Chicken BBQ

Every year we go to the Chicken BBQ with most of the family. We got to go again on Saturday. I always look forward to this because they have the best chicken around! This year it was extra special because they were celebrating their 50th anniversary so they brought in extra things for the kids to enjoy. They had a petting zoo, bounce toys, a corn maze and hay wagon rides. It was an added bonus because Mari got to come along this year.

Here are the kids on the Hay Ride:


They had fire trucks there also- they were spraying the water straight up into the air:


Best Friends:


Enjoying our chicken dinner:


The petting zoo:




They had some cool cars that were really fun to look at:


Halle coming down the bounce ride: Sorry about the color of these videos- I accidentally hit the Sepia button!




Arianna and Katelyn Racing: They are attached to a rubber band that will only allow you to go so far before you're pulled back. The race is to see who can get the object in their hand the furthest down.


Nick and Chelsea Racing:

Good question!

This afternoon Halle just wandered in by me and asked me:

Mom- is it hard being a parent?

Well- that really surprised me out of the blue.
I told her that yes- it is hard being a parent, but it's also the best thing in the world and I wouldn't change being her mom for anything.

I asked her why she had asked me that and she said she was just wondering.

I wish I could just get inside her little head sometimes and figure out what she's thinking sometimes!

A movie for you

Here are some of my favorite moments from the past couple of months. Enjoy!

Just a quick interruption

Did any of you stay up to watch the mens relay race in swimming last night on the olympics??

IT WAS BEYOND FANTASTIC!!

Especially because the French were smack talking against us!

I was screaming out loud- I woke Halle up- but it was worth it!!

I'm back again!

We're back from camping again. After camping 2 times with only 1 week in between trips- I'm back and happy to be home again.

This was the week that I camped with my sisters- Terri and Mari. The husbands came out on the weekends, but the week- it was just us and the kids.
We had pretty good weather- there were a few rain showers and 1 pretty good storm but overall it was good.

The kids had fun at the beach and the pool and had a great time spending time together. Halle and Shaelyn were pretty much together non stop! We shared lots of laughter and just enjoying time together.

Here are some pictures of our week:

The kids at the beach:






Mark having his hands full with Halle and Shaelyn:



We did lots of playing cards:


The girls getting ready to make a tye dye shirt:



Dad and Ann came out to enjoy a campfire:



We got to enjoy God's beautiful creation:

Vacation Again!

Well I'm off on another vacation adventure. We leave tomorrow for camping with Mari and Terri!
It will be only us girls and the kids, but I have every confidence we will do just fine.
There will be lots of laughter and good times I'm sure. I'll give you all the details when we get back.
Have a great week!

The talk

So the other day Arianna and I were snipping beans at the table and it was just the 2 of us. I had noticed some "changes" lately in her so I thought it would be a good time to have "the talk" with her.

So I mentioned that I had noticed some changes going on with her body and she says to me:
"I've noticed that too mom!" and then she asked me what they were for.
I explained that when she got older and married and had a baby that she would feed the baby with them.
Her response:
"So I'll be like a cow!"

It actually went very well, it wasn't awkward and she was very receptive. So we have the changes in our bodies and monthly issues done with.
Phew- 1 down (well partly- I didn't go into how the babies get in there yet) 1 to go!

Arianna's Big News

Arianna has been waiting not so patiently for her new addition to arrive.
They finally got here on Friday and she's been oh so happy about it!
Check it out:



Yup- glasses! She really couldn't wait to get them. Every day at vacation I kept getting asked if they had called yet to tell us they were in.
I'm giving it a month before the love of them starts to wear down a bit~

Camping

We had such a nice week of camping. The weather held out almost the whole week. Saturday it rained, so we went into town. The rest of the week it was great!

There are trails in the surrounding area and the kids had such a blast on this hill- it was really steep- I wouldn't have had the nerve- but they are fearless!



This is Alexa. Arianna and her became fast friends. She is adopted from Korea so they had lots to talk about!


Halle, Nick and I played shuffleboard. Halle won (wink wink)


Nick had a blast at the pool:


Mack even came and stayed at the campground for a couple of days:


They had a carnaval at the campground for the kids. Both Arianna and Halle loved it!





