Donuts!

When we have visitors at our house - I try to make donuts for breakfast. The boys especially like to show people that we know how to make donuts. Wow! You just open a can of biscuits and use a circle cutter for the center. Viola - you have delicious donuts! Shhh! don't tell anyone our "secret" recipe. Because of Bible school last night - the kids' cousin Arista spent the night and we got to make donuts. YUM!

Toothless!

Jacob lost his 3rd tooth while we were on vacation. While everyone was riding the go-carts - Jake just sat & wiggled & wiggled & wiggled until it finally fell out. As soon as we got home another one came out. And another is wiggly! We have been looking forward to him losing his teeth. Yippeee!

Caleb's 9th Birthday!

Caleb turned 9!

Caleb was a 4th of July baby. So that makes the 4th even more special. We have often said that he is our "little firecracker". And that really is true. Since this year we were on vacation during Caleb's birthday - we let him decide whether to be gone one more night or celebrate at home. He chose to stay gone. So we finished our trip close to home in Galena. The hotel has a nice waterslide, an arcade and so many other things to do there - if you have the time. Everyone really wanted to swim and enjoy that cool slide - so that's what we did. We made it to the fireworks, too! Although, we were tempted to stay and swim. Before our trip, Rick took Caleb to buy his first sword. He also recieved some old cars & a truck, a bouncy ball pogo stick type toy, Roy Roger CD & DVD, a wooden box that locks, an old record player, and some cash. Caleb is a simple kind of kid (BUT. . . picky) has tons of cute freckles, strawberry blonde hair, can be loving, funny, sensitive, has a tenderheart and a strong will. He would love to be 72 and hang out with Grandpa all of the time. We are thankful for him and can't wait to see how God uses his life.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

1500 miles of fun!

Vacation Journal

Day 1 - went to the Dells and used free passes to Knuckleheads & Noah's Ark - slept in Tomah, WI
Day 2 - drove through Minn. and arrived in Sioux Falls, SD (we'll stay here for 4 nights) - visited Falls Park
Day 3 - drove to Sioux City, IA - visited Jan at her parents farm - went to Lewis & Clark Museum - went to sioux Falls Aquatic Center in the PM
Day 4 - rode the trolley - toured the town of Sioux Falls - ate an early dinner - went to Wild Waterpark West for all the slides & rides you can handle ('til 10:00 PM)
Day 5 - drove by heard of buffalo - went to "old general store" for souvenirs & buffalo jerky - went to Mitchell to tour the famous Corn Palace ( a really cool place - I went here as a kid w/ my grandparents - - it has gotten even better)
Day 6 - left Sioux Falls - went to Mason City, IA to visit Rick's Grandma - spent the night there - after dinner the boys swam & Megan & I went to do a little shopping
Day 7 - JULY 4th! - Caleb's birthday! - headed towards home - no definite plans - made it to Galena - stayed at Country Inn - swam for hours - loved the waterslide - played in the arcade - ordered pizza - watched fireworks from the highest street in Galena
Day 8 - came home - unpacked - went to G'pa & G'ma's to get Holly and had a cook out in honor of Caleb's birthday

PHEW! It sure is nice to be home again!

Lego's, Lego's and more Lego's

On Thursday afternoon, the boys and I "drug" out our bin of Lego's. We haven't had them out for a good while. The boys worked on them for a few hours and had a good time. On Friday, we went to garage saleswith my mom, Aunt Juliet & Aunt Linda. Near the end of garage sales, we saw three bins of Lego's with a lot of accesories we don't have. After trying to negotiate a lower price with the lady - we bought a bin and Aunt Juliet bought a bin with tons of car parts for Caleb's birthday. So guess what the boys did all Friday afternoon - played Lego's. Thanks Aunt Juliet!!!

Lego Mania