Caleb's Party

We had a fun birthday weekend/party with both sides of the family.  To start off the weekend Matt's brother, Jared, and his family all came down on Friday.  We were able to visit with them and the kids, go out to dinner and take a walk to the park.

Then on Saturday (Caleb's birthday) both sets of grandparents, my sister and her husband, and Matt's aunt and uncle were also able to come spend the day with us.  It was beautiful outside so we spent time playing in the yard and sitting on the deck too.

I spent all of Friday morning and a little bit of time during the week before preparing food so I wouldn't have to worry about cooking while everyone was here.  For breakfast we had Lucky Charms and homemade granola bars.  For lunch we had sloppy joes, green veggie tray, green fruit salad, pretzels, and a green relish tray.  It was simple but filling.  For dinner I made chicken tetrazzini, fresh salad, maple brown sugar sweet potatoes and anything leftover from lunch.

In the middle of the day we had cake (made by a friend from church) and mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Caleb also got to open presents.  He got some cute summer clothes, some books, his first remote control car, a football and soccer ball, a puzzle and a few other things.  It's been fun because his new presents are actually the toys he likes the best right now.  So, it's good to see them get some use!

The awesome cake!

Getting ready to eat his cake (which he loved).

All the cousins.

I had to add this one of the girls playing at the park.

The Long One About Christmas Celebrations

In the past I've done several individual posts about each Christmas celebration we've had but this year I'm going to just put them all in one post.  It will probably be long:) Happy reading.

Saturday, December 17th - H Extended Family

The week before Christmas most of my extended family descended on my Grandparents' house to celebrate.  My cousin Brianna, her husband and two kids were there as well as her parents, my parents, my sister and her husband.  The only one missing was my other cousin and her family.  We enjoyed fried chicken, mashed potatoes, lasagna, salads and many other delicious sides.  We also opened presents.  With two kids now we got twice as many toys and I think Grace was in heaven.  She pretty much claimed them all as her own and Caleb gets to play with his toys sometimes.

2nd cousins.  Pretty sure this was the best picture.

Wednesday, December 21st - Saturday, December 24th - A Family

On Wednesday night Matt's sister Rachel and her husband arrived here after a long day driving from Texas.  We had a nice dinner together and visited for a while before heading to bed.  Then Thursday morning we all hung out at our place until afternoon naptime and then drove up to Matt's parents.

Friday morning was our big Christmas celebration there.  Matt's brother and family came over for that and we got started opening presents right away.  We made a smart decision and let the kids open all of their presents first.  Then they went off and played while the adults exchanged gifts.  It was much more relaxing to do it that way.  Some of the gifts we got were an electric toothbrush (hopefully no more cavities!), books, Packers tumblers, Dominion, games for Grace, and boy toys (dump truck, tractor, etc..) for Caleb.  We finished the day by eating, napping, playing games, and eating some more.

Saturday morning we woke up and hit the road right away for the next phase of Christmas celebrations.

Grace and Caleb dressed in their Christmas outfits.

The whole family.

Saturday, December 24th - Sunday, December 25th - Church Family and Our Family of 4

After returning from Matt's parents we ate lunch and put the kids down for naps.  Then I washed their Christmas outfits they wore the day before and got myself reading for church.  Once everyone was up we headed to our 4:00 Christmas Eve service.  It was kind of weird because I volunteered in the nursery so I didn't attend the service.  After church we headed out for our 4th Annual Chinese dinner with our church friends.

Christmas morning we had to drag the kids out of bed because they were so tired from all the activity leading up to Christmas.  We opened our presents to each other and then hit the road again.  I got Matt a new winter coat and smart gloves (you can use them with a touch screen phone, computer etc..).  Matt surprised me by getting part of our blog printed out in book form.  He just printed the posts leading up to when we announced I was pregnant with Grace.  It has been fun to go back and read them and remember what my life was like before kids.  I kind of forgot.  The other present I got was a KitchenAid stand mixer.  That wasn't a surprise though because I had to be the one to buy it a week before.

