Faith, Family, Food and Fun

What’s in the Box?

2012-01-28T21:33:00.001-06:00

Memories. Years and years and years worth of memories. Ron was looking for a picture of a skunk or a skunk stuffed animal for an entry on his blog. That triggered a memory for me, from WAY back in 7th grade, when I wrote a children’s book for my English class. The book was called “Silly Sally Skunk”.

When Ron asked about the skunk picture, I remembered the book, and thought “IF I still have that book, I know exactly what box it is in.” I went downstairs, and dug that box out and was instantly transported back in time. I almost forgot what I was looking for!

I found old pictures that I drew, poems that I collected, high school and college schedules, calendars (I found the calendar from October of 1987 where I wrote in my first date with Ron!) , letters and notes from friends, my elementary years memory book, my old Pettisville Blackbird beret (wow…that hat saw LOTS and LOTS of basketball games!) I found the folders from my Grandpa Tuckerman’s funeral and my Aunt Marlene’s funeral. I found the bouquet made from the ribbons and bows from my bridal shower gifts. And the diaries. Oh my gosh…do you remember those thick little diaries that you could lock with a tiny key? I have several of those. Some of them are just one year, and some of them are FIVE years each (I think the one goes from 77-82? I’m not sure exactly,) but you can be assured I’m going to spend some time re-reading THOSE things. And laughing at myself!

After a long, LONG time, I got to the bottom of the box and what did I find? I found “Silly Sally Skunk”!

What fun and treasures are in this box. I’m sure that it is a box that my kids will throw away someday, but for now, I’m going to enjoy spending some time looking through the folders and things in there!

Isn’t it amazing what all an old cardboard box can hold?

I had a song stuck in my head

2012-01-26T20:32:00.001-06:00

after washing my lunch dishes at school. Can you guess which song?

So…did you figure it out?

Sorry if you have it stuck in YOUR head now!

A Treasured Possession

2012-01-25T18:12:00.001-06:00

I know I already had one photo this month where the focus was on my most treasured possession, but I saw this done on Pinterest, and just HAD to try it out! I think this may go down as one of my favorite photos of the year…and I can say this with only 23 pictures down, and 300+ (I’m just to tired to do the actual math, LOL) to go.

When I saw this on Pinterest, I think I was a bit skeptical. It just couldn’t be that easy, or work that well. I was suspecting that, ultimately, it would be a photoshop type project. But it TOTALLY wasn’t!

Of course, now I have even MORE reason to spend time on that addicting web site…looking for MORE ideas of things to photograph in really cool ways!

Homemade Irish Cream

2012-01-24T22:28:00.001-06:00

My hubby makes this YUMMY beverage for me sometimes. It is smooth, and creamy, and just absolutely hits the spot. It nicely warms you, from the inside! It is a hit with all we share it with!

Homemade Irish Crème

2 Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/3 cups Black Velvet
1 pint half and half
2 Tablespoon Chocolate Syrup
1 tsp instant coffee
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp coconut extract (optional)

Mix it all in a pitcher and stir well. This is best if you let it sit overnight, to let the coffee dissolve. But…most times we can’t wait. It’s still good!

This year, this bottle was a gift from me to a friend. It was full of this Irish Crème. I told her that it was a conditional gift. She could have it on the condition that she gave it back when it was empty for a refill. She agreed, and this is the first refill!

YUM!

Speech ROCKS!

2012-01-24T22:21:00.001-06:00

Our SF Speech group did an absolutely FANTASTIC job at the speech competition on Saturday! The 2 hour later start due to snowy weather didn’t fluster OUR amazing kids any! We had (I believe) 11 out of 13 of our entries that got a I rating, and will advance to STATE next week!

Rachel was in a group that performed mime, and they were GREAT! We laughed the whole way thorough (and so did the judge! We could tell she enjoyed it!) All of their hard work and practices paid off, because they were awesome!

Rachel and her MIME team. Great job, ladies!

I didn’t get a picture of Rachel and Jenny, but they did a …skit? (Bad mom…I don’t exactly know what it was, other than that it was a 2 person ensemble). They were SOOO good. Again, we laughed and laughed! What FUN to watch!

Good luck to ALL of our STATE qualifiers!

SNOW DAY!! (and my Mom’s Bread Pudding)

2012-01-20T21:10:00.001-06:00

I said earlier as my status on facebook…the ONLY good thing about snow is the occasional snow day. And today was one! We did get a good bunch of snow, starting in the wee hours of the morning. Poor Rachel was up, dressed and at the middle school in the vehicle that would shuttle her to the High School for an early morning practice, when the bus driver got the call that their was no school. She came home and promptly went back to bed.
Ethan got up at 6 am, to do some homework that he left in the vehicle when I went to a friend’s house last night. He was sitting on his bead working on homework at 6:30 when I went in and let him know there was no school. He put his homework away and came out on the couch to watch tv…and fell asleep for a few more hours.
I just stayed in bed. I LOVE being able to do that! Ron stayed up for a bit and then he slept a bit more, too. What a great way to start a weekend!
Ethan is at a friend’s house, but before he left, I had him shovel a little bit. He did a good job, but didn’t come close to getting it all done. There was a BUNCH of snow!

Rachel woke up and wanted to make something. She asked about bread pudding, and I said… “I have my mom’s recipe”. She went through my recipe box and found it, which really made me laugh, because when I was a kid and we had a snow day…the first thing I did was went through my mom’s recipe box, looking for something to make that day! Like mother, like daughter!

So, I taught her how to make my mom’s bread pudding. It is SOOO yummy, and such a comfort food for me. I have my mom’s original recipe…in her handwriting, even!

It’s a well used recipe, isn’t it? It was one of the things that my mom made quite often.

So, first I taught Rachel how to scaled milk, as she has never done that step before. If you are unsure of what it means, there is a good “how to” on this page. But it is EASY, and don’t let it scare you away!

She made toast, and buttered it.

Then she tore it up into little pieces and put it in the greased casserole dish.

When the milk was scalded, we mixed the eggs, sugar and salt. We added a little of the scalded milk into the eggs, and kept stirring while adding the rest of the hot milk. Then, Rachel poured the milk over the toast.

And then (I didn’t take a picture of this) Rachel sprinkled cinnamon sugar over the top of it all. And then we baked it. The recipe says for 25 minutes, but I had to go closer to 35 or maybe even 40 minutes today.

Oh. Yum! YUM! YUMMY!!!

Wish you could have had a bite!

The End of Wrestling Season

2012-01-20T19:46:00.001-06:00

Ethan had his final wrestling meet last night. He had a pin (WOO HOO!) in his first, hard fought, match. His second match went into the second period, and while he looked good, he was pretty exhausted, and got pinned early in the second. He has made great improvements over the season, and we are way proud!

This was taken JUST before the ref slammed his palm on the mat to announce the pin! Way to GO Ethan!

Sandy

Chicken and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

2012-01-18T18:59:00.001-06:00

I hit upon a winner for dinner tonight! OOOH…this was sooo yummy, and VERY easy. I just made a basic homemade mac and cheese, and added precooked chicken and some broccoli and baked it. MMMMM….we ate way too much!

I was making enough for 4 of us plus leftovers. So here is what I used. (I make homemade mac and cheese often enough that I don’t really use a recipe. If you have a favorite recipe that you follow, use that. If you don’t…here’s my basic amounts (more or less, LOL)

2 HUGE chicken breasts (cooked and cubed)
1/2 or 3/4 of a large package of frozen broccoli (under cooked a little. Cook just long enough so that it isn’t frozen any longer)
4 cups of uncooked macaroni (bow tie or rotini or other shaped pasta would be good, too)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup or so of milk (add more to make it runnier if you need to)
1/3 block of Velveeta-more or less (I used Fareway brand)
2 cups shredded cheddar—more or less (I used taco cheese because it is what I had tonight.)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I made homemade, and I added some onion powder and garlic powder.)

Boil the noodles and drain. Chunk up the Velveeta type cheese and butter and stir til it is all melty. Add the milk and keep stirring. (If it doesn’t melt very quickly, you can stir it over a low/medium burner. I usually don’t need to do this, though). Then stir in 1 to 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese (if I don’t have it, I sometimes leave this out. Just depends on how cheesy you like it. We like it best when it is REALLY cheesy)

Add the chicken (when I cooked mine, I added some pepper and garlic. You can keep your chicken plain or spice it up with whatever flavors you like) and broccoli. Stir it up really well, and then pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with the rest of the shredded cheese (if using), and then toss some bread crumbs on top (for a crispy topping….you can leave this part off, too, if you want…but I can’t imagine why you’d want to.)

