Amos won most scariest and Melanie won most original! Great job you guys! You both look fantastic! :) We played Halloween Jeopardy and then Pop5 and had a great time laughing and talking! Thanks Matt and Alicia for another great party! Can't wait until next year...what is the theme? :)

I "Heart" this weekend...

2010-10-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

God certainly showered me with blessings this weekend! It started out on the perfect foot :) It was date night and I just adore these days! With two kids, it isn't often you get some time to just focus on your husband. It was an amazing night! We ate an amazing dinner at Flat Top and got some last minute stuff for my costume. But most importantly, we held hands, we connected with each other, and we both remembered how nice it is to just love! Thanks John and Jessica and Matt and Alicia for watching the kiddos!

Then on Saturday, Amos and the kids went with me to Jenn's tailgate! Yeah, she gets paid to host a tailgate :) The food was delicious! And it was a super fun day with the family on a beautiful fall day! GO IRISH!

Amos is just an amazing father! This picture shows it perfectly how much he loves Gracie and Tyler! Tyler says they are best buds! :)Then we got home and decorated pumpkins! Thanks to my mom for pumpking tatoos! They worked perfectly and the kids loved them!We were also lucky enough to get invited to roast hot dogs and make smores with our neighbors! They are such a sweet family. Then today, I went to Kayla's bridal shower, made some apple crisp, and watched some football! I just love fall! I hope you all count your blessings and name them one by one. Ok, so that hymn just popped in my head! But seriously...start counting :)

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well it was a beautiful warm day! The perfect day to spend family time at the pumpkin patch! The kids were so excited and were going to pick the biggest pumpkins in the whole wide world. However, we knew they were going to pick small ones because you have to pay by the pound :) Let's go exploring! Ok, that was cheesy, but it fit perfectly with Dora, Diego, and Boots :) Next, we saw the chipmunks which worked out great since we recently saw The Squeakquel.

They usually have Snow White somewhere around there. Gracie is hiding him, but sleepy is asleep under the table...it was cute :)Let's see how tall they are this year...or short :)They love Tarzan, so of course had to get their picture taken with him.

We also saw Madagascar. I tried to get the giraffe in there for you :) I'm just glad they didn't start singing...I like to move it move it :)Tyler doesn't even know Mighty Mouse, but wanted a picture with him :) I think he looked like Mickey Mouse to him :)This picture was taken only for the purpose of giving it to Matt! :)No worries, we found Mickey Mouse...but Tyler wasn't interested anymore :)
We had a great time and the fire trucks and firemen were there to teach kids about safety. They got toy hats and stickers and coloring books and loved it :)
We were also blessed to see John, Jessica, and Greyson there! You can't beat seeing great friends there!We picked out our pumpkins to decorate. Amos and I will carve ours and Grace and Tyler will put on "Pumpkin Tattoos" that grandma (my mom) gave them :) They love painting them too. But for some reason they are into tattoos...better on pumpkins than on their bodies :) Ha!
Since I am always behind the camera, I made Amos take a quick picture of us :) I just love my family!!!

Then Gracie went to her first school friend birthday party. She got lots of invites at preschool, but they were to the entire class. This one was for her directly. He is a first grader and went to her preschool with her for a while. It turned out to be a blast! This mom put so much effort into the party, you could see just how special she wanted her son's birthday to be. There was a lot of love there! And food :) She had a ton of excellent barbecue chicken and some hamburgers and hot dogs that they had been grilling all day. She had so many games, we actually had to leave before they were all done! It was such a good time. Gracie had a blast and Tyler had a blast with Matt and Alicia and Landon and Emerson! Thanks tons for watching him for us. He just loves you guys and we do to :)

It was a great weekend, full of some incredible family and friend time!

A Celebration Saturday...

2010-10-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

We are learning in Sunday School the importance of relationships. I certainly thank God for the relationships below!

