An amazing weekend.....

We had the best weekend! The kids were out of school Wed, Thurs, & Friday. We squeezed in some dentist & eye dr appts then headed north to Nana & Papa's house. Thursday night we all took Nana to the Make a Difference Tour in Green Bay. We saw Toby Mac, Third Day, Michael W. Smith, Jason Gray and the speaker was Max Lucado. It was awesome! Nana posted on her FB that she really liked that 'funky Jesus music' :)

The kids were able to spend some time at the skate park in Kewaunee and we stopped by to feed Bucky and his pals at the Kewaunee park.

On Saturday, Grant took first place in the handicap division of the Junior Bowlers Scholarship Tournament! More $$$ in his college account. His cousin, Mary Kate came in a close second. Jenny and David came down from the UP to cheer them on. We celebrated with dinner at the Longhorn Steakhouse before we headed back home.

Sunday was a very Happy Halloween. Trick or Treating and a Packer win---what could be better?

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Stop the music on the side bar before you watch this.
Enjoy!!

A quick update.....






It has been busy as usual around here. Grant got his driver's license!! Hopefully that will cut down on mom's taxi service :) He has been doing well in football too. Two weeks ago he had an interception. It was very exciting to see. Evan is busy with football as well. I will have to get some pictures of him in uniform.

Homecoming was last week. It poured during the game and somehow I got sucked into selling tickets for the 50/50 raffle during the downpour. (thanks, Lynn) We still had fun. My nephew Bryce attended his first Homecoming dance. He stopped by so Mike could help him tie his tie. He looked very handsome--which will totally embarrass him, but isn't that what Aunties are for??




Lynn and I took Macie, MaryKate, Grant and one of his buddies to a haunted corn maze. It was hilarious!! I hurt from laughing so hard. Bethany was pretty upset that I would not let her go, but I did not want to deal with nightmares for the next few weeks. Instead, she got to pick out a pumpkin and she and her friend did a great job painting it.

Happy 16th Birthday, Grant!!

Where has the time gone! It seems like just yesterday we were first time parents bringing home our precious little 8# son. Now he is taller than me (although I am still & always be in charge :). He goes for his drivers license test later this month. I can't believe it. I am so proud to be able to say that I am his mom.

Back to school!!

Today is the first day of school. Grant headed out to the high school very early this morning. Evan & Macie left about an hour later for middle school. And last but certainly not least, Bethany headed out the door 40 minutes after that!

The last days of summer vacation...........

We spent the few days of summer vacation hanging out with all the cousins at the lake. We celebrated Adam's 8th birthday. We also tried to get Nana's Christmas photo done. Every year we give her a new picture of all the grandkids. Getting 9 kids to all look at the camera with a half way decent smile is quite the challenge!

Happy 12th Birthday, Macie!!

Cathcing up............

We have been super busy around here. Summer is just flying by. We spent some time in the park, some time at the lake, Mike & Grant went on their missions trip to Mississippi, I took the kids to the Loomis Pig roast, baseball is over and football has started. Whew!!!! I'm exhausted :) Enjoy the pictures.

Rain, the county fair, a little baseball, Drew's birthday & a week with cousins.
Enjoy the pics !!

Bowling in Indianapolis...........

Grant bowled in the USBC Youth Open tournament in Indianapolis over the weekend. When he finished up on Saturday, the unofficial standings had him in 10th place! He bowled really well in his division. We will have to wait for the official results and the rest of the bowling to be completed this week. Drew, Bryce and Mary Kate also bowled. Everyone did a great job and had fun. We celebrated Mary Kate's birthday at the hotel.

After Grant was done bowling, Nana went with us to the Indianapolis Children's Museum while Papa and the Schmidt's went to the Brickyard.

We had a great time at the museum. We saw the Barbie exhibit, Etch-a-sketch exhibit, rock stars, cars & guitars exhibit & so much more. Everyone really enjoyed it.

Happy 4th Gotcha Day, Macie!!

We love you!!

Wishing everyone a very happy & safe Fourth of July!

God Bless America!

Baseball !!!

Baseball is in full swing around here. The girls had their first softball games on Tuesday night. Bethany was beyond excited! Last year she had to watch Grant, Evan and Macie play. She could not wait until this season started and she could get out there and play! Macie & Bethany are on the Dazzling Dynamites. They played 2 games on Tuesday night & won them both. They did very well. Macie had a double and some very good plays when she played third and first base. Bethany had some good hits too. And she did a great job out in the field.

