Thanksgiving Day

We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving and had a great time. We didn't arrive until early in the morning (2am) Thanksgiving Day but the day was so busy and jam packed we didn't even realize we were tired :-) We had our meal at my parents church and there were 56 people there! In our family alone there were 17 adults and 21 kids and for the meal we invited several other families. Naturally it was busy getting everything prepared on time and getting it all cleaned up but otherwise it went pretty smooth. The kids played and played, the adults played a game and there was also a lot of playstation video games played (by the young and old). It was a memorable and eventful day :-)

I was pretty busy so didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked but here is a peak into our day. For those of you who can't keep up with who's husband is who's and which child is which here is the color coded cheat sheet. Bekah & Dale (Abby, Ruby, Violet and Georgia), Nicole and Shane (Bailey, Liam, Maggie and Brogan), Levi and Rachel (Chloe, Eli, Lia and Judah), Jesse and Julie (Ira and Simon) and Laura and Joey (Lily, Kiaran, Lyrik and Aiden)

Shane, Joey and Dad during our exciting game of Outburst, Aiden hanging out on the game table in her fancy seat, Jesse, Julie and Ira - I was pretty proud of myself for getting Ira to smile :-) He is usually quite serious

Madison, Bailey and Lily busy coloring name tags for all the guests, Isaac and Kiaran at the video game center, Ira and Hannah (the two quiet ones who can often be found in their own little world, playing and doing their own thing found eachother to be great company). Despite the fact that Hannah does talk alot she is usually pretty quiet when she is in a group.
The high chair crowd! How funny it was to see a big line of high chairs during the meal. Left to right: Simon, Hannah, Lyrik, Georgia, Xavier (one of the guests babies) and Judah

As much of the game crew that I could get in one picture.

The crew from the other side

We played outburst - guys against girls. The guys were pretty proud of themselves - they won two and we won one.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Again, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked - it was busy! There was always a houseful, visiting to be done, dishes to do, food to prepare, babies to hold, nieces and nephews to snuggle, kids to scold, dessert to be eaten, errands to run, places to go and lots of stories to share. Here is a reminder of the cheat sheet: Bekah & Dale (Abby, Ruby, Violet and Georgia), Nicole and Shane (Bailey, Liam, Maggie and Brogan), Levi and Rachel (Chloe, Eli, Lia and Judah), Jesse and Julie (Ira and Simon) and Laura and Joey (Lily, Kiaran, Lyrik and Aiden)

Shane and little Brogan showing us all their tricks while Joey, Nicole and Liam watch. Karmen and Bailey getting Brogan to smile

Bailey, Brogan, Karmen and Samson with Julie and Simon in the background. Lia and Violet attemting to smile naturally - not really working for Lia :-)

Shane, Brogan and Simon; Jesse, Julie and Simon. Jesse often provided the much needed soothing background music :-)
The kids playing school downstairs. From left to right: Chloe, Maggie, Madison, Violet, Lia, Eli, Abby, Isaac and Lily
The three teachers of this wild bunch of kiddos - Lily, Abby and Madison
Ira, Violet, Maggie, Isaac and Kiaran watching a movie downstairs
Hannah and Lyrik were pretty cute together - they played really well. Hannah is 7 months older than Lyrik.

Liam and Aiden; and Maggie all ready for Sunday School. Liam loves babies and when he needed something to do (being the only older boy) he could easily find a baby to hold :-)

Julie and cute little Simon and dad holding another little cutie - Brogan

Hannah and Ira watching my dad's pictures from his mission trip to Kenya and smiley, cute, tiny Aiden

The end of cousins, uncles, aunts and grandpa's pictures until my next visit - which I hope is soon!!

Hanging Out

We had a lot of fun just hanging around the house with Erika, Chris and Finn and of course Grandpa. They have a great backyard that was so easy to relax in. There was a hammock or comfy chairs for the adults, swing, slide or sand for the kids and grass to roam in for the dogs. The only thing that completed our time outside was the ice cream truck!! Grandpa treated the kids and of course we all helped them finish it :-) Hudson tried his best to help Hannah with her treat :-)

Isaac and Finn are good buddies. They are so cute together, always getting along great.

Acting shy with grandpa can only last so long, he is really quick to make them laugh. :-)

The clan shortly before we had to leave. We all had a great time and we were so glad it worked out to visit at the same time as their dad (grandpa) was there.

Gaining Knowledge

What better place to learn than the museum. Isaac was grandpa's personal guide, bringing him through the museum at rapid speed and filling him in on all there was to know about dinosaurs :-)

Old farm equipment is always fun to "ride"

Old fashion toys are even more fun. If you can dress up in the clothes AND play with the toys that takes it up a notch :-)

Now it is the "boys" turn to play with the toys. All three of them seem to be concentrating quite hard :-)

Reelin' Em In

We spent the afternoon fishing along the river. It was a perfect day - sunny but a nice breeze. Contrary to the title of this post, we didn't reel one single fish in! Oh well, we had lots of fun and of course lots of good pics :-)

Grandpa helping the kids get set up. Hannah fell asleep and stayed sleeping through most of the adventure. She needed her sleep so that was great.

