More Horseback riding '07

Here we have Acacia and her pony, Danielle.

And, here is a video clip from her 2nd lesson. She is learning how to post. Much more difficult then you would think ....

Thanksgiving '07

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving a little differently. Since our house is kind of a mess (new carpet going in) cooking a big meal was just not something either of really wanted to do. I received an email from the church asking for people to volunteer to "host a table" at the church for internationals to come and celebrate and American Thanksgiving. The night before Thanksgiving we brought to the church a table cloth, place settings for 8 and some table decorations and we set our table. Thanksgiving day, we arrived and slapped on name tags and then greeted internationals and invited them to sit at our table until it was full. This only took asking 3 as 2 were married with children. After everyone was seated (over 300) Randy and I went to the food tables and got the food. We had everything you would expect ... turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkin, apple and pecan pie .... you get the idea! Other members of the church donated all the food, cooked it and then cleaned up. All we had to do was take our 8 dirty place settings home and toss them in the dish washer. It was GREAT!! Everyone kept thanking us for "hosting" but really we are the ones that are grateful! We got a great meal and met some neat families and were able to expose them to an American Thanksgiving and the possibility of a relationship with Jesus. It was really a great experience. All our guests ended up being from China so they communicated very well ... with each other. Seriously, we were able to communicate just fine. Here are a couple photos of our group and our table. Hope everyone had a great T-Day!

Halloween '07

Our camera is in the shop and I had a loaner that I could not figure out how to use. But, we did get a couple photos of the night. We ended up at the Kaji's. When it was all said and done we had 4 gallon zip lock baggies filled with candy! mmmm ... that should last a while! Acacia got so much loot that her plastic pumpkin bucket handle broke!

First day of Ice Hockey

Here is a little video clip of Chris' first day of ice hockey. Chris is in the white jersey ... number 5 with a black helmet on. His friend Alex is in a darker jersey (number 4) and Alex's dad, Matt is in the red sweatshirt taking the checks!! I am TOTALLY amazed at how well Chris did on the ice given it was his first time!! You might have to click play twice. Enjoy!



Here are a few photos too.

The other pumpkin patches '07

You can't just go to one pumpkin patch .... I think when it was all said and done we hit a total of 4 this year. We even did two in one day. We also did the Enchanted Forest with Rachel and Braden. This ended with a horse wagon ride in which Chris made himself right at home. Click the link to see the slide show of all the activities.

Slide show of Pumpkin Patches'07

The First Pumpkin Patch '07

As usually, we will hit about 4-5 different fall festivals and this was the first. We have never been to this place but heard it was great. It is called Peck's. Not to be confused with Heck's which is within 5 miles of Peck's on the same county road. We made arrangements to meet up with some friends at Peck's. I lost my cell service once we got into farm land and was unable to call them. We arrived at Peck's and could not find them. After at least 20+ minutes of searching for them I begged (and paid) to use Peck's phone. I called the friends only to find out they were "right out front, selecting a pumpkin ..." We confirmed that we were both at Peck's and not Heck's. I hung up the phone and went to find them. Still, no luck. As it turns out, there are two Peck's and a Heck's all within 10 miles of each other. Once we finally caught up with them we were able to take advantage of the haunted house, massive animal farm, jumper/bouncer things, and all the other fall festival stuff one would expect to find at one of these places. Then we had lunch and went to the other Peck's for even more fun. Train rides and covered wagon rides. This place also had the most amazing pheasant. It looked more like a parrot with all the colors it had. Amazing. More festival photos to come ....

Horse riding '07

We've talked about it all summer. Today we went to a different horse farm and meet Sharon. As it turns out, Sharon is my chiropractors mother in law! Sharon has horses and teaches riding. Acacia got to groom and ride a pony names Danielle. We will most likely start lessons the first of Nov.

Apple picking '07

Our first outing this fall .. picking apples. Eplegaarden is right down the road from us. I know Emme and Nono have been with us once and Auntie Valerie has also been here. It was just me and the kids this time. We picked apples, raspberries and grapes. We went on a haunted adventure and a kiddie corn maze. Also a cool wagon ride. We all had a great time and I made them do the work.
Click the link to see all the fun.

Slide show of Apple Picking '07

Sept / Oct '07

So, it's been a little while since I updated you all. Life is still crazy and non stop. Here is a little summary. Auntie Valerie came for a quick visit and brought us Grandma and Grandpa's oat dining room table and 8 chairs! The visit was not a surprise but the delivery of the table sure was! Once we get our house back together (it did not sell and will drop off the market 10/17/07) we will have that table set up in the sunroom so we can actually feed more then 4 people at a time at the same table!! Val's visit was really nice and low key. It was very cool to have her around and actually not be running all over doing stuff. Here is a photo of Auntie Valerie reading to the kids. Remember you can click on any photo to see it larger.

