Enjoying the Warmth of Wisconsin...

Yesterday afternoon, while half of the family stayed home sick, the other half of us went for a hike.

We started at the Lion's Park...

it was a beautiful day! 35 degrees has never felt so good! The sun was shining and we had lots of fun.

Joel decided to bring the sled so Tovala and Behn could pull him... well, maybe not. We slid down the hills and if Asher needed a lift on the way up the hills, Joel took care of that.

Asher really enjoys riding on our shoulders though. That is his favorite, unless he is on the ground running, that is... :)

those of us that did not think to bring a sled... ran down all of the big hills! ;)

Joel is thinking very intently on something or another...

there was fresh covering of snow from a couple days before. it was beautiful!

Tovala tried calling Abram a couple times(I am not sure if she ever got to talk to him or not...) It was his birthday yesterday! To bad he lives so far away... :) We missed being with him on his birthday! Happy Birthday Abram! We love you very much!!!!

It was a delightful walk. Perfect afternoon to be out.

Kritik. . .

We are all very excited about Aaron's new online magazine!!!
Aaron, his fiancee, Jennifer, our cousin, Caleb, and some other of their friends just launched their magazine today. . . click here and enjoy!

Three Sleepers...

Sweet Sylvia! Always so cute. . .

This is right after Asher fell asleep in my arms. There is nothing like a three year old falling asleep in your arms. . .

Over the past few days I have taken pictures of the little ones sleeping . . . they are pretty sweet! :)

Texas...

I just realized that I forgot to post for Dad, Mom, Noah, Seth, and Sylvia's trip to Texas. . . I posted about Nathan, but I forgot to put pictures of their trip!

Because it was Seth's Birthday the day that they left, Dad and Mom decided to take him along and since they still had one more seat available they took Noah too!

and Sylvia, of course!!!

They enjoyed their visit to the Alamo!!! Somehow this whole trip was planned perfectly, because when they were at the Alamo they got to watch a re-enactment of the whole Alamo. . . Lots of costumes and horses and guns! They do it once every year and Dad and Mom, the Boys, and Sylvia were there at the right time on the right day out of the whole year!!! It sounded like it was a lot of fun! The pictures from that day somehow did not make it from Nathan's computer to mine and since Nathan does not have internet access, they are going to stay in Mississippi with him for a while!

On Sunday morning they took the "River Walk" with Nathan . . . unfortunately he still was not feeling well, so it was hard for him to really enjoy it!

Seth was pretty excited about being able to take the pictures(Dad took a lot too)!!! They are Seth's photos! Thanks Seth for taking over when I am not there! :) :)



On the way home they got to stop at the Carden's home!

-from Mark and Becky, Noah, Seth, and Sylvia- "Thank you sooo much for your hospitality and for the big basket of goodies for the drive home! We all enjoyed it very much!"

Nathan - Graduate of U.S. Air Force Basic Training

This is the portrait of Nathan, only problem is that it was taken before his ribbons were issued.


Nathan's flight crew...he is kind of hard to see, but he is in the back row. :)

Today, after the graduation ceremony, Dad and Mom got to spend some time with Nathan.

I think Sylvia must be happy to be with big brother again! :) :)

The graduation ceremony...

Nathan managed to get the nasty fever and cold and is not feeling very well, please keep him in your prayers!!! He has a few days left, and apparently it is not very fun to have to wake up at 4:00 and march when you have a really high fever.

(Yesterday...)

Dad, Mom, Noah, Seth and Sylvia saw Nathan in Texas, for the first time in six and a half weeks, at his pre-(honor)graduation run this morning!

See if you can spot him in the video! He is the one that turns and looks at the camera(Dad and Mom) with a big smile!

Here is a still version... a little easier to see him! :)

Friday Afternoon...

Tea for two. . . Asher and Tovala came in from playing outside and had tea together.

It snowed most of the day, so the boys did a lot of shoveling. . .

This is a spider that was in our house!!! I very much dislike spiders(to say the least)!!
Joel threw it outside in the snow for me. It is a good thing to have brothers around.

Talia, Behn, Tovala, Asher, and I made finger puppet presidents. We made president Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. :)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Since Dad and Mom were going to be gone for Valentines Day, Mom had all of her Valentines treats, for us, all picked up in advance... so today at lunch time Hannah and I got it all ready. Thanks to Mom and Dad we had a lovely Valentines Lunch, complete with heart-shaped jellos, pink and red carnations, cranberry juice, and Sweathearts!

Asher was pretty excited about it all!!!

When we woke up, first thing this morning, there was about 4 inches of snow outside!

Between Eli, Tovala, and Behn our driveway was shoveled and the snow piles are all ready for making forts!

After afternoon naps for Asher, we went ice skating! Other than Asher, we all had a lot of fun - I don't think he had a long enough nap... :(

It was a very nice day!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Valentines Eve... (first day as "a half sized family" - only 8 of us!)

Today after getting home from writing class with Eli and house cleaning with Joel, we all frosted Valentines cookies! :)

Tovala, with the left over icing: "Hannah, can I lick the rest?" Hannah, looking into the 1/4 filled bowl: "ah, no"!

For lunch Hannah made tortillas with veggies - they were very good! :)

Eleven!!!

Today Seth had his 11th birthday!!! To celebrate his birthday, he(along with Dad, Mom, Noah, and Sylvia) is on his way to Texas for Nathan's Basic Training graduation.

We are all very happy to have our goofy/happy/friendly Sethy around... and will be missing him in the next few days! :)

I hope you have fun Seth!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Not feeling so great....

For the past week everyone has been taking turns not feeling very well. Nearly everyone has gotten a nasty fever with a cold. Tovala and I are starting a "Healthy People Club", She and I - and Dad and Mom are the only ones that have stayed healthy(so far).



P.S. Thank you everyone for my birthday wishes!! You are all very thoughtful...

Happy 18th Birthday Yetta!!!

Yesterday was Yetta's 18th birthday. As I was contemplating what to write Proverbs 31 came to mind. Yetta has so many of the virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman!

These are several that I see in her.

- She truly has a noble character
- Her family and friends have full confidence in her
- She brings good not harm to others
- She rises early and works eagerly
- She is clothed with strength and dignity

- Wisdom is on her tongue

- Most importantly she fears the Lord.

Yetta is worth far far more than rubies.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY YETTA!

Afternoon at the Farm...

A car in the back field of our farm... Hannah and Eli are ready to go, just waiting for Joel to get it working...

Can't quite figure out what is taking him sooo long...


Sled rides on the ice... Eli and Joel swung them around really fast!
I didn't get a good picture of Tovala, but she really enjoyed it!


Hannah, looking very pretty...

a little rest after the long trek through the frozen wet land...

a very nice afternoon...

Happy People...

Today was a quiet day... Hannah had her first day nannying, Eli and I had Lit. Class this morning, and Dad and Mom went out for lunch. While Dad and Mom were gone we tried to do a little school while watching the little ones. Asher and Sylvia played very nicely together!

Behn played outside for quite a while, he always has a lot of fun!

Talia taught Behn, Tovala and Asher a new game that she made up called "Cocka-doodle-doo"(I think)... they enjoyed it very much!

Sylvia and Asher again... we were playing peek-a-boo under the kitchen island...

They were both very cute! :)

It was a very nice afternoon!