Now they are experts, no help needed! :-)

OK, I guess they do still need a little help spotting the perfect spots

These pictures crack me up. Madison had caught a couple grasshoppers in our field and wanted to use them for bait. Her facial expressions were hilarious as she watched grandpa put it on the hook. She got a couple bites on them but no fish

Later that evening, we took the kids to the pond by our house to try again. Hannah had a blast and loved fishing! Brock gave her his ice fishing pole and it was perfect for her :-)

A visit from Grandpa

A couple weeks ago Brock's dad came from Wisconsin for a visit. We had so much fun with him. The kids were glued to his side - especially Isaac. It was cute!

One day we drove up one of the mountains to a reservoir and went kayaking. The forcast showed rain in the afternoon so we were determined to beat it.

We all took turns in the canoe and the kayaks. I was really bad at paddling the canoe (I was doing it "alone" with Madison and Isaac in the canoe with me) so I prefered the kayak :-) The weather wasn't too bad. There were times where it was pretty cool, but plenty of time where we took our jackets off.

Brock and I both in the canoe with Hannah and Isaac was much smoother sailing :-) He did most of the work and I relaxed.

I suppose none of my weaving back and forth had anything to do with the fact that I was taking pictures too . I am sure not :-)

Our little explorors had to check out the island :-)

We had such a fun day out on the lake and timed the weather perfect. We had a light rain on the way in but it was sunny enough that it wasn't cold. However, just as we were pulling out of the parking lot it poured and HAILED! The hail was marble size - Yikes that would have hurt! God planned our day perfectly :-)

Flying High

We are all flying high (literally in some cases) with excitement to have family come and visit. My sister Bekah and her husband Dale and their four girls, Abby, Ruby, Violet and Georgia, came to visit for the weekend. The kids had a blast and we all enjoyed beautiful weather and had fun outside.

This picture is awesome!! Brock took it of Ruby jumping off a stone ledge. It is so cute how focused she is - even her tongue is sticking out :-) Isaac's look of amazement is so cute too!!

Isaac's turn to jump - Ruby must be concentrating for him because her tongue is still out :-) Next, everyone was supposed to jump at the same time. For some reason, Isaac and Ruby were the only two to made it off the ledge! Isn't that just like a big sister? Get two big sisters together and you never know what can happen :-)

Abby and Madison did take their turn too - just not with the "little kids" of course :-)

The kids posing on the perfect jumping ledge! Left to Right: Isaac, Violet (3), Ruby (5), Abby (8) and Madison. Notice the "M" on the hill behind them, that is where Madison and Brock hiked not too long ago.

PS - I am still in catch up mode - these pics are from a month ago. Can you tell I am a systematic person?? Don't go out of order, don't skip ahead, don't breeze past anything, be thorough :-) Unfortunately, we have more snow today than this weekend one month ago, bummer!!

More Time With Cousins

A few more pictures from our weekend with Nicole, Shane and family.

Bailey, Liam, Madison and I took the big dogs on a walk. It was a beautiful day! Isn't Nala huge??? We got a lot of stares walking down the road with her.

Shane and Brock spent Saturday riding dirt bike and had a blast. Bailey, Madison and Liam were wishing they could go for a ride too :-) Doesn't the sky and mountains look BEAUTIFUL! We really had perfect weather for the Easter weekend.

Maggie and Isaac dressing up. Isaac is a knight (without his shield pulled down) and Maggie is Bible Man :-)

Flashback Friday

June 2006 in ND visiting my parents. Madison was able to go to VBS with her cousins and had a great time.

Liam, Lily, Madison and Abby after a night at VBS

The kids loved the music during VBS, especially the motions! They did a performance for us one night. The cast from left to right includes Lily (4), Madison, Abby and Liam (all 5).

When we all get together it is A LOT of kids. I have 5 sisters and 3 brothers and all but 2 of us are married and having kids :-) As of right now, there are 23 grandchildren (25 by June). At the time that this picture was taken there were 16 total. Wow, that means exactly 3 years later our family added 9 children. :-)

Left to right: Isaac, Madison, Lily, Liam, Abby, Kiaran, Ruby, Maggie and Chloe

(For those of you who know our family and can't keep the kids straight I color coded it for you -

Bekah's, Laura's, Nicole's, Levi's and mine)

Happy Easter

And Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:46-47 (ESV)

We had an awesome Easter. My sister Nicole and her family came for the weekend and we all had a blast. It was quite busy, especially Easter. We did managed to accomplish quite a bit before they headed home at around 6:00 - church, lots of pictures, meal preparation, egg painting, egg hunt, eating a delicious meal and lots of visiting.

Nicole, Shane, Bailey (11), Liam (8), Maggie (6) and baby boy (due in June)

I love this picture! They all look great!! Unfortunately Hannah lost her barrett somewhere between driving home from church and walking to the park for pictures so has some crazy hair :-)

Liam is a month older than Madison and we noticed that Madison has now inched up a little taller than him :-)

Maggie and Isaac are about a year and a half apart. They played so well together - no fighting ever (except when Isaac got a bit upset when he was trying to sing a song and Maggie kept joining in) :-) It is very cute to see them together!