Acacia is back into fall soccer and doing just fine. But, this session she just does not seem to have the "on fire" attitude she did over the past year. Even her coach is asking me what is going on. Sure wish I knew. But, she does still enjoy playing and wants to continue.

Next, Randy decided Chris needed an outlet ... so Chris is now signed up for ice hockey. Twice a week for 45 minutes. He will be learning how to skate and they are telling us it's better he learn with full gear. He now has hockey skates, shin guards, "breezer" hockey pants, shoulder pads, elbow pads, hockey gloves, a helmet and full mask. His first time on the ice will be Monday 10/15/07 and he will also receive a hockey jersey then. Once he is fully suited up we will take a photo. In the meantime, this is all he will let us put on him.

Camping '07

Our first camping trip with the kids. We packed the truck to the max - literally. We got a FABULOUS new bike rack!! It holds 4 bikes, locks to the truck and can swing out away from the truck so you do not have to removed the bikes to drop the tailgate!! VERY NICE feature!

We drove about 2 hours north to Fond du Lac, WI (Lake Winnebago) and set up camp! We had a huge, private site deep in the woods. The kids found such delight in collecting acorns (and there we an abundance of them) and then tossing them in the fire to hear them explode. The camp ground had a lot more stuff to do then I remember from camping as a kid. There was a pool, hot tub, jumping pillow (totally cool), Clydesdale's pulling a covered wagon ride, live band, petting zoo and the great 4 wheel bikes to ride around on. They did arts and crafts - color your own t-shirt, bandanna or backpack and decorate your bike for a parade. We were not able to participate in everything as there was just not enough time. It took Acacia a bit to fall asleep the first night and Randy woke up with a fever and chills. But, he was a trooper and kept up the pace.

We took our bikes and went to a State Park on the southern tip of Lake Winnebago and went to the top of the lighthouse. This is the lighthouse that Acacia's class went to see while we were on vacation that was the cause of our seeking the lighthouse in NC earlier this summer. We found bumper cars, train rides, playgrounds and more in the this park and took advantage of as much as we could.


Back at the site we swam more, went to the petting zoo, listened to the live music and Acacia got to assist the driver of the Clydesdale's while the rest of us road in the back!

Our last day, Acacia woke up with what Randy had the day before. We drugged her up, packed up the site and went to the pool. Once the meds kicked in she seemed fine. Hours at the pool and one last jump in the hot tub and we were on the road (sometime after 3p). We stopped to get a late lunch and then jumped right on a rails to trails bike trail for our last bike ride. The kids are not used to biking on packed gravel and kept complaining of the bumpiness but it was still fun. One last burst of energy was expelled at a playground we found along the way. As we were leaving the play ground we were stopped by the local authority who gave us free coupons to Dairy Queen for wearing our bike helmets! So, off we head to DQ! And, won't you just know - they have an indoor play area!

I do not think we could have packed anything more into the past 3 days then we did! Everyone is felling better today and we are for the most part unpacked and getting ready for a full week of new school!!



To see all the adventure click on the link to see a slide show.

Slide show of Camping '07





Click the play button to see a brief movie of the jumping pillow and the kids running on water ... you know ... like Dash from the Incredibles ....

First Day of First Grade!

Acacia is now going to a private school. St. James.


To avoid an almost hour long bus ride to school in the AM Acacia will ride the city bus to school with me. Seen here, we are waiting at the bus stop in the van. And Acacia is showing off her bus pass.

This new school seems really great and we are all very excited about this opportunity! Acacia's transition to this new school was fairly painless as one of her best friends is also going to this school

Soccer Camp '07

Acacia attended a soccer camp this summer, put on by the UW - Madison Men's and Women's soccer teams. She went with her friend Maya (and her soccer couches daughter). They learned skills like heading and kneeing the ball. They had a great time and then got to have pizza when it was all over.













Here is a short movie clip of Acacia (teal green shirt) and her friend, Maya



One of my friends was there with her son and Chris wanted his picture taken with him. So, here is Chris and Robert.

End of Summer Soccer '07

Once Acacia's full cast came off she was able to play in the summer soccer program we signed her up for (not knowing she was going to break her arm). The very last game was rained out and a make up game was scheduled. But, the other team was a no show so the parents played the kids. Acacia said she liked playing the parents better as they were "easier to beat ...". Coach Russ was her coach again (and he will be again in the fall). We can't wait!!