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or til the bread crumbs are nice and toasty brown and crunchy on top.

Ethan took one bite and said “mmmmmmmmmm……..” And that’s all I heard from him for the next 10 minutes or so.

He LOVES me!

2012-01-17T21:04:00.001-06:00

and I have PROOF! Ron is away at Symposium in Ft. Wayne. When I got home from school today, I had a text from him. It simply said “There is a Milky Way in the basket on top of the microwave”

Is that man good to me, or what?

Sandy

Catch-up Part II

2012-01-17T20:09:00.001-06:00

So I guess I don’t know exactly what the point of this Project 365 is supposed to be. For someone like me, who takes lots of pictures, without prompting and encouragement, perhaps the challenge should be to LIMIT myself to only one photo a day. Hmm. But that isn’t how I chose to interpret it. Because I CAN’T.

I can’t decide which of the next two pictures should be my picture for January 15. Therefore, I’m going to share TWO for that day. Because I CAN!

Rachel begged Caleb to play Just Dance II with her on the wii. They did GREAT and it was fun to watch them enjoy a few minutes together!

And this was also taken on Jan. 15. Cameron wanted to learn how to make beer, so Ron obliged. They brewed it a couple of weeks ago, and the 15th was bottling day. Ron tried to act disappointed that he didn’t save any water back to get the siphon started…but really? I don’t think he minds having to get it started this way! It looks to me like one great, big, giant straw!

January 16th was a crazy day for this mom! Ethan had a wrestling meet here in town, and his first match was #53! After sitting at the meet for almost an hour and 45 minutes, it was finally his turn! Then he had a little break until match #80somthing. Fortunately he was finished by about 6:30 so I could run him home and then drive to watch Rachel’s UIC Honor Band Festival. Where she was chosen to be FIRST CHAIR for her section of clarinets! It was a tremendous concert, with hugely talented young people from our area! I really enjoyed it! Great job, Rachel! We’re proud of you!

Catch-up, part 1

2012-01-16T22:51:00.001-06:00

I’m sure this won’t be the only time this year that I get a little behind in sharing the project 365 pictures. Sometimes, life gets in the way, and blogging takes a back seat. But I’ve already posted more this year than I did the whole last half or so of last year, I think. So…I feel that I’m doing quite well!

I will do a part 2 tomorrow, hopefully, to get all the way current on the pics. But for now, here are a few pictures and the stories behind them.

What better way to welcome in the first wintery blast of weather that we’ve had so far this winter, than with a Daily’s ready to drink frozen margarita (for me) and a Daily’s ready to drink peach daquari for my mother-in-law? Even though it was blustery, snowy, windy and cold outside, we were toasty warm from the inside out after enjoying these. YUM!! I could at least pretend I was at the lake or on the beach somewhere!

January 12 found all 7 of us sitting around the table playing “Catch Phrase”. That game really makes us laugh! Especially when Cameron is trying to get us to say someone’s name that the last name rhymes with a type of whale (Beluga?) We got the first name right away, (John) but took us a while to get to Belushi (really? Does that rhyme with Beluga?…but we eventually got it!) And Ronnie was SOO frustrated with us when he was trying to get us to name some thing we hear at Christmas time. We got the bells part, but…were stuck (someone (who shall remain nameless) even tried “Silent Bells” …and THAT got raised eyebrows from Ronnie and howls of laughter from everyone else.) Eventually we did get to “Jingle Bells” As we were playing, I thought “I should write some of these things down, because I’ll never remember what all we laughed at tonight!” And now that it’s time to write this…I really can’t remember it all. But we did laugh pretty hard.

This time of year, it is surprising to me when I see plant life that is sprouting fresh new life, so I had to take a picture of the bright green “new” on my lucky bamboo plant. (I got it at IKEA a year and a half ago! I love this plant!)

And finally tonight, I’ll end with a self portrait. I was ready for a date with my hubby to attend the annual banquet for the Northeast Iowa Antique Engine and Power Show group here in town. A DELICIOUS meal, and a visit with some of the local folks makes for a nice evening out!

And we have a PIN!

2012-01-10T21:52:00.001-06:00

Woo HOO! The BIG news of the day is that Ethan got his first pin in wrestling! He has worked hard all season, and tonight he just looked GREAT! He was very intent and methodical, and we could see him thinking through each step of what he was doing. What a FUN match to watch!

So, even though I’m going out of date order a little bit, here is my Project 365 photo for Jan. 10.

And then, ‘cause I’m the mom, I’m going to share a couple of other pictures from the meet. I’m so proud of this kid!

Great job tonight, Ethan!!!

Now, to back up and share the project 365 pictures from the past couple of days…

Mexican Train dominoes is always a fun game to play with Grandma! We played for a couple of hours on Sunday.

And on Monday evening, Caleb spent a couple of hours talking with Grandma Koch about his trip to South Korea. They looked at pictures and he told stories about his time there.

23 YEARS!

2012-01-07T23:24:00.001-06:00

What were you doing 23 years ago? I can tell you, almost to the minute, what I was doing all day on January 7, 1989. It was my WEDDING DAY!

Oh my goodness…I just have to laugh out LOUD when I see this picture! Who ARE those young kids, and what in the world do they think THEY know about marriage?

The weather was quite unusual for an Ohio January day. It was unseasonably warm. Ron and I started the day with him picking me up at my parents and we went out to breakfast together. That was the “calm before the storm” of the rest of the day…I think it was my last few moments to just sit and relax.

It was an exceptionally perfect day. Everything went wonderfully (or else I had wonderful family and friends that kept any and all glitches away from me.) The service went very well, the music was great, and the reception was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. AWESOME food, wonderful polka music….it was just GREAT! Why wouldn’t it be? Everyone in our lives that were important to us were there with us. What could be more perfect?

Until the 10 pm thunderstorm hit. And the lights went out. And the backup generator wouldn’t work. And the band quit playing, and everyone went home. But even with all that…we had a wonderfully perfect wedding day.

And it’s been wonderfully perfect every day for the past 23 years. Ok…well…not really. But the transition into wedded bliss really did go smoothly for us. We’ve had ups and downs over the course of the past 23 years, but definitely more ups than downs. We’ve seen a lot of places and we’ve done a lot of things, and I can’t wait to do more and see more together. I just can’t wait to see what God has planned for me with this wonderful man He has given me! Ron is proof of just how much God loves me and wants the best for me.

I love you, Ronnie Lloyd Koch, and I would marry you all over again in an instant, and not change a thing! I am truly looking forward to the future that God has planned for us!

Dec. 24, 2011

This was put on my finger 23 years ago…and has, and will remain there!

Traditions

2012-01-06T23:56:00.001-06:00

Tradition is an important part of many of our lives. For me, as a lifelong Missouri Synod Lutheran…tradition is pretty much mandatory (just ask my LCMS pastor husband what happens if he suggests changing anything. Or heaven forbid that he change a little something WITHOUT suggesting or asking me first! ) I like my predictable liturgy, familiar hymns, and even when it comes to things of the church outside of the worship service…I just like it best when things are done the same way as they always have been.

So tonight’s Epiphany service at church was perfect. We had a short service (just like every year) using Responsive Prayer 2 in our Lutheran Service Book. Ron read the lessons of the day (just like every year). We had prayers (just like every year). And then, we sang (just like every year). Before putting away Christmas completely, we sang our favorite Christmas hymns one last time. We have a great organist who does a wonderful job of playing whatever we request. Of course, we missed a few of MY favorites because I don’t want to be a request hog…I have to let others have their choices as well. But that’s ok…they were all great Christmas hymns.

Then, just as we always do, we put Christmas away in the church. We took the Chrismons off of the Christmas tree, and then the lights. We took down Christmas banners and the Advent wreath. And the tedious job of getting all those pine needles out of the carpet. It was a productive evening and the church looked great when we were finished.