Sorry I have no pictures from this leg of our Christmas adventures.  I didn't take any this year and all the other ones I stole from other peoples cameras.

Sunday, December 25th - Monday, December 26th - H Family

After opening our Christmas presents we were on the road again by 9:30 and headed to my parents' house.  We got there in time to have lunch and visit for a bit.  After the kids took naps we opened presents.  Some highlighted presents are I got a cool cast iron casserole/skillet.  It will be fun to use that.  Matt got some nice slippers from L.L. Bean.  My sister made Grace a sweater jacket out of one of her old sweaters.  It is so cute.  My mom made quilts for the kids that are also maps/roads for them to drive cars on. Next we ate pizza and played with my dad's new remote control helium shark.  Finally, we watched the Bears and Packers.

Monday, we just lazed around my parents house and played with our Christmas presents.  Finally around 4:30 or 5:00 we headed home.  We picked up Arby's for dinner and put the kids to bed.  I was exhausted but it was a great Christmas!

Caleb just loved having the Santa in his mouth while opening presents.

Quilts that my mom made.

Upcycled gift my sister made Grace from one of her old sweaters.

Now we're just enjoying the week at home!

I did create an album of pictures on FB so if we're friends feel free to go check it out if you want to see more:)

Thanksgiving Weekened

We had an awesome Thanksgiving weekend.  I've been waiting to get some pictures before I put this post up so that's why it's kind of late.  I haven't gotten any pictures yet and I realized I could just describe them.  Picture 1 would be everyone sitting around a table with a turkey.

So, before I forget what we did for Thanksgiving I'm going to just blog about it.  We started out Thanksgiving Day by traveling to Matt's brother's house.  As most of my readers know Matt's family loves the Packers so our meal and day was scheduled around the Packers game.  We got there in time for the kickoff and the majority of the family was decked out in their Packers jerseys.  Our sister-in-law prepared a yummy chicken tortilla soup and crescent wrapped mini-hotdogs for lunch. Picture 2: Everyone sitting around in Packers jerseys.

So, we watched the game and ate a yummy lunch.  Then came the big meal!  It was delicious.  Turkey (of course!), sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, bacon wrapped green beans, corn casserole, cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls are just the things I can remember right now.

After supper we drove back to Matt's parents' house and stayed there for the night.  We spent the next day at their house helping decorate, resting, and decorating cookies.  It was a nice day.  Then we drove back home and were up and on the road again 10 hours later.

Saturday we spent the day with my family.  We had our big meal at lunchtime.  This meal consisted of turkey my dad made on the grill, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green beans, salad, and pumpkin pie.  Again this is just what I remember. Picture 3: Another one around the table.

We ate so much food in three days time and Sunday just relaxed at home and tried to eat less.  I'm sure this sounds like most of our readers Thanksgiving holiday.  I just love it.  We have so much to be thankful for and it was great to celebrate what we have to be thankful for with our amazing families!

Week of Matt

Last week I had such and awesome week seeing Matt at unusual times.  Like most adults he spends his days at work so obviously I don't see him during the day but last week I got to see him a little extra everyday!

Monday - Matt took the day off work because he went to the Packers game in Green Bay the day before and was driving home Monday morning.  So he got home by lunchtime and spent the rest of the day with us.  We hung out and hit up an apple orchard.

Tuesday - Matt had no meetings right at or around lunchtime so he came home for lunch and hung out with us for about an hour.

Wednesday - Matt called me at 2:00 and asked how I'd feel if he worked from home the rest of the day.  Woo Hoo!  I really didn't enjoy Matt's company because whenever he does this he has to actually work but I was able to take Grace out while Caleb was napping in the late afternoon while Matt worked.

Thursday - Matt had a chunk of time for lunch again so I picked him up from work and we took the kids to the park for a picnic and playtime.

Friday - My sister came to take pictures of our family so we met at the park at around 5:00 in the evening.  It wasn't that much extra time but it was earlier than I would see him on a normal day.

