Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Colt & Ryker's birthday by playing a few games, opening presents and eating cake. 

Hanging out in Illinois

There aren't many mountains in Illinois.  There is lots of corn, tractors, soy bean fields, and soccer games.   We had a great time just hanging out with the Welkes. 

At Ryker's soccer game. 

We missed Annika's because it started at 9:00 and since we weren't on Illinois time yet we were a little slow to get up. 

Lori thought it would be fun to celebrate Colt and Ryker's birthdays while we were there.   Colt's was in August and Ryker's is in December so this was perfectly in the middle.  She rented a bouncy house and it ended up being a hit with the kids.  

They also had fun riding in the John Deere Gator. 

Colt & Aksel

We had fantastic weather.  The kids were in shorts and t-shirts.  Or in some cases just shorts. 

Brody & Maverick 

Even the simplest of things is so much better when you do it with friends. 

Michigan Hall of Fame Banquet

Brad learned that his coach at the University of Michigan was being inducted into the Track and Field Hall of Fame. This fell on the same weekend we were in Illinois. After talking to Karl, they decided to make the trek up to Ann Arbor for the Hall of Fame Banquet.  

They left Metamora around noon and drove 5 1/2 hours.  They went to the banquet and then turned around to drive back home.  Brad got into bed at 4:20 on Saturday morning.   He said it was worth the trip even though it was a lot of time in the car. 

Brad, Karl & Jeff Barnett

 

Chase & Brad 

 

Another friend of Brad's (& Karl) 

Tanner's Orchard

On our first full day in Illinois, Lori and I took the kids to Tanner's Orchard. It was an apple orchard with a kids play area, animals and a market.  

We were there for most of the day and the kids had a blast! 

Mining for some rocks and gems.  If only mining for gold was this easy. 

There was a little area for miniature golf.  Surprisingly the kids played here for quite a while. 

This hay maze was also a big hit.  The older kids played a game of tag on this for quite awhile.   

Bo, Darby, Aksel & Maverick climbing in the spider web. 

A silo with a sand pit. 

Lori and I were so tired at the end of the day. 

A Spectacle in Flight

Last Thursday we left to visit our friends, the Welkes in Illinois. As you can imagine I had just a few things to do to get ready for our flight and our trip.  

Our flight left at 10:50 in the morning.  Papa Bob met us at the airport and took our van.   

The kids did a great job both in the waiting area and on the plane.  The last 20 minutes Bo was getting antsy but it was also his nap time. 

I borrowed headphones and a portable DVD player from friends.  I bought a cable splitter so the boys could all watch the same movie with their own headphones. 

We got quite a few comments as we were boarding the plane.  It kind of felt like a circus side show. 

After our flight we got our rental car and drove a little over 2 hours to the Welkes.  It was a long day of travel but our kids were troopers.  I am thankful for snacks and DVD players.  

Life Group

Brad and I have joined a Life Group through our church. The idea behind this is that we meet with the same group of people (other couples with kids) over 2 years (at least). In that process we hope to get to know each other more and also grow spiritually.  

We had our first Life Group last week and this is most of the kids. 

I think there are 17 total. 

We are looking forward to this group and getting to know these families better. 

It sparkles again

My diamond seemed a little loose. Well actually it's been loose for awhile but I've had a hard time finding a good time to bring it to a shop to get repaired. I finally did with only 2 kids in tow. It sparkles again. It makes me happier than the day I got it for so many reasons.