Then, just like every year for 16 years, Grandma Marge said “Let’s go upstairs for cake and ice cream!” That’s the Epiphany tradition that my kids like best! They know that every year, after all the work is done, Grandma Marge and Grandpa Richard help Ron and I celebrate our wedding anniversary (which is tomorrow) with CAKE! Grandma Marge cake! It’s always yummy and pretty and comes complete with candles. A part of the yearly tradition involves the retelling of the story of the year that Cameron was lighting the candles on our cake (he was probably 8 or 9 at the time) and he was wearing a coat…and all of a sudden the coat was smoking and melting on top of the cake, because he’d reached over a lit candle to light one in the back. And every year, Cameron says “That’s ok…I never liked that coat anyway”

This year, our little friend Connor got in on the fun! He said “CHEESE” and helped us blow out the candles! I’m glad! I don’t think we could have gotten them all out without his help!

Thanks everyone, for helping us keep those traditions going!

Putting Away Christmas

2012-01-06T23:37:00.001-06:00

or at least the Christmas decorations. It’s a good thing to post about on Epiphany, even though we started the process here at home a few days ago. Of course, we daily remember the gift God gave us through the birth of the infant Jesus. We remember that every day throughout the year. But there is a time for celebrating Jesus birth, and Epiphany marks the end of that celebration.

At our house, we can officially say, “It’s done!” I *THINK* we have all of the decorations put away. Although, to Ron’s utter frustration, I keep finding “one more thing” that needs to be put away, after he has all the boxes stacked perfectly in the closet. Wonderful man that he is, he always finds a place to put those final things.

In the process of “un-decorating”, please tell me that your house looks something like this:

This is my Project 365 picture for January 4. Sadly, the house looked like this for a couple of days, as we had to find time to gradually get everything packed away. I am very happy to have my house back to as close to “normal” as it gets around here.

On Thursday, Ethan and I had to go to Sumner for his Middle School recognition night for wrestling. On the way, we saw this (which is my Project 365 picture for January 5)

While it isn’t the exact look I was going for, (I STILL am struggling to get good sunset pictures from my little camera), I think it is a pretty picture. It was a beautiful sunset on a brilliantly beautiful, record breaking 50 degree day, and I was sharing a lovely drive with my youngest son. It was a good evening! (and it got even better when we arrived home to homemade pork tenderloin sandwiches! They are one of Ron’s specialties…and …can I just say “YUM!”

Last Day

2012-01-03T20:00:00.001-06:00

Today is our last day of Christmas break. Rachel, Ethan and I have to go to school tomorrow. Caleb and Cameron, the lucky dogs, have another week and a half before their classes start up again! Where did that time go? That had to have been the shortest Christmas break on record. Today was the first day of the break that was a “do nothing” day. It was a very nice, low key, laid back day!

Project 365, photo for 1.3.2012

We got started on putting the Christmas decorations away while watching the BEST movie EVER! The entire family loves “The Princess Bride”. Most of us can quote almost the entire thing! What is your favorite quote from the movie?

I think mine has to be “I’m NOT a witch! I’m your WIFE!” (as seen beginning at 3:03 or so in this clip.)

A Sad Discovery: Project 365

2012-01-02T20:46:00.001-06:00

I asked for only one thing for Christmas: A family picture, where everyone was happy to be there. This is the contract I got, signed and dated by everyone in my family.

We, the undersigned, do hereby pledge and promise to you, Sandra Kay Koch, the following:

1. On or around January 2, 2012, we, the undersigned, will sit with you for a professional photographer.

2. We will be noticeably happy about it.

3. We will have our hair combed.

4. We will, without hesitation or debate, dress in the manner and with the articles and accessories that you demand.

5. We will purchase and provide for you a finished portrait.

6. We will hang the portrait in our home in a timely manner.

Conditions and exclusions:

1. We, the undersigned, may or may not be available for you to look at all the proofs and provide our opinion about which pose is best.

2. We reserve the right to refuse any request of the professional photographer to put ourselves or each other in poses that may be embarrassing or silly.

3. No part of this binding contract shall be interpreted as a promise of continued and perpetual happiness on our part for getting our pictures taken, beyond the stated sitting, as aforementioned.

********

Since today was January 2, this was photography day! We loaded up the car and headed to visit our good friend Lorry of Kohls’ Photography. Everything went beautifully, and Lorry did a great job. I can’t wait to see the finished product. And can I just say…I LOVE my family. They all, in spite of their strong dislike of having their picture taken, did a wonderful job of faking it for me! I think Lorry definitely got some good shots!

Following the photography shoot, since we were all dressed nicely, and hadn’t spent ENOUGH time in a vehicle together this Christmas break, we headed to Decorah to go to one of our favorite restaurants in the area. Rachel was ecstatic to discover that we were headed to the Americana Grille, because she LOVES the seafood wrap she gets there.

The parking lot was suspiciously empty but we could almost chalk that up to it being shortly before 5…not quite dinner time for the general population. Ron went in and checked it out and came out shortly after, shaking his head. “They’re closed?” I asked. “For more than just today,” he sadly answered. Evidently the owner has been fighting cancer and had to close his doors. Rachel sadly decided that if she had known that the last time she enjoyed a seafood wrap would have been her LAST time, she would have savored the moment more!

Fortunately for my other children, one of THEIR favorite restaurants was right next door.

Cameron, who had been pouting and moping about “just wanting to go home, ‘cause I’m not even hungry!” JUMPED out of the van and said “This is the BEST DAY EVER!” He loves their mashed potatoes more than anything. He declared that it should be called “Potato Ranch”. Caleb was a trend setter and started out with a root beer float, and Ethan was very happy to get the timing just right to get the INSIDE pieces of the cactus bread (cheese bread).

We all came home absolutely stuffed, and pleased with our day.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T23:10:00.001-06:00

I can’t remember ever being so glad to welcome in a new year. I took a pretty big blogging break during much of last year. I got tired of trying to find something not depressing to write about. I would like to get back into it, because it is definitely something I enjoy doing. So, I’m starting out the new year with a new post.

Christmas Eve, 2011

And this is a picture I took today of our Christmas tree. I was just playing, and trying to decide if I am going to try to do this “year in pictures” thing, where you take a picture every single day for a year. I haven’t decided if I’m going to commit to that or not, but just in case I decide to do it, this is my picture for Jan. 1.

“Well Done Thou Good and Faithful Servant”

2011-10-23T21:42:00.001-05:00

These are the words that Ron’s dad, Lester, was greeted with on September 12, 2011. What wonderful words those were! We know he looked forward to hearing those precious words his entire life.

I was blessed to have this second father in my life for 22 years. He gladly welcomed me into the family and made me feel a part of it right away. He was always willing to help, whether it meant letting Ronnie and I live with them for a while, moving us to Dallas, hauling all of our worldly possessions to Virginia Beach, household repairs, projects with the kids or just coming to visit us wherever we lived.

Lester and Mary traveled to each and every grandchild’s baptism and confirmation and graduation (up until this last year, when he just wasn’t strong enough to make Cameron’s graduation). He built changing tables, toy boxes and book shelves for our kids. When I look around our house, I see his touch everywhere. He ripped up the carpet on our basement stairs and replaced it with hard flooring and slip strips. He replaced the old linoleum floor in my kitchen with laminate wood flooring. He helped re-side our house. He spent 6 weeks here helping to build our daycare. He helped rake our leaves, clean our garage, and clean up after chopped down trees. He helped Cameron build a rocket launcher for a school project.

He traveled to Iowa for several Christmas and Easter celebrations.

We spent many happy summer vacations in Canada. Grandpa was always easily spotted in his Orange Tide cap, and he was always more than happy to give the kids a boat ride!

He was always up for a game of cards or Dominoes. Many, many hours were spent around a table with a deck or two of cards, or tiles for dominoes.

Lester enjoyed travelling and he was an active member of his church. He had a strong, solid, unshakable faith, that was easily evident in all he said and did. He was an encourager and supporter of his children (and their spouses), and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Even though we are all spread out, Lester and Mary managed to attend various activities and events of all of the grandchildren. He loved his family and was very proud of all of us. He didn’t hesitate to let us know that we’d done a good job, and I know that all of my kids heard some form of the words “Good job…that was nice…I’m proud of you!” from him.

Grandkids…although there are a couple of changes from this 2009 picture.

The family…again…with a few changes.

My kids have been SO blessed with a rich heritage of faith and family that they received from their grandfathers. They were both solid, sure and steady men who were secure in their salvation, and took great pride in their families. My prayer is that my own children will carry on, and continue to build on that foundation that their grandpas started, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds it all together.