I had such a fun time hanging with Matt last week.  It was really refreshing and fun that it all happened in one week.  I think I'd like another week like this one soon!

Weekend of Josh

Last weekend our super fun, energetic, awesome, 5 year old nephew Josh came to visit us from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. Back in May when he turned 5 we decided that we wanted to give him a weekend with us as his birthday gift. Instead of spending money on a toy we wanted to spend money on an experience.

So, it worked out for him to come this past weekend. I won't go into extreme detail because you can probably fill them in but here is what we did (in no particular order)...ate chicken nuggets and fries, swam in the backyard, indoor mini-golfing, custard, parks, pizza and arcade games, church, more chicken nuggets and fries, movie night, popcorn, re-watch movie, relay races, watching Packers highlights from last season (oh Matt) and just playing.

Grace loved having her older cousin around. She just followed him and copied everything he did. Since he has a little sister Grace's age he did really well with her. It was fun to watch them play together. We're hoping to have more weekends like this in the future.

Weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's

Last weekend we sent Grace to my parent's house for 2 nights. At first I wasn't that excited about doing it but I'm glad that we did. We really needed to get some stuff done around the house and we know it's good for Grace to get used to (and she LOVES it) spending time around her family even if we aren't there. I just don't really like to give Grace up for the night or even much time at all.

The weekend started out with my dad picking her up on Friday. Then she went home with him, ate dinner, rode the lawn mower and went to bed. Saturday was a busy day helping my parents clean at their church, giving animals (toy ones) baths, playing outside, doing crafts, and squeezing in a nap. Sunday, Grace went to church with my parents and stayed for brunch at the church and then they brought her back to our house. Apparently she told them she didn't want to come home and just wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

While she was gone we did some painting. Remember the hole in the wall? We finally painted that hallway. The unfortunate part was we used the wrong kind of paint. Just so you know there is a difference between flat paint and semi-glossy paint. So, my dad ended up repainting the hall for us on Sunday after dropping Grace off (I'll spare you the story about why my dad painted because it is long and boring. But, we were appreciative of his help.) We also installed a few handles on cabinets that the previous owners never installed. And finally we went out to eat. O yeah and we managed to take care of Caleb during this whole process:)

Vacation to IA and WI

This past weekend we took a super fun trip to IA and WI. We spent about half of the time in each state with one night in IA and two in WI. The purpose of the trip was to see Matt's Dad's side of the family and we also treated it as our vacation this summer.

We started our Thursday night by driving about 3 hours to Iowa and staying at a hotel there. It went pretty well except Grace didn't get to sleep until after 11:00pm that night. We made the mistake of arriving after bedtime and staying in the hotel room while she was trying to fall asleep. So, she just stood in her pack'n'play talking to us.

Then Friday morning we woke up ate breakfast at the hotel, gave Caleb a nap and Matt took Grace to the pool. We finished the drive that morning/early afternoon and checked into our hotel in WI and ate lunch. Grace was such a trooper because we didn't get lunch until almost 2! We spent the afternoon at Matt's Grandma's house and going out to dinner.

Saturday we spent the whole day at a beautiful park in IA right across the border from the town in WI where we stayed (and Matt's Dad grew up). The whole purpose of the trip was for this day to spend with Matt's extended family and his Dad's side. It is pretty hard to get together at Christmastime so his Dad planned this event. It was tons of fun.

Then Sunday we drove home. We drove past my parents' house so we were able to stop by there for a couple of hours too. Since is was Father's Day and Matt was driving it was nice to do something other than sit in the car.

All in all it was a successful trip. The kids did great. The weather was great and we had fun with family.

The whole group at the family reunion. This is most of Matt's Grandma's kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.

