Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see?

Grace was so excited to read Ava and I her book she made today in Preschool. I have read her Brown Bear since since was very little. It was cute for me to see her read one she made. She was so proud of herself.

Yee Haw!!!

Today was just about my favorite trail ride ever. Jeff, Joe, Kevin , and his daughter Britney went on a 16 mile horse ride. I was able to get a 4 mile run in with my horse during the long trail ride! Rowdy was almost as good a running partner as Princess is!
The only thing that would have made it better would be having Grace and Ava with riding, but that day will be here very soon!!!

Thank you Grandma Carol for taking care of the girls. They have such a great time with you!!!



We rode out to Delta Diner and had some lunch and I even had a cappuccino!!!

The milkshakes and cheeseburgers were so good!!!

Happy Birthday Little G!

Little Geneva had a great time opening her gifts!!! She opened every gift. What a big 2 year old she is now!
The little washing Machine was a big hit with the 3 and 4 year olds!!!
Mea trying a mushroom or maybe just the dip on the mushroom! ;-)

Grace and I were a little late for the party so I didn't get a picture of the cute cake Becky made.

Grace had fun playing the rubber ducky game in the pool!

She found the black circle!!! Yah

Becky painted little ducks on the gems-Great idea Grace thought they were so cute...

Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?

It has been so much fun anticipating this event. The kids met Elmo and Zoe in person! What a great experience! Thank you so much Daddy for making this happen. What a day to remember!

This is Ava when she saw Elmo for the first time!





Grace is such a fan of characters! She has been counting down the days for this moment! Ava, Joseph and Julie were also very excited for this day.

Ava starts giggling everytime Elmo comes on T.V. at home so I knew she would enjoy this day also!!! She loved sitting on Elmo's lap...

Duck, Duck, Goose

Grace has come to love Fridays. Between Gymnastics and Preschool we are away from home more than we are there. She really enjoys being home all day on Friday to play with her animals and toys. We like to go on a morning walk around the pond(Jeff has made a pathway all the way around it. Grace and Ava love when the geese fly up over our heads. I just thought I would share what it looks like.


Thank Goodness It's Friday...

Grace loves to throw rocks in the pond and pretend they are fish!!! I used to do that to her when she was 2!


I love how they play together. I hope it stays this way, but I know once Ava starts moving around Grace won't want her to get into too many of her things. Right now Grace controls what Ava plays with. ;-)

I Love You...

Happy Anniversary Jeff! It has been 9 amazing years...I thank God everyday for sending me to North Dakota. Who would have thought this is where we would be 9 years later. I have never met a person who is more giving and pure hearted. In a world that is constantly changing you are where I find comfort and strength. Thank you for the laughter you have put in my heart. I love you more everyday!

It all started with just a little seed...

For those you who follow our family blog you might remember back in April--Grace started a very small garden. It was fun for me to watch her take such good care of it. Now she can enjoy the fruits of her labor. There are quite a few tomato's growing on the vines, and one has finally turned red. Today when she came home from school it had fallen off the vine! She was so excited to eat it! How fun it is to watch her learn...

Hayride Ho Down

Sunday afternoons are so relaxing, I see why God wanted it to be a day of rest. We enjoyed a beautiful day with a hayride and picnic in the woods by the shack. Grandpa used the Case tractor instead of the horses so we could take our time and enjoy this great fall day. Thank you Grandpa Joe and Grandma Carol for the wonderful afternoon


Grandpa Joe is so cute with all the kids




Yes that is a wolf in the distance


It was a really nice day so my plan was to take some fall pictures of the girls, but the leaves aren't quite ready for photo opportunities yet. Although, I did get some really cute pictures.




Ava sure likes Grandma Carol

Brilla's Pumpkin Patch

Mea's Nana and Bumpa invited her over to help pick pumpkins from their pumpkin patch this morning. I just love to watch Grace and Mea play together! It was a beautiful day.














Nick gave Mea and Grace a ride on Mea little four wheeler. She said it was so much fun! Thanks Brilla family for the fun morning!

1/2 Marathon Trail Run Hayward

My very good friends from college(Mary and Mandi)and I have remained close through the years. We have made an effort to get together at least once a month. Today Ava and I came down to cheer them on as they ran the half marathon trail run in Hayward! I really wanted to run it with them but with my knee so touchy I thought the killer hills of the Berkie wouldn't be a good place to do my first half marathon! It was a beautiful day with great friends. They both finished well under 2 hours! Good job Mandi and Mary!



Ava and Blake(Mandi's little man)had a great time getting to know each other better after the race.

Gymnastics

Grace was so excited today in gymnastics. She did some very fun things like flips and jumps. It was a beautiful day so we all went to the park after class. Nora, Mea and Grace rode their bikes to the park. My battery died on my camera so I wasn't able to get any pictures of that but it was cute!

Bagging up the Oats

We were working on bagging up oats yesterday. Grace thought it would be pretty fun to climb the oats! It was entertaining to watch her.

Grandpa Joe's Kittens

Grace was so excited to see that Grandpa Joe's cat Stripes(tiggers sister)had kittens. They are about 5 or so weeks old and so cute. There is a long haired grey one, two really cool tri-colored, a black and white one, and 2 orange and white ones. It was a lot of fun playing with them.

48-25 Packers

Football is such a game of momentum. Packers had a great start only to go into the second half with no ambition. Thankfully they were able to turn it around again for a huge win against the Lions!!! Aaron Rodgers had a great game 24-38, 328 yards and 3TDs! I am starting to gain confidence in Rogers. I love the talent on this team. Next week will be hard one(Cowboys).

Good to be Home

We were so happy to have daddy home!!! It sure isn't the same without daddy. The girls and I really missed him!

Wet and Wild

Sometimes a day with with rain is exactly what you need. Watching college football and getting wet and wild with Grace in the rain was a ton of fun. Water soccer is pretty cool!