Lester will be remembered for so many things…his work ethic, his story telling, his jokes and sense of humor, his steady influence, his solid faith in Christ and his love for his church and his family. His passing has left a hole in our hearts, but we are praising God for the gift of faith that Lester was given at his baptism when his parents brought him to the font as an infant. (Lester was one of those rare folks in our world who was baptized, confirmed, married and buried at the same little white country church). Because of that faith, we are secure in the knowledge that there is a glorious reunion awaiting us all in heaven…that day that WE all look forward to…when it is OUR turn to hear those words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

(As Good as) Chipotle Rice Bowl

2011-07-29T18:31:00.001-05:00

It was what was for supper tonight. And it was SOOOO yummy. It (sadly) disappeared without me taking a picture, though.

OK, now that I have it all written out, it LOOKS like a complicated meal, but really…it isn’t! It took me less than an hour to get it all together, (and much of that hour was letting the steak marinade!)

The first step is deciding whether you want a chicken bowl or a beef bowl. We had steak tonight, and wow…it was REALLY great. I’ll give instructions for both.

STEAK

juice of a lime (or about 2 T. of bottled lime juice)
2 tablespoons oil (I prefer olive)
2-3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2-3/4 t. cumin
1 chopped/minced jalapeno (we use seeds and all…if you don’t want it at all spicy, remove the seeds and ribs)
1/4 c or so of chopped cilantro

Combine marinade ingredients and pour/rub over thawed steaks. Let them sit for an hour or so. Then grill til desired doneness. Cut into fajita slices or bite sized chunks. (I used sirloin steaks…grilled til just a little pink in the middle.) That steak was AWESOME!

CHICKEN

Rub some thawed chicken breasts with taco seasoning OR chicken fajita seasoning, OR a mixture (to taste…start with a t. each of cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic salt, oregano). Grill til done. Chunk into bite sized pieces.

BLACK BEANS

Drain a can or two of black beans. Add in 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable broth. For each can of beans, add 1/2 to 1 t. each of cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper. Heat through.

CORN

Open a can or bag of corn and heat it up.

CILANTRO LIME RICE

2 T. olive oil or butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (not instant) rice
2 cups liquid (water, chicken broth, vegetable broth)
1-2 T. lime juice (more or less, depending on how “limey” you want it
1/4-1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Heat the oil (butter) in saucepan. Add garlic and rice and saute for 2-3 minutes (don’t let the garlic burn) Add liquid and lime juice. Cover and cook, following directions for the rice (usually around 20 minutes). When it’s done, (taste for lime flavor…if you want more, add a bit more lime juice), add chopped cilantro and stir to combine.

PIONEER WOMAN’S PICO DE GALLO (click link for step by step photos!)

5 whole Plum (roma) Tomatoes
1/2 whole Large (or 1 Small) Onion
3 whole Jalapeno Peppers
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Salt To Taste

Pico de Gallo:
Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.

Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.

OK…then you just put it all together!

Add rice to a plate or bowl. Top with steak or chicken, and add a spoonful or two of black beans, a spoonful or 2 of corn, a spoonful or two of Pico…or salsa. Add some cheese and sour cream if you’d like.

Some in our family prefer to eat this in a tortilla, others just eat it with a spoon or fork. YUM!

Yogurt and Cream Fruit Sauce

2011-07-18T22:46:00.001-05:00

Do you know The Pioneer Woman? http://thepioneerwoman.com/ If not, you should really sit down and take a few minutes (or rather…a few hours!) and browse through her blog and get to know her. She has an easy to understand photography section on her site, and I love to read her stories of ranching life, but far and away my favorite section of her site is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Many of her recipes have become family favorites at OUR house. Her cinnamon rolls are out of this world, and Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich is AMAZING, and her Pico de Gallo and Guacamole recipes are staples around here in the summer. Holiday Bacon Appetizers? YUM! And OOOH…the Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies…out of this WORLD!

But here is the one we are enjoying tonight…over fresh blueberries, strawberries and peaches…You really MUST try this very soon! It really couldn’t be easier!

Yogurt Cream and Berries (From Pioneer Woman Cooks)

1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2-3/4 c. brown sugar (I usually go with the 3/4 cup)

Whisk together the cream and yogurt til smooth. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly all over the top. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours. The brown sugar dissolves a bit, and…I’ll admit…it looks a little…weird…

Put your fruit in a bowl (we love it with strawberries, blueberries, peaches, grapes, raspberries…) Spoon the sauce over the top and enjoy. (You can whisk or stir the brown sugar into the cream sauce so it doesn’t look so weird, but I never do…)

Rachel was eating some tonight, and said “Mom! This is even better than ICE CREAM!”

If you want this recipe in PW’s own words (and WITH pictures, go HERE)

Enjoy!

Fishing!

2011-07-12T22:23:00.001-05:00

We got Ron a fishing license for Father’s Day. We spent the afternoon (on Father’s Day…yeah…I’m a little behind in my posting once again), fishing in a little spill off area of the Wapsipinicon River about a half an hour or so from home.

It was hot. We were expecting to catch some little bullheads. Which we did. But not before Ethan pulled in a 17-18 inch northern pike! As he was reeling it in, he said “Well! THAT’S not a little fish!

He was getting ready to try to touch it, to take it off the hook, when Ron said “Be careful! It has teeth!” That was the end of him trying to touch it!

LOVE the dimples on that kid! (Well…love the KID, too!)

It was a beautiful spot for fishing!

Kind of woody and weedy so things got tangled quite often. But it was still a good day of fishing!

This might be my favorite picture of the day

Although I kind of like this one, too

We did catch a few bullhead. Ethan thinks that, with their whiskers, they look like little Frenchmen!

What an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon!

Columbus Zoo

2011-06-13T23:56:00.001-05:00

Ethan and I had the chance to spend a day at the Columbus Zoo while we were in Ohio. Ron’s dad was in the hospital, so we were all spending lots of time there. One day, while Ron spent the day there, Ethan and I went to the zoo. It was a beautiful day for the zoo. We saw lots of animals!

SMART polar bear was cooling off in the water. It was HOT there that day!

Ethan enjoyed the bears!

And a BEAUTIFUL, regal looking eagle!

LOVED this sleepy tiger! It was hot, so most of the animals were resting in the coolest spot they could find.

Pink flamingos are my FAVORITE!

Sea Horses are COOL!

We could have spent HOURS in the aquarium!

DIPPIN’ DOTS!

In this bird house, we could buy a little cup of nectar and walk in. Ethan had this bird on his shoulder within 10 seconds of walking in the door!

Ethan and the birds

It was a great day to spend together with my youngest son! We just had FUN being together and seeing cool things!

Family Gatherings

2011-06-12T15:47:00.001-05:00

Graduations are a good time for family to get together and visit. We recently traveled to Ohio for nephew Nathan’s graduation. The weather was beautiful and the family was mostly all gathered together. The food was good and the visiting was even better!

Nathan with Grandma and Grandpa Koch

Ethan and Sarah play Corn Hole

Gene and Krista play Hillbilly Golf

Danny plays Hillbilly Golf Ronnie plays Hillbilly Golf

And Sarah plays, too…LOOK at that FORM! Avery just hung out and played it cool.

He even hung out with me for a while!

Jessica, Curtis and Avery

Martha, me, Krista and Val

Ronnie, Gene, Martha, Danny

Martha and Sarah

Gene and Krista

and family

Avery and his grandpa!

Danny and Val

Me, Ethan and Ronnie

and finally…Me and Ronnie.

Thanks, Martha, for hosting the whole crew for a few days! We enjoyed the day greatly!

Good Dog

2011-06-11T14:53:00.001-05:00

I don’t even exactly remember how it came about, but we received a phone call a little over 11 years ago. This fella’s parents had a “mostly” yellow lab puppy that was just a few months old. This puppy had a bit too much energy for his folks to handle, and he’d heard we were looking for a dog for our family. We agreed to take her.

When she arrived, she BOUNDED out of that pick up and took off running. We instantly fell in love with her. She was just 4 months old, and wow…REALLY full of energy. She was named “Sandy” but one of us in the family changed her name immediately. (Much to the dismay of the rest of the family…THEY all thought it would be awesome to have a dog named Sandy…me? Not so much!) It took us a while to settle on the spelling of her name, but KT was Ron’s choice, and it stuck.