Matt's Dad's part of the family (3 kids, 3-in-laws, 4 grand-kids, and 1 grand-kid due in late August)

Matt and Grace at the lookout where the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers meet

Grace and cousin Jenna

Grace and cousin Josh

H Family Reunion

We were able to attend my family reunion this year on June 12th. The 12th was also my grandparents 62nd anniversary! It was fun to see everyone and enjoy a beautiful day at the park. Below are pictures of my Grandpa's part of the family who were able to attend and the 4 of us. My dad was on a mission trip and my cousins and their kids weren't able to make it this year.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today is my parents' 35th anniversary. That's a lot of years people. Here's to the next 35!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had an awesome Memorial Day Weekend to kick off summer last week. So I will tell you all about it now:)

To start on Saturday we had some friends over for breakfast, took naps, and just enjoyed time as a family. Then Sunday we went to church and did our normal Sunday afternoon activities (taking naps). At around 3 on Sunday the fun really got started when our awesome friend Phil pulled into town and spent the next 24ish hours at our house.

We have been entertaining the idea of a "family slumber party" ever since we moved and were able to have our first one last weekend. Just so you know a family slumber party is when another whole family from in town comes and stays at our house. If you are from out of town it would just be called visiting. The advantage to this is if a family is staying at our house we can put the kids to bed and all hang out after bedtime like we did back in the olden days before children. Then all the adults can just sleep at our house and not have to drag the kids out of bed to go home.

So, Jeremiah, Kortny and Livi (who are also really good friends with Phil) joined us on Sunday evening for a family slumber party. It was a blast. We stayed up until 10:45pm:) Then we woke up in the morning and had a big breakfast together and spent the rest of the morning playing outside.

Unfortunately, Sunday night our air conditioner stopped working so on Monday (when the high was 95) we realized it was more fun to be hot outside than inside. So, we turned on the sprinkler for the girls and just hung out. It was great to be forced outside. I think it encouraged me to spend more time outside this summer despite the heat.

We wrapped up the day Monday with pizza, a fixed air conditioner, naps and hitting up a friends' house for a last minute cookout. I would say I'd give Memorial Day 2011 a 10 out of 10.

Jeremiah with Grace and Livi. At least Jeremiah was smiling.

Phil hanging with Caleb

Happy Easter

We had a great (for the most part) Easter weekend. The only bad part about it was I got really really sick for about 15 hours. I spent all night Saturday on the toilet and throwing up. I will spare you the details but in the morning I said it was the worst night of my life and I would much rather go through labor again. Needless to say, we were not able to attend church on Easter Sunday because I was so sick. I think that was probably the first time in my life I missed an Easter Sunday service and it was pretty sad not to go. But, we were still able to celebrate the reason for Easter and reflect on the fact that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour. Because no matter how sick I was Jesus was right there with me and that is the most important thing. And, we still had a fun weekend with family so I'll give you those highlights now.

On Saturday, Matt's parents and his sister Rachel and her husband Rollin came to visit. Rachel and Rollin got to meet Caleb for the first time since they live out of state. We also got to celebrate Grace's birthday and Easter. Matt's mom brought some eggs and we all went to the park so Grace could have an Easter egg hunt. She is really into finding things these days so the hunt was really fun for her. It was a nice day and it was good to get outside.

On Sunday, after a few hours of laying around and making sure I could be away from a bathroom for an hour we got in the car and headed to my parents house. This was Caleb's first trip out of town and he did really well. At my parents we had a yummy lunch (I was able to eat a little), played with my dad's new iPad, watched Grace open a few more birthday presents, and had a nice visit with family.

Aunt Rachel and Caleb

Easter Egg hunt

All smiles on Easter

The 2 Dads

For the past several weeks Matt has been meeting his friend Jeremiah at the grocery store to shop one morning a week. It is awesome and hilarious! They accidentally ran into each other early one morning and proceeded to shop together. Now they text each other to plan this trip together every week. The only thing that makes this trip acceptable is they bring their little girls with them. And now they are known as "The 2 Dads" by some of the store employees. I really hope this tradition continues so the girls can remember this special bonding time with their Dads and each other. Grace loves it for sure because she talks about going to the store, shopping, Jeremiah, and Livi all the time!

T-day

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with family and are ready for the Christmas season. I've gotten a good start on shopping all done from my couch. I love the Internet. Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. We started the weekend by visiting my Grandparents on Thursday and having a traditional turkey lunch. We played games, watched football and did what many of you were doing on Thursday.