My sister Jenn...she always impresses me with her passion to serve! A few weeks ago I got an evite from her. She wanted to make me lunch. For those of you don't know Jenn that well, she loves to cook and does everything perfectly! She gives me the desire to be better in the kitchen...oh well...maybe tomorrow...ha! :) We spent some amazing time in the kitchen talking and connecting while she prepared the food.
We laughed with each other and had so much fun just being sisters! Here I am, enjoying my coffee while I watch her slave away :)She made me some incredibly delicious fancy pizza. For those of you who don't know me well, how did you find this blog? Ha, kidding. Anyway, if you don't know me well, let me just say that the one food I could eat any day for every meal is pizza! And Jenn's pizza was incredible!!!For dessert, we had angel food cake and strawberries! Yum! We went downstairs to eat and spend quality time together. Then we ended up watching the best parts of Pride and Prejudice. What a great great movie! Yeah, we forwarded it through the slow parts and only watched the parts we loved! It still lasted an hour and a half :) Jenn, I love you so very much and I appreciate the time you made for me. You are an amazing sister and a huge part of my family! Love you!

Then Saturday evening, we got to celebrate another special event! Landon Matthew's 2nd birthday. I am going to throw this story in here, because it is my blog and I can. I couldn't remember Greyson's middle name and Gracie said she did. She said, "Mommy, it is Greyson Randall. And Landon's is Landon Matthew." I said, "Oh my goodness, how did you know that Grace?" She said, "Because when they get into trouble, that is what their parents call them." She didn't know Emerson's :) I thought that was a cute story and it did happen on Saturday too :) Anyway, we went to the party at Matt and Alicia's! The excitement was building for the time to open presents!
Landon wanted to play with each toy after he opened them and not open the others. :) But he did a great job and it was so fun to watch! You can see how much this boy is loved...check out the pile of gifts! :)Matt and Alicia made everyone dinner and it was delicious! Guess what it was...PIZZA! Great choice! I loved seeing all the kids eat together! They are Landon's friends as he likes to call them :)
Check out this incredibly cool cake that Alicia made! It was very creative and very delicious I might add! Landon certainly liked it!He did a great job blowing out his candles :)
Notice the fork in one hand and the food in the other. I like that technique!

Landon even passed out party favors that Grace and Tyler loved! It was definitely a hit at church this morning too :) After the party, we hung out with Matt and Alicia and Mary and played cards and watched football! It was a great great time and Landon certainly is one special boy! God, I pray that you guide Landon's heart in all that he does. I pray he becomes a man of faith and brings you glory all the days of his life! Thank you Matt and Alicia for hosting such an incredible party and for being such amazing parents! Your family is most definitely a part of ours!

Ok, so I had to pull it out again...We Beat the Packers...GO BEARS!

2010-09-28T05:40:00.000-07:00

Before and After...

2010-09-26T17:07:00.001-07:00

Before....

After...
Yes we did it! We went back to a buzz cut. It is much easier to maintain and he loves looking like his daddy! Just wanted to share his new look :)

Notre Dame...

2010-09-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

And God provides...

I wanted to go and support Jenn at one of her tailgates at Notre Dame. I asked Jessica and Alicia if they wanted to go with me since Amos isn't a huge Notre Dame fan. Alicia wasn't able to join :(, but Jessica was :). Jenn got a free ticket to the game and I was so excited for her. Then John and Jessica got free tickets too. And again, I was very excited for them. Since they were going to stay for the game, I just told them I would go to the tailgate with Gracie and they could go on their own. I was a bit nervous...ok, pretty nervous about where to park and how to get there and the timing of everything. Then Saturday morning, Jessica let me know that they had a free place to park and that we could all go to the tailgate together...and God provided. That took a lot of stress and worry off of me. Later, Saturday morning, Jenn called me and told me she got a free ticket for me to go to the game too...and God provided again! It was incredible and I had a blast spending time with John and Jessica at the tailgate and then sitting by my sister at the Notre Dame Game!!!!! Free parking, free lunch buffet, free Notre Dame game...God provided and everything fell into place perfectly!Even though Notre Dame lost, I still had a BLAST!!! I had so much fun connecting with Jenn at the game and John and Jessica at the tailgate and round trip and Fazolis :) I thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful day and time! Thank you Jenn for getting the ticket for me and just being an amazing sister! Thank you John and Jessica for being great friends and for giving me a ride :) Even though Notre Dame lost, they still beat PURDUE :) Plus, I am a Bears' fan and Cubs' fan so it kind of goes with the territory! :) GO IRISH!