We tried keeping KT mostly outside, but she yipped and barked all night long and we were afraid our neighbors would hate us. So we brought her in that first night. And…she never spent another night outside. We began referring to her as “Princess dog” because she would NOT go outside if it was rainy. She wouldn’t get her feet muddy! She sometimes went more than 24 hours without going potty, if it meant she could keep her feet clean!

She had been a farm dog for her first 4 months. I’m not sure if that is the reason she never once had an issue with going to the door to go outside to do her business or not. She just NEVER had an accident in the house…(well…except for the ONE time…the weekend after Thanksgiving when my sister’s family and my family went shopping and out to dinner. We came home to find an ENTIRE pumpkin pie missing…and a HUGE mess on the carpet! GROSS!!) KT was SO sheepish, and hid in her kennel for a few hours!

For the first several years, we had to work hard to keep that dog at home. If the door was open even a smidge, she’d nudge it open and work her way out and take off. My kids spent HOURS on bikes and on foot, chasing that dog down. KT always knew if she’d done wrong…she’d hide her eyes, turn her head away from us or go and lay down in her kennel. She hated disappointing us…but she just couldn’t help herself. One year, Grandma Marge brought Ethan a pretty blue birthday cake. We left it (dumb on our part!) in the middle of the table while we went to midweek. When we came home, a big (doggie sized) bite of Ethan’s birthday cake was missing! And KT was hiding in her kennel and wouldn’t look at us. (Ethan didn’t know…we hid the side with the missing cake and put candles on and sang to him and he never knew the difference)

KT made a couple of trips to Ohio with us…Once it was just her and Ron in his little blue car for the whole trip. She LOVED car rides! She went camping at split rock with us several times as well. She loved the water and had a blast retrieving her fetch toy when it was tossed in the creek or the pond. Ron and I walked that dog for miles. She never did learn to walk with us very well…she was definitely a puller and a tugger! By far, her very favorite activity in the world was playing fetch. She’d play til she literally couldn’t move any more. Then she’d rest a while, and toss that ball back to us to throw again. She spent many nights by our side with a small fire going in the back yard.

Ethan was only 1 when we got her. Those two have been buddies for 11 years. Best friends. The first thing Ethan did every morning was to pet her and feed her, and the last thing he did each night was give her a scratch and a hug good night. She knew that he was the one who would give her a treat at night. Each morning, she would lay right outside his bedroom door, waiting for him to get up to feed her and play.

While my dad was sick in Ohio, we talked to Ethan one night. He was worried about KT. He told us that her back legs just weren’t working right. Sadly that was only the beginning…very quickly…all too quickly…her back legs quit supporting her. She’d go down the steps to go potty but couldn’t get back up them. Or she’d walk across the front lawn and then her legs would quit and she’d have to just lay there til they decided to work again. We took her to the vet, but was told she had tumors that were causing her problems. We, extremely sadly, knew it was time.

KT was a great dog, and we all miss her terribly. It’s quiet around here. No one to clean up our food when it drops on the floor. No one to play fetch or walk with us. No ears to scratch. No dog laying at our feet, tripping us when we try to get up. No paws on our lap, or nose nudging our hands for a pet. We knew we’d miss her, but didn’t know quite how much. She really was a beautiful dog and a perfect fit for our family.

KT fell asleep at the vet on Monday, May 23, with me petting her and Ron scratching her ears and saying “Good dog”.

Ethan and KT, Aug. 2005

She loved playing with her kids in the snow! Jan. 07

In Wapak at Grandma and Grandpa Koch’s, with her chewed up throw toy. When traveling, that was like a security blanket for her. July 07

Same trip…never to far from Ronnie…

She always wanted to be near her people!

We often wondered what all KT did when we weren’t home…March 08

She loved being outside with us! April 08

The only furniture she ever got up on (to our knowledge) was the patio furniture…so she could better sun herself!

May, 2011

May 2011

Good Dog, KT!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

2011-06-10T23:32:00.001-05:00

I stopped buying taco seasoning a year or so ago. I used to buy a LOT of taco seasoning, because I use it in so many different ways. I was buying it in bulk at Sam’s Club, and then when I’d run out, I would buy those little packets. I found this recipe, and wow! It’s GREAT! I usually multiply it by 10 and store it in an old (BIG) container that had taco seasoning in it from Sam’s Club.

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can tweak it to your tastes. You can add more or less pepper flakes, or substitute a little cayenne pepper. You can use more or less of any of the ingredients to make it the way your family likes it. We like it just as it is…or maybe a BIT hotter, and I often reduce the salt by a bit.

I generally use close to 3 tablespoons / pound of meat. Try it. You’ll never go back to store bought packets again.

Homemade Taco Seasoning (x 5 in 1st parenthesis) (x 10 in second parenthesis)

1 tablespoon chili powder (5 T) (10 T)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (1 1/4 t.) (2 1/2 t.)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder (1 1/4 t.) (2 1/2 t.)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (1 1/4 t) (2 1/2 t.)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (1 1/4 t.) (2 1/2 t.)
1/2 teaspoon paprika (2 1/2 t.) (5 t.)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (7 1/2 t.) (5 T)
1 teaspoon sea salt (5 t.) (10 t.)
1 teaspoon black pepper (5 t.) (10 t.)

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Use approximately 3 tablespoons in place of 1 taco seasoning packet.

The Sound of Music!

2011-06-10T21:59:00.001-05:00

I LOVE The Sound of Music! When Rachel told me that was going to be the school musical, I was thrilled! She was happy to get the part of a nun (Sister Margaretta) and did an EXCEPTIONAL job! Ron and I were SO impressed with her performance! And she makes SUCH a cute nun!

Hee, hee…Rachel and Katelyn just always make me laugh! I love those girls!

Ethan also had a part in the play. He was chosen to play Friedrich, one of the Von Trapp children. He did very well, as well! We were quite pleased. He did come home and tell us “everyone LAUGHED at me when I tried to sing “Good NIGHT” and couldn’t hit the high note!” We told him to just try to ham it up and laugh at himself the next performance. Which he did! He had MULTIPLE costume changes!

The Von Trapp “uniform”

Pajamas, for the “thunderstorm” scene

Play clothes, made out of the curtains

A suit, for the evening dinner scene

Back to the “uniform”

back to the suit for the wedding

and finally….the traveling clothes.

GREAT JOB, Ethan! We really enjoyed watching you perform!

And then there was Cameron. He, also, had multiple roles.

He started in the pit.

Then he was a distinguished guest at the dinner party (an Austrian…I can’t remember his name)

Then he was a Nazi.

And…he ended up back in the pit.

Great job, Cameron! You are a man of many talents, and I enjoyed watching your performance!

S-F HS Graduation 2011

2011-06-09T22:26:00.001-05:00

Congrats to the entire class of 2011, and a special congrats to Cameron! He graduated on May 15, with honors. We had a wonderful celebration with all the family and friends who could make it!

Nathan, Caleb, Sue Ann, Madi, Ethan and Martha watched the ceremony from the bleachers, while Ron and I and Grandma Koch had floor seats!

The “dramatic pause” for photos

Cameron and Tony exit the graduation ceremony

A congratulatory hug from Rachel

Cameron and Hayley

Cameron and Madi

Nathan

the cake was DELICIOUS!

quite the crowd at Plum Creek Golf Course!

Ethan, Rachel, Cameron and Caleb

Yes, I know…I need to NOT be in the back row anymore

Caleb and Madi

Cameron and Grandma K.

Cameron, Madi and Aunt Sue Ann

Cameron and Madi

Aunt Martha, Cameron and Nathan.

Thanks to everyone who traveled so far to come help celebrate, and a huge thanks to all who worked so hard to help get this party pulled off!

And again, CONGRATS, Cameron!

Track 2011

2011-06-09T21:50:00.001-05:00

Cameron had a HUGELY successful track season, which was a great way to finish his senior year! He ran the mile and generally finished in the top half of the runners, sometimes closer to the front than others.

crossing the finish line on his final mile race!

He was also a part of an AWESOME 4 x 800 team! They made it to STATE! Way to go, fellas!

Brady, Dillon, Tony and Cameron

SF 4 x 800 State track

Prom

2011-06-09T21:38:00.001-05:00

Backing up a little ways, ‘cause with all that has gone on in the past few months, I haven’t kept up with this blog very well. I sure hope to do better now that (hopefully) things have settled down a bit. We will see…no promises!