Then on Thursday night we drove to Matt's parents' house. Friday we hung out with his family, Grace got to play with her cousins, we had chili for lunch and then had the traditional Thanksgiving meal for supper. After supper we were able to go see the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We went with Matt's parents and his brother and wife. One of their friends came over and listened to the kids sleep in the monitors. The show was really good!

Saturday we just spent some time hanging around Matt's parents house and headed home in the evening. The only downside of the whole weekend is I had a cold. I think it hit it's worst yesterday though so at least I was at home to rest.

Curtis Orchard

This weekend we took a trip to Curtis Orchard with our friends Teresa, Bryan and Ava Rae. We had a fun time eating apple donuts, petting goats, looking at pumpkins, and trying to stay warm. It was a windy and cool fall day so a great setting for an apple orchard. Here are some pictures.

Bye Bye Jenna

We are sad to see our good friend Jenna move to Texas this week. She has been a fun friend to have over the past few years. And over the past 2 years we've gotten really close. Jenna and I have hung out once a week for 2 years. We usually chat, catch up and even throw in the serious spiritual side of life while we're hanging out. We've read and studied parts of the Bible together and it has been great. Grace loves hanging out with her too. I think my weeks will seem incomplete without a hangout with Jenna. But, she just finished grad school and is ready for the next adventure. I can't wait to see what Texas has in store for her!

Baby Sitting Corner

My friend Teresa has an awesome couch with a perfect corner for babies to sit in. Last fall we visited her and her husband and Grace got to sit in the corner (see below).


Today we visited them again and this time Grace sat in the corner holding Teresa's little girl (who is only a couple weeks younger than Grace was in the above picture). It was so cute to see. I can tell they are going to be good friends. I'm going to ignore the fact that Grace was trying to push the baby off of her lap (see below).

Children's Museum

This weekend we got to visit the Children's Discovery Museum in a nearby town. There were several exhibits that Grace will probably enjoy when she is a little older but there were still tons of fun things to do now. She played in the tots' play area, went grocery shopping, took care of babies at the doctor's office, sat in a dentist chair, knocked over blocks, drove a tractor, pet cows, played with Legos, and much more. We were only there for a couple of hours but she loved it! I can't wait to go back.

Grace in the Case IH tractor with Grandpa.

That's Grace!

Learning all about teeth:)

Summer Fun 1

I can't believe it is already July! After kicking off the summer with the wedding and vacation we've spent the last few weeks around here. But we have been having tons of fun and playing hard. Playing at the park, picnics, swimming, playing with friends, visiting the farmer's market, and watching soccer are some of our favorite activities. We've been having a great summer though so I thought I'd post a few picture highlights.

Rollin and Rachel's Wedding

We had a great weekend celebrating the marriage of Matt's sister Rachel to a wonderful man named Rollin. We arrived on Friday to Rachel running around the house screaming/shrieking (happy and excited screams not angry or stressed screams). Then we hung around at Matt's parents' house until the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday night. The dinner was at a Chinese restaurant and we had a great buffet. The other nice thing about the dinner is Matt's parents paid for a babysitter so we could get Grace to bed at a decent hour. We were able to enjoy our meal more too!

Practicing for the big day.

Matt and I at the rehearsal dinner.

Then came Saturday: wedding day. It started out in torrential downpour. I cannot remember the last time I saw it rain that hard. And Rachel had planned to take pictures outside:( But about 10 minutes before the photographer arrived the rain stopped and the rest of the day was great for outdoor pictures. The wedding ceremony was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and I was dead tired on Sunday from staying up so late. Again we were able to take Grace to Matt's parents and put her to bed (although we kept her up until at least 8:30) so we could enjoy the reception without her. We got out on the dance floor and tried to hold our own with the crazy kids who are at least 5 years younger than us.

The kiss!

Married!

1st Dance!

Matt, Grace and I in our coordinating outfits. Cute or dorky?

Grace