Road Trip...

2010-09-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

We left Friday after work (and after fixing the flat tire we had after work). It was a long drive and we got there around 1:30am.But it was totally worth it...We took a road trip this past weekend to visit my mom and dad. We were all looking forward to it and we had a great visit. It was great to see each other and catch up and get a tour of the town. We had some incredible chinese food and mexican food which always highlights a trip...but even better conversations and connecting. The kids had a blast with grandma and grandpa and are looking forward to the next trip already. Thanks mom and dad for an amazing visit. Love you.

Labor Day Weekend...by Grace and Tyler :)

2010-09-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

So my kids love to take pictures :) I decided to let them take the pictures this weekend. Tyler took pictures on Saturday and Grace took pictures on Sunday :) Grace did take over 30 pictures, so I didn't include all of them :) I also only edited one picture, the rest I left alone. Enjoy!Pictures by Tyler :)

We all took a walk to the park so the kids could play at the playground. We wanted to play on the boat, but the weather created different plans since it was in the 60's :)On our way, we saw a group of kayakers. But by the time Tyler could get one in the picture, there was only one left :)
Also, by the time tyler got Gracie in the picture, she was tired of smiling :)

Ignore Amos' "work pants" :) Amos was doing something on the computer and Grace was reading! She just loves to read :)
Since Amos had everything under control, I took a nap :) I had to get energy to watch the football game!It was a GREAT game! Notre Dame BEAT Purdue...GO IRISH!

Pictures by Gracie...
We had a party at John and Jessica's. We had a blast four wheeling and hanging out! The guys and kids went fishing in the back. Notice the fish that Emerson is holding. She squeezed it pretty good and didn't want to let it go :)Remember, Gracie is taking pictures :)

Jenn was exhausted after her ND tailgate (which went very well) :)
Then the kids all played ball with the guys and we had a bonfire!
We played cards after the kids went to bed and just hung out together! It was a wonderful time! Thanks John and Jessica and Greyson!

Special People...

2010-09-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

God blesses us with many things, one of them being relationships! Friday involved some special people in my life.

We started out as co-workers, but God had so much more in store for us. Becky and I connected immediately! In fact, Becky is so amazingly wonderful, I am not sure she could meet anyone that didn't want to be around her. We would have our office chats, hugs, and pretty deep discussions. She is the type of woman that just pours out compassion and love. She is such an encourager and someone I really care about. Then, she was called to move out of state. This brought a lot of tears to the office and she is missed greatly! We still connect and I am so thankful for that! She came back into town on Friday and we met at Hacienda for some drinks and hugs! Becky, you are so very special and I am so thankful that we have such an wonderful relationship! Miss you already!

Then Friday evening, Randy and Bryn were united in Christ!

It was such a beautiful ceremony! You can see the love they share. We were so excited we could share this special day with them! Congrats Randy, Bryn, and Brayden! Then of course Gracie had to use the camera and take her own pictures shown below :)

Fantasy Football Time!