Cameron had his senior prom in April! He looked “smashing” and I think that he and Hayley had a great time!

Cameron and Hayley

I told Cameron and Tony to “go stand in the corner so I can take your picture”. They did.

And then I made them turn around for a GOOD picture

And then Cameron and Tony and Danny made “an oreo”

And then Tony did this…and I laughed REALLY hard! Never a dull moment with these fellas around. I think my life will be too quiet next year!

Happy Prom night!

Where has the time gone?

2011-06-06T12:16:00.001-05:00

A month ago today was my dad’s funeral. So much has gone on in that time that I want to tell him…show him…I miss him every day.

I have such wonderful memories of my father in my growing up years. I couldn’t have designed a better childhood for myself. Much of our time was spent in laughter, and most of the time it was with/at dad. He kept us all in stitches. He was happy, fun-loving, steadfast and solid. I knew, without a doubt, that I was loved!

Dad and I spent much time in the back yard playing catch or the old game of Jarts or mowing the lawn. I loved the smile that lit up his face after a long stretch of mowing, when I’d walk out to relieve him with an ice cold can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in hand! When I was in Jr. high, we went on a CROP walk together…poor man walked 15 miles in a day, and then couldn’t move for the next couple of days! His words to me at that time were “Don’t you EVER tell me I never did anything with you!” Ha! I never did!

We had wonderful family week long vacations at Clear Lake. Oh, the fun! Fishing and swimming and eating and playing cards and visiting with family! We also went camping in a borrowed pop-up trailer at Buck Lake Ranch. THOSE were some great weekends! We spent entire days watching one country music performer after another! Charlie Pride, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Pardon, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Porter Wagoner, Ferlon Husky…the list could go on and on. We went to Cedar Point almost every summer. My dad wasn’t afraid to ride anything…my mom on the other hand…

Dad and mom attended all programs, church or school, that I was ever in. I was stunned (thrilled, but stunned!) the day I was induced into the National Honor Society and my dad and mom were in the crowd! My dad NEVER took time off of work in the middle of a work week! But he was there!

We were active participants in our church. We were taught the Word of God. Mom and Dad saw to it that we were in church and Sunday school. They never blinked an eye or hesitated when we said we had a youth meeting. They’d hop in the car and away we went. When it came time for confirmation class, mom and dad made sure that I was able to get there every week. Dad worked with me on studying my memory work for Sunday School and for confirmation class, and he helped me study for our Bible Quiz team in high school. Dad often went with me on youth group camping trips. Yeah, he embarrassed me sometimes, but …what dad doesn’t? I was glad he wanted to go with us! It always embarrassed me in church when the organist would play the intro to the hymn and dad would hum along (REALLY LOUDLY!)…now I really miss hearing that!

Dad and Mom came to visit me no matter where I lived. Saturday mornings at Concordia Ann Arbor would often see that little blue car drive in for a day long visit (until the time he surprised me, and brought 2 cars, he and Uncle Dave in one, and Mom and Aunt Pat in another, and left that little blue Ford Pinto with me! THAT was a huge surprise!) They visited us in Dallas, and in Chicago, in Ft. Wayne, and in Iowa (and then again in Ft. Wayne, and then again in Iowa!)

He was a great dad, and a wonderful grandfather. They came to visit those new babies as soon as they could get to them. It strikes me now, as I look back at pictures, that he was always looking at the grandchildren, instead of the camera! He loved those kids!

I learned so much from Dad. I learned to laugh (at myself or situations), I learned to have a good time no matter where I was or what was going on. I learned to give help when needed. He taught me how to drive (no WAY was Mom going to attempt that!) (And he taught me to be patient with my kids by not losing his temper when I put the car in the ditch twice in one week! Hey…it was icy!)

He taught me to love my family. Family reunions and holidays were never missed. He taught me that it is important to attend family weddings and funerals, and to just go visit when you have a chance. Sunday afternoons were always reserved for visiting Grandma or one of my aunts and uncles.

Some of my earliest memories are of him teaching me to dance. Polka dances were huge, and I learned to dance by standing on the tops of my daddy’s feet…he carried me and taught me to let go when I was ready to do it on my own…now I’ve had to let go and I’m really not ready…

The most important thing that my mom and dad did for me was when I was just 2 weeks old. At that time, they brought me to the waters of Holy Baptism at Emmaus Lutheran Church in Wauseon, OH. Through that water, combined with God’s Word, I was adopted into God’s family and given forgiveness of sins, I was rescued from death and the devil, and I was given eternal salvation. That, my friends, is the best gift my father and mother could have given me. Nothing else really matters. Because of that act on my parents’ part, I know that this goodbye is only a temporary one. While it came (for both of my parents) much, MUCH sooner than we would have wanted, we do have the assurance of that joyful reunion in heaven when God calls me home. I thank God for using my parents to bring me to faith in Him, so that we can all enjoy eternity in that mansion He has prepared for us!

my baptism day

Dad spent lots of time entertaining us by playing Grandpa Miller’s accordion!

Mom and Dad on “their” bench at the Fulton county Fair!

Me and my daddy

Allen’s Angel’s Relay for Life Lasagna Dinner and Talent Share

2011-04-11T23:16:00.001-05:00

Tonight was the 3rd annual Lasagna Dinner and Talent Share for the Allen’s Angels Relay for life team (like you couldn’t figure that out from the title of this post )

Rachel accompanied Ron on “The Rose”…one of my favorite songs ever. They did an AMAZING job…see?

Ron sings “The Rose” accompanied by Rachel

Rachel introduced herself and gave her reasons for being a Relay for Life team member (Both of her Grandpas are currently being treated for cancer)

I love listening to my daughter play the piano!

Everyone who participated in tonight’s Talent Share did a beautiful job! Way to go Allen’s Angels!

Crunchy Taco Dip

2011-04-09T21:33:00.002-05:00

Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it! Although I can freely admit that I would NEVER have made this recipe if I’d have just stumbled across it, because…well…it just sounds kinda weird. But really—you should try it. It is about the easiest thing you’ve ever put together, and it is SOOOO so good!

My sister made this when I was visiting her a couple of weeks ago. I give her the credit for the recipe, but I don’t remember where SHE got it.

1 bag cole slaw mix
1 c. (or so) sour cream
1 c. (or so) salsa
1 T (or so) Taco seasoing
2 C cheddar or Taco cheese
Nacho chips

In a large bowl, mix tao seasoning with sour cream. Add salsa and mix well. Add cole slaw and shredded cheese. Toss well. Serve with nacho chips. It's really yummy with Frito Scoops :)

6th Grade Variety Show

2011-04-06T22:12:00.001-05:00

The SF-MS 6th graders put on a wonderful Variety Show recently. Wow, we have some talented kids at our school!

Ethan made his debut performance as a baritone player! He did a great job. I’m not sure if he’s going to stick with the baritone, or go back to the trumpet. I like the photos better from the trumpet, though! With the baritone, I couldn’t see the kid!

Can you see him peeking out from that baritone?

The 6th grade choir sang a few songs, too.

And then Ethan and a group of friends were in a skit.

We really enjoyed the performances! Great job, 6th grade!

OK…how did I miss posting these?

2011-04-05T22:19:00.001-05:00

Cameron turned 18! Over a MONTH ago. I just now realized that I didn’t mention it.

He’s running again (track started!), so life is good in Cameron’s world right now. He really enjoys running. We are sure proud of all he has accomplished. He’s successfully wrapping up his senior year of high school, and plans on attending University of Iowa in the fall. He is a good kid and has a sense of humor that either has us rolling on the floor (he said something tonight and I said “Don’t be a smart aleck!” and he said “My name isn’t Alex!” ) or rolling our eyes (too numerous to even give examples!)

Happy WAY belated Birthday, Cameron!

Grandma and Grandpa Koch were visiting on Cameron’s birthday, so his request for dinner was “Grandma Koch’s Spaghetti!” Worked for me, as I worked all day, and it was GREAT to let Grandma cook dinner for us! And it was YUMMY!

His requested birthday treat? Same as it has been since he was in early elementary school. Pudding. This year, I made chocolate, vanilla and butterscotch. No candles to blow out, though, ‘cause I couldn’t make them stand up in the pudding.

We doctor the pudding up with chocolate chips and marshmallows!

It isn’t often that our kids get to celebrate a birthday with grandparents here, so it was GREAT to have Grandma and Grandpa Koch here.