Grant's team is doing good too. I have yet to see any of his games as they are usually at 9:30 in the morning during the week. He seems to be enjoying himself and he has been doing well. Evan decided to take this year off.

Father's Day 2010

We went to the Mineshaft for Father's Day brunch with the Schmidt's & Nana and Papa. The food was excellent. Evan found his way to the game room and hit the jackpot. He got enough tickets to get a pair of sunglasses for Bethany. Then the silliness ensued:)

Happy Birthday, Bethany!!!

Bethany celebrated her 11th birthday with a bowling party at Lighthouse Lanes on Sunday. Of course I did not get any pictures of the kids bowling, but they did have fun. It was amazing to see an 11 year old child experience a real birthday party for the first time. Last year, we had a combined party for Bethany's birthday and Grant's 8th grade graduation. It was just a couple of weeks after we got back from China. She really did not know what was going on. This year, she knew it was all about her and boy was she excited! She received everything she asked for--sidewalk chalk & paint, a skateboard, a volley ball, games, water balloons, books, a little $$, clothes, a fishing pole & a truck. She has been asking for a new truck for months. She got one from Nana & Papa. She couldn't wait to open it. When she took the packaging off, her comment was "SWEET TRUCK!"

Update:

Just wanted to fill you in on a few details of the trip. We left on the Wednesday before Memorial Day. We had 7 bikes & 9 people (Mike & I, Lynn & Dale, Glenn & Kathy, Lori & Mike and Ray) on the first leg of the trip. We headed to the port of Milwaukee and took the Lake Express across Lake Michigan to Muskegon, MI. It was a very nice ride. Once we got to Michigan, we drove east towards Detroit. We stayed with Glenn's sister & hubby (Amy & Jeff) for the first night. They live near Detroit.

Jeff joined us on his bike and Amy came later in the car as we headed from MI to Canada. We made our border crossing with ease and headed to Thorold, Ontario to spend Thursday, Friday & Saturday at the Inn at Lock 7. It's a nice little inn on the Welland Canal owned by Ed & Patty. We couldn't have asked for better hosts! They took very good care of us. We literally had huge barges going through the back yard. Very cool to watch. Friday we spent the day at Niagara Falls seeing the sites. We journeyed behind the falls and took a ride on the Maid of the Mist. All very cool. We finished the night with a dinner buffet at the Skylon Tower. The food was great! The company even better! After dinner we saw a beautiful sunset from the observation deck & then watched the fireworks over the falls. It was very cool to look down on the fireworks.

On Saturday, Ed & Patty took us on an awesome ride. We took a scenic ride through the canadian country side to Port Dover on Lake Erie. We ate at a great restaurant & had lots of laughs. We walked out to a light house and took in the view. After that, we headed back to the Inn for a night of drinks, pizza and wings in the back yard as we watched the ships go through the lock.

On Sunday, we packed up and headed back to MI for another night at Jeff & Amy's. I rode in the car with Amy from Thorold to their house. Let me tell you, nothing gets between Amy & her posse:) Monday we headed to Muskegon to catch the ferry back to WI. It was pretty uneventful. We managed to dodge the rain. We did stop to put on our rain gear, but by the time we were back on the highway, the rain stopped. Another nice boat ride across Lake MI and then home.

We had such a good time. So many laughs and such good company! We are already talking about where to go next!

Niagara Falls

We got back last night from our bike trip to Niagara Falls. We had a great time! More details to follow.

Another fun filled weekend......

Friday night we had a cook out for Nana's birthday. Brats, burgers & all the sides. It was so good. We had a vienna torte for dessert, along with strawberries & whipped cream. As you can see from the pictures, Mary Kate & Auntie Dianne skipped the berries & went straight for the whipped cream:)

Saturday, our niece Katie got married. This was the first wedding for both girls. They were very excited to go. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great reception. Bethany danced up a storm with Katie and all of her bridesmaids.

Sunday was the last day for Chinese school for this year. While Macie was in class, Bethany and I sat outside at university. We saw many graduates in their caps & gowns. We were able to enjoy the sunshine & warm weather.

Always something going on.......

It has been so busy around here lately. The girls and I went to Holy Hill for brunch on Mother's day with Nana and the Schmidt's. The food wasn't so great, but the company and scenery sure was nice. Evan had his last choir concert for the year the other night. It was great! It was a tribute concert to many artists. He was glad his class got to sing 2 Michael Jackson tunes. Bethany danced along to the music. Mike & Uncle David sang along:) Macie continues with her piano lessons. She is doing really well. Grant made the freshman baseball team! Go Suns!!