The kids got to feed the horses:


Arianna and Mark:


They have a wagon ride on Saturdays. It was so much fun. You know the hill the kids rode their bikes down in the earlier pictures? We went down it on the wagon ride!
It was a blast!

Now I'm home for 1 week and I leave again on Saturday to go camp again with Mari and Terri!

Back from vacation

I'm back and we had a great time.
Here's a quick sample of some of the fun we had. I'll post more tomorrow.

Good News

Just a quick post to let you know that I got my pictures back that had dissapeared on Picassa.
We were going through things on the computer that we could delete to gain memory and much to my surprise and delight every time I transfer pictures to Picassa- my computer saves them to a file on my computer.
I had no idea it did that but I'm delighted!

Vacation

Well I'm off to enjoy some camping time. I'll be back with pictures of camping fun.
Enjoy your week.

Dad Surprises Son at School

Wahhhhhhh

I'm still a little in shock. I just went to the program where I keep all my pictures on my computer and much to my shock they are gone.....
ALL GONE!

I don't know what happened- they just are gone.
The only saving grace is I only had pictures on here from the beginning of this year but I don't even remember what all was on here.
This is a sickening feeling.

I'm going to email the program and see if there's any way to restore them.

Back up your pictures right now!!!

Sunday Fun

It was such a nice day today we decided to pack up lunch and take it to the beach.
We went to a different beach that we don't normally go to. We loved it and the kids loved it too.
It was windy so the kids had a blast in the big waves. I'm still finding sand in my hair but it was worth it.

Shhhh...Don't tell Mark

So Arianna came with me to the Pharmacy tonight. We had to go in to order our prescription- which is unusual- usually we just drive through.
So I order it and the pharmacy Tech is checking on it and Arianna says to me-
Why are we having to order it?
I told her because Daddy got confused and threw the bottle away while he was in Guatemala.
Arianna says back:
Yeah he gets confused alot at home too!

We happen to know the tech (Bev from church). She started laughing her head off- and she promised she wouldn't tell Mark either.

Totally Random Post

I've got some odds and ends for you today.


I've got to explain this picture to you a bit.
On Sunday mornings, because Mark really wants to go to the early (8:15) service, he is in charge of getting the girls up and getting them breakfast. It never goes well, because when we have to wake them up it's not pleasant.
This past Sunday, Halle absolutely did not wake up well and didn't want anything to do with getting breakfast. I was in the bathroom, taking my shower and so forth and when I came into the kitchen, this was what I saw:



I couldn't help but laugh. Halle is the blob under the blanket in the middle chair. She did come around after awhile. I can't blame her too much- I don't like being woken up either!

I had to show you our first pick of the garden. Arianna's cucumber was ready. She was very excited. The Tomatoes, beans, onions, green peppers, jalapenos, zucchini's are not far behind!



Nick takes after Mark in almost everything. His love of photography comes from him too. He was messing around setting up pictures he thought would be cool and took this one. I thought it turned out great!

Our Guatemala Trip

Today I'm excited- we have a guest blogger!
After a little arm twisting, Mark has agreed to blog about the Guatemala Trip- please make him feel welcome!


Hello all,
Nick and I had a wonderful time on our trip to Guatemala. There were 20 people in our group, and our main goals were to minister to the people of Guatemala by building 4 houses and do a medical clinic in 2 mountain villages.





The first picture is of Nick and I trimming the Cement board used on the out side of the house we helped build.


Next is a picture of some of the Kids at the plantation were we built the houses.




Here are a couple of pictures of the beautiful landscape of Guatemala that we enjoyed every day we were there. These pictures do not do justice to the true beauty of this Country that has 5 volcano's.







The next picture is of some of the adorable kids from the village were we did the first medical clinic.




Here is a picture of our whole group on the top of a mountain were Paradise bound is building there own mission base base, so the do not need to rent an old motel. There goal is to be in the new base before the end of the year, God willing.




The next picture is of the house we built:



The last pictures is of the people that worked with Nick and I along with the family that we built the house for. When we dedicated the house to the family, we provided some gifts for every one, then Dan and Harmono Jesus presented the gospel to them. Every one in the family except for the 11 year ld boy on the left accepted Jesus into there hearts and life or re-dedicated there lives to Jesus Christ.