After dinner here at home, Cameron’s day got even BETTER!

Birthday cake (and ice cream…and toppings…AND cookies!) at Grandma Marge and Grandpa Richard’s house!

When it’s your birthday, you have to cut the cake…

AND serve it!

Grandpa Richard, Cameron and Grandma Marge.

Middle School Jazz Band contest

2011-03-11T21:16:00.001-06:00

We were excited to have Grandpa and Grandma K. here for the MS Jazz band contest, too! Ethan had a solo and did a superb job at it! We really appreciate our MS (and HS!) Band directors for all they do!

MS Jazz Band Contest

Ethan and his friend Uriah are in deep conversation before the music begins!

HS Jazz Band

2011-03-11T18:26:00.001-06:00

The Jazz band performed at Coe College for a Jazz Band Summit. We were really glad to have Grandma and Grandpa K. here for that. It did mean an EARLY morning of leaving home to get there by the time of the performance, but it was worth it!

Jazz Band at Coe

I just love that picture of Rachel

Band, Band and more Band!

2011-03-10T21:49:00.001-06:00

This time of year, band activities tend to take over. We do enjoy it! First, there was the Parade of Bands. The High School jazz band played first.

Rachel plays tenor sax in the jazz band.

Cameron plays trumpet.

Then, the middle school jazz band played. Ethan plays the trumpet, too!

Not the most in focus picture, but Cameron and Tony just crack me up! The were “singing instrumentally” along with the MS Jazz band!

And then I got “caught” taking their picture!

And Rachel and Tiffany had to discuss how the MS Jazz band was doing.

Then we had the pleasure(?) of hearing the 5th grade band, before the 6th grade band performed.

Next was the 7th grade band, followed by the 8th grade band, and then…

the HS band…yay!

I am so thankful that God has blessed our children with the musical talent that they have! It is truly a joy to watch and listen to them perform!

Back to my regularly scheduled life

2011-02-16T19:52:00.001-06:00

Our life has taken a few unexpected twists and turns these past few months, but I think we are back to…well…whatever normal is for us. It is a great feeling!

Rachel was recognized last week for her test scores going up while participating in a fall sport. It was called “On A Roll” recognition, and was held right before the varsity girls basketball game! Go, Rachel!

Cameron and Rachel play in the pep band at home basketball games. I think it is their favorite part of being in band!

National Anthem

Forgive the shakes and the blur…I was a LONG way across the gym while trying to video the kids!

And one of our favorite songs ever!

Midnight snacks

2011-01-01T20:07:00.001-06:00

Each year after the 11 pm Candlelight service, we come home and have yummy snacks together. The ONE menu item that I’ll never be allowed to skip is stuffed mushrooms. I can’t make enough of them to last more than a few minutes! Rachel was a big help in making them this year!

STUFFED MUSHROOMS

12 large mushrooms
1/4 pound butter
1/2 c. homemade breadcrumbs
1 T. finely chopped parsley
1 T. finely chopped onion
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Generously butter a shallow baking dish. Remove stems from mushrooms, discard. Wipe the mushroom caps clean. Melt 4 T. butter...let cool a bit and then coat the mushroom caps in the butter. Place caps in baking pan. Mix bread crumbs, parsley, onion, salt, pepper and egg together. Fill each mushroom cap with mixture. Melet remaining 4 T. butter. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over each cap. Drizzle with butter. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

DELICIOUS!

Another popular item is the ever so easy Pigs in a Blanket.

For these, we just took a package of li’l smokeys and a couple of packages of crescent rolls. I cut each triangle piece of dough and cut it into thirds, and then Rachel wrapped each piece around a li’l smokey. Baked them at 375 for about 10 minutes and….mmmmmm….yummy!

And this year I made Cheesy Bacon Dip. It’s almost as good before it’s cooked as it is when it’s heated up!

CHEESY BACON DIP

1 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese (2 or 3 cups)
16 oz. sour cream
3 –4 package of real bacon pieces
1 cup of chopped green onions (tops and bottoms)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients and place in oven safe dish.
2. Cover in foil and cook for 35-45 minutes.

Never much of this stuff for leftovers!!

Everyone was VERY happy with their snacks this Christmas Eve!

I love seeing everyone so happy!!

Merry Christmas

2011-01-01T19:48:00.001-06:00

Yes, I’m just now getting around to getting our Christmas Eve photos up here. I’m sorry…I’ve been SOOOO busy…you know…staying up late…sleeping in…staying in my pj’s…doing a bit of cooking (only what’s necessary to feed the crew, though)…you know…that kind of thing. Ahhhh…I love Christmas vacation!

We had a lovely Christmas Eve. I think everyone was very happy with their gifts. I know I sure was!

As we traditionally do, we had our Children’s Christmas program at church at 7 on Christmas Eve. It went very well! The kids were SO cute! Then, we came home and had our family Christmas. My ONE picture of all 4 kids ended up blurry (I HATE that…they were even all looking at me and almost SMILING! UGH) But here are some other pictures from the evening.

Caleb got a 2 x 2 x 2 rubik’s cube!

Ethan got Lego board type game with a Great Pyramid theme.

and Ronnie got a globe…that opens up into a bar! COOL!

Ronnie and Rachel enjoy tea from his new tea set.

and we played Ethan’s new game

Ronnie studied his new globe.

Caleb and Ethan built legos together

Rachel tried on her new clothing (pj’s and a sweatshirt…how good does life get?)

and Cameron played computer games.

And then we went to church for the 11 pm candlelight service. My favorite service of the church year!

Snow Day Activities

2010-12-13T23:32:00.001-06:00

We had our first snow day of the school year today. Everyone (well, everyone but Cameron, who had a Calculus final at 8:00 am!) enjoyed sleeping in this morning.

Rachel decided to bake Grandma’s Gingerbread cookies. At least that’s what we call them around here!

She mixed:

2 c. brown sugar
1 c. shortening

until smooth and creamy. Then she added:

1 egg

and blended a bit more.

We kind of alternated the next few ingredients, adding a little liquid and a little dry ingredients.

1 c. sour milk (1 T. vinegar and then add milk to = 1 cup) with 2 T. baking soda
1 pint dark molasses
flour (enough to make a rollable consistency (up to 10 cups)
spices

1 1/2 t. anis seed
1/2 t. cardamom
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. cloves

Mix it all well and then…

plop the dough on a well floured surface and then…

roll it, roll it, roll it all out and then…

cut out the various shapes that you like.

and then put the m on the pan and bake them!

Bake them in a 350 oven for 10-12 minutes, just til firm. We don’t like them crispy!

While they are cooling, make the icing:

1 lb. powdered sugar
2 T. Crisco
1-2 t. lemon juice
water to desired concistency

Mix with mixer til it is fairly thick but spreadable.

Then, decorate! (this is one version of how we decorate. Next batch we are doing it the old way…with thin powdered sugar and milk icing and painting it on with a paintbrush!)

I LOVE baking with my daughter! We just have fun and laugh a lot! And make fun and funky and pretty cookies to share with students at Luther College Bible Study.

While we were working, we listened to Christian music radio station with lots of fun songs we love and Christmas tunes.

While WE worked, others….didn’t.

This was constructed during yesterday’s snowed in period

Cameron played Perfect World on dad’s laptop.

And Ethan played Perfect World on the Desktop computer.

Poor Ronnie was out taking his turn at shoveling snow!

What a nice December day!

Birthday Treat

2010-12-13T22:59:00.001-06:00

Rachel made me a YUMMY fruit pizza for my birthday treat yesterday. Absolutely, perfectly delicious!

She used our favorite sugar cookie recipe (we only had a LITTLE issue with the dough spreading over the edge of the pan and spilling over in the oven…and it was MY fault, not hers. I told her to roll it all the way to the edge. Now I know better for next time!)

Then she blended

1 8 oz pkg. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

until it was smooth and creamy. After the cookie/pizza was cooled, she arranged the apple slices on top. She sprinkled pecans on half. Other options would be to sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon, and/or drizzle with warm caramel ice cream topping.

What a WONDERFUL birthday treat! And the slice (or two) that I had today were JUST as YUMMY!

Thanks, Rachel!

Even my YOUNGEST is an idiot

2010-12-11T17:44:00.001-06:00

(said in the MOST loving manner and tone possible, of course!) He’s outside shoveling the driveway. It’s dark, still snowing and 25* outside. For my first snap of the camera, the settings weren’t quite right, so this is the shot I got.