2010-09-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

I love this season! Bring it on! We had another fabulous draft and award ceremony this past Sunday! The teams look great...mine looks better :) We have so much fun drafting and picking players! And I know all the ladies did hours of research before the draft. Ok, maybe not...and that is another reason it is so fun! Afterwards we went out to eat and just hang out even longer! Then Jenn and I head to Matt and Alicia's house because the guys were ending their drafts there and we hung out and had a cornhole tourny! So, I only beat one person, it was still fun! And she was quite the tough competitor. The kids had a blast playing "spin me around" and "run into the couch" :) It was a great draft day and I am looking forward to football season! I hate to be the one that gives Kristina her first loss in week one, but she is going down :):):) I just praise God for wonderful relationships! Go Bears!

Gracie's Big Day...

2010-08-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Our Gracie had her first day of Kindergarten today! It was awesome!!! We are so very proud of her and she was super excited! And for those of you who know me, I didn't even shed a tear! I know...very shocking! But Gracie was just extremely excited it made me extremely excited for her! It was an awesome morning!

Check out her cute outfit that Jenn and Alicia helped me pick out! Thanks ladies, it was perfect!!!Here is her new back pack that is about as tall as she is...but she loves it!

We all went outside to wait for the bus with her and Tyler wanted a picture taken of him too :)
Yahoo the bus is here and Gracie couldn't wait to get on! We were super excited 15 minutes earlier when another bus came by our house and then passed us by :) Thankfully, our bus came shortly after :)

I took half a day today and came home early to pick her up. We baked homemade chocolate chip cookies together and talked about her day! It was the best time! Thanks to mom, we even had chocolate peanut butter chips to put in the cookies :) They were delicious and it was a very special time for all of us :)

Thank you God for this special day and for Gracie who we are so proud of!

Shopping and College Friends...

2010-08-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

So I told Jenn, Dina, and Ang that I was going to name this post "Old Dogs and Wild Hogs", because we were talking about those movies. But then it sounded like I was calling Alicia, Jenn, and I "Old Dogs" and Dina, Ang, Jenn, and I "Wild Hogs" and that didn't make sense, so I changed it :)

On Saturday...we went shopping! It was our annual shopping trip to Michigan City. Jessica wasn't able to go and we missed her, but we had a blast finding deals! I mean, who doesn't enjoy spending money :) We found great items for ourselves and we found a super cute outfit for Gracie's first day of school!!!! It was an amazing time and I am already looking forward to next year :) It is so important to have women time and it is a day I always look forward to!Then we hung out at Matt and Alicia's and watched football and played Settlers. Matt and Amos hung out most of the day with the kids and they played so well together. Below is a picture of Landon and Tyler working on a puzzle. Tyler would pick up a piece and Landon would point to where it went. It was very cute :)
Then on Sunday, we had a taco night with Ang, Brad, Addison, Ethan, Jenn, Dina, James, Randy, and Susan. We all had a blast catching up and laughing until we couldn't breathe! The food was delicious and so were the drinks! The kids all played with each other and we all talked most of the night. We left an hour later than planned but it was all worth it!
I just can't help but praise God for the special relationships in my life! Love you all!

I Married My Best Friend...

2010-08-12T05:15:00.001-07:00

9 Years ago (8/11), we were married. It is crazy to think it has been nine years already. We both said it feels like yesterday to us. A lot has happened in those nine years, and I wouldn't want to spend that time with anyone else. This marriage is just another amazing example that God has the best plans for us! I am blessed and I feel that all the time!

We had the perfect anniversary day...minus the whole being at work thing :) But at least we work at the same place :) When we got home, Jenn watched Grace and Tyler for us. She just loves doing that and she is amazing with them. We went and had an amazing dinner at the Channel Marker. Then we went kayaking around the lake. It was perfect! The weather was great, the water was great and we had such a relaxing time together!

Then we got a huge surprise when we got home. Jenn and the kids surprised us with cards and music and treats. They made this amazing peanut butter dessert for us! They made cards for us and shaped christmas lights into a heart. They lit candles all around the room and created a romantic song playlist on our computer to listen to. It was neat to have the family aspect as part of our anniversary as well! It made it perfect and even more relaxing!
God is great and I know He has many more wonderful years in store for us! I love you Amos!!!