This was so much fun and a real blessing to be able to go on a mission trip like this with my son. These will be memories we will cherish for ever, along with the other 1100 or so pictures that we took.

This guest blogger is done for now until the next time I get roped into it

My laugh for the day

Today Halle said to us:

"Mom- The 4th of July actually falls on the 4th of July this year"


Happy Independance Day to you all!

A Quick Update

Thank you all first of all for your prayers. I made it to the airport.
My back is sore but doing much better.

Mark and Nick made it home- Mark a little worse for wear.
He called me from the Cleveland airport and was sick. He got the Guatemalan parasite and unfortunately left a little "souvenier" in the airplane!!

He was so so sick! He got the medicine to stay down and He is feeling better now- still no appetite- but that will come with time.

I will update you about the trip next week- it was awesome and Nick says it's something he will never forget.

Prayer Request

Well, I've been anxiously waiting for Wednesday to post. I didn't expect to be posting at 12:51 A.M.!

Mark and Nick have been on their mission trip to Guatemala all week. I didn't post anything because I didn't want to let the whole world know that I was home alone.
Anyway, they come home tonight! I am so excited to see them, I can't stand it!

Here's where my prayer request comes in. Yesterday I was working really hard around the house to get everything nice for them to come home to. I was working in the yard. I filled a 5 gallon bucket full of water and carried it around the yard to water the trees. NOT SMART! I totally should have known better- I do not have a good back.
Well you can guess what happened- yes I've totally messed up my back. It was tolerable up till now but I truly can not move without being in tears. I've messed my back up before but it's never been like this. It took everything in me to get to the kitchen to take some codeine I had left over from when I tore my leg muscle.

I so badly want to go to the airport tonight- I will be devastated if I can't go.
Please pray that this lets up enough that I can function.

I'll be filling you in on the mission trip later this week.

*****Edited to add:*****************
I love Codeine! Just kidding (kind of) I don't like taking pills, but it is helping.
I will get to the airport if it kills me. Thanks all of you that asked!

Fun at the Park

I took the girls to a local Park that has a splashpad. This was my first time there. We met Brenda and her kids there with pizza for lunch.
What a nice place. The splashpad is great and there is a play area right next to it.
It's not very large which I loved because then I could keep my eyes on both of them and not wonder where they were.

The park is free so we will definately be going back again!

I have a tasty treat for you!

This recipe comes from Giada at Everyday Italian on the Food Network.
I have modified it a bit but the basics are the same.

Crostini's

12 1/2-inch thick slices French bread
12 slices thinly sliced prosciutto (about 6 ounces)
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into thin slices
3 tablespoons butter
Tomato slices
Pinch salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the slices of ciabatta on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until crisp and golden around the edges, about 8 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven. Place the prosciutto slices and mozzarella on the crostini toast (I love tomatoes- so I add a slice of tomato also) and return to the oven to melt the cheese, about 8 more minutes.
Meanwhile melt the butter add salt and pepper.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Transfer the crostini to a serving plate. Drizzle the crostini with the butter and serve immediately.


These little beauties are so delicious. I am now addicted! Enjoy and you can think of me when you are enjoying these for yourself!

PS- Giada added a sage leaf into her melted butter- that's what you see in the picture. I didn't have them so I skipped it and they were delicious without them too.

Wall~e Review

I took the girls to see the new movie Walle today. It got really good reviews in the paper and on the local Christian radio station (Thanks Mari for that info) so I was really excited to see it.

You can see the girls opinion of it if you look close in the picture:
2 Thumbs Up!

It was really cute and well done. The girls had been waiting to see this for a really long time so it was a big deal to them to get to see it.
I was so glad it turned out to be worthwhile seeing. I saw quite a few teenagers even in the theater and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I recommend it highly!

A 9 year olds truth

Today Arianna was feeling a little tired and was talking about taking a nap.
Next thing I know she says to me:
Arianna: Mom- can I try to take a nap in church tomorrow?
Me: No
Arianna: But that makes the service go way faster!

I had to hold my chuckle in as I explained to her why it's important to listen to what Pastor Paul or Steve are saying.

Only from the mouths of babes!