Yeah. It’s snowing that hard. You can kind of see Ethan’s orange coat (at least he was wearing a COAT!)

But THIS is the picture I was trying to get (again…maybe a bit fuzzy because the settings weren’t quite right…)

Yep. Coat, hat, gloves, boots…and SHORTS! Sigh…

Kid! Didn’t your parents teach you ANYTHING in your 12 years?

I just gotta love him!

Blustery, Snowy, Blizzardy type of day

2010-12-11T14:56:00.001-06:00

Well…winter has hit NE Iowa, that’s for sure. Of course the OTHERS in my family think it is fun and amazing and wonderful! I, on the other hand…well…DON’T. Rachel wanted to go climb the tree for some pictures…

It started snowing at around 11 this morning (after a little rain/freezing rain) I took these at around 1:30 or so. It has been a heavy, heavy snow, with what sounds like several hours more to go.

Then, she talked her brother into going out with her and make a snowman.

The boy sure does love his dog!

And I think the feeling is mutual!

OK…and one last video for today….we are now all inside and toasty warm!

Ethan and KT playing fetch in the snow

Straight No Chaser - The Christmas Can-Can (Single Edit)

2010-12-11T14:03:00.000-06:00

A friend (thanks, Jen!) shared this on her blog and I just have to say I LOVE it! We've chuckled at it several times around here in the past couple of days! Hope you enjoy it, too!

Teaching moments…

2010-12-04T20:32:00.001-06:00

I spent a delightful afternoon with my daughter! She’s a lovely girl, inside and out, and I had SO much fun with her today, teaching her how to make cinnamon rolls. I have yet to find a bad recipe from the Pioneer Woman, so I chose her AMAZING cinnamon roll recipe to use to start Rachel on.

Here are the results. Please don’t drool on your computer while you look at these pictures. Drool is kinda nasty to clean off of a keyboard.

yeah…there are four pans of them in this picture. That’s just because the OTHER two pans are still in the oven. Did I mention that PW’s AMAZING cinnamon roll recipe makes SIX or SEVEN pans of cinnamon rolls??

Yum!!! I can’t WAIT for breakfast!

My Family

2010-11-29T23:09:00.001-06:00

The love of my life!

Caleb (19), Rachel (15), Ethan (12) and Cameron (17)

Goofs!

But how I love them!

Grandpa’s Button Box

2010-11-29T22:57:00.001-06:00

Cameron agreed to have Sr. pictures taken, if Aunt Sue Ann would promise to let him borrow Grandpa Miller’s button box. Well, he did, and so….

she did! She brought it out last weekend, and he has hardly put it down since. He’s having a blast with it!

Here’s a “rough draft” after just an hour or so of trying to figure the thing out.

Thanksgiving Fun

2010-11-29T22:21:00.001-06:00

Once again, my sister and her family made the trip from Ohio to Iowa to visit us for Thanksgiving. They arrived Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, on Friday morning, the barn where my BIL stores his farm equipment burned down. They lost most of their tractors/combines/etc. So Bill drove back home to Ohio on Friday to assess the damage and see what could be done. We missed him for our big dinner and the opening of our Christmas gifts! But were glad that Sue Ann and the kids stayed with us!

KT was thrilled with all the excitement!

Rachel and Madi during the Nerf war!

Ethan and Jordy in the Nerf War

(Bill and Caleb were not photographed…they were in hiding!)

Ron and Caleb deep fried a turkey…YUM!

The best turkey EVER!!

Look how they’ve GROWN!!

Cameron, Madi, Caleb, Rachel

Ethan and Jordan

Madi was happy with her Blythe set of littlest pet shop!

Jordan got a RC hotwheels car. He was happy with it, too!

Ethan got an Iowa Snuggy!!!! It’s AWESOME!!!

Rachel got 120 crayons!!! She was SOOOO happy!

Cameron got an accordian! HE was very happy, too!

Caleb got a mirrored rubik’s cube! Talk about excited!!!

Big time RUSH!

Fun times with FAMILY!

No Thanksgiving is complete without PUMPKIN PIE!

And Rachel made it this year! It was DELICIOUS!

SO glad you all came to visit. Sorry it was such a short one! Can’t wait to see you all again!

Passport Photo needed

2010-11-29T21:53:00.001-06:00

Caleb needed me to take a picture of him for a passport application. His LAST passport photo was when he was just a few weeks old. He’s only changed a little since then!

He is hoping to travel to South Korea with his church, St. Paul’s Chapel in Iowa City sometime next August. The group will spend about 2 weeks teaching Vacation Bible School. There are still lots of details to be worked out, so really, that’s about all we know of the plans, other than that it will be expensive! We will surely keep you posted as more details become finalized!

Yummy Hummus!

2010-11-19T17:03:00.001-06:00

My AMAZING daughter was in FCS (Family Consumer Science) class this past trimester. The BEST thing that happened in that class by far, was that she brought home a recipe for hummus. It isn’t the traditional recipe, because it doesn’t have tahini in it, but that is WAY ok with me, because I never have tahini in the house.

She’s made this for us a couple of times and Rachel, Ron and I just gobble it up. We like it with crackers and pita chips and pretzel chips and melba toast. YUM!

Extra Easy Hummus

1 (15 oz) can chick peas/garbanzo beans, drained, juice reserved
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
1 T olive oil

In blender or food processor, combine garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, salt and olive oil. Blend on low speed, gradually adding reserved bean liquid, until desired consistency is achieved (add it slowly and check consistency often…you don’t want it to be too runny!)

Halloween Fun part 2

2010-11-13T23:09:00.001-06:00

We had a surprise waiting for us when we got to Erik and Kelly’s. Aidan had constructed a TOILET out of cardboard. Ethan and Aidan decided to go to the Halloween costume contest as that toilet and a plumber. It was SOOO funny! They did great! They won FIRST place in the contest for their age group! Way to GO!

Ethan, the “Leak Geek” (yes…we got the kid a new plunger)

Isn’t this a CLEVER piece?

a “hole” for the candy to go down!

The prize winners!

Of course, WE think BOB is a first place winner, too!

Halloween FUN!!

2010-11-10T18:52:00.001-06:00

We traditionally spend some time around Halloween with our friends Erik and Kelly and their boys. Sometimes Kelly and the kids travel up this way, but this year, it worked out that some of us went to Missouri. Cameron and Erik have been planning a fishing trip for this weekend since JULY! Fortunately the weather co-operated, and they got two SOLID days of fishing. They didn’t catch a lot, but they did catch some fish!

Ethan and I just enjoyed hanging out at the house (well…Kelly and I DID manage to get a yummy lunch at a local Mexican restaurant…THANKS, Kelly!) and we did some shopping, and lots of talking and cooking and visiting.

Adam is a charmer!

He’s painting the nose of Bob the Tomato

for his AMAZING Bob the Tomato Halloween Costume. Didn’t it turn out GREAT? Kelly did all the sewing and creating…I helped out a little with the face. We were thrilled with how it came out!

Ethan and Aidan spent an hour or two carving their pumpkins.

pondering….

and cutting

and scooping

and…the finished product!

yeah…he’s an 11 year old boy! Ugh!

The end…

2010-11-10T18:31:00.001-06:00

I’m trying to not be bothered when Cameron does something for “the last time” as his senior year quickly goes on by. But…I’m not having much luck.

After 4 years, and hundreds and hundreds of miles of running…

THE END

of Cameron’s cross country career.

I cried.

Go HAWKEYES

2010-11-10T18:19:00.001-06:00

Sights seen in and around Iowa City this fall…

Caleb was able to go to the State Marching Band contest with us!

And then we took him back to Burge…

Ethan often tries to find a reason to NOT attend these events with us, UNLESS we are going to see Caleb. Then, he’s the first one in the car!

Rachel and Ethan with Herky at Family weekend, after eating a delicious meal at the Engineering Building! The Engineering Dept. hosted an AWESOME tailgate party for the families of Engineering students!

We always enjoy visiting Caleb at his home away from home.

My second son...

2010-11-08T22:17:00.002-06:00

makes me LAUGH!!

After his band concert tonight, he climbed into the car with me. My first question is (after telling him how great the concert was, of course) "How was your day?"

"Good...." he answered. "I learned that I can fit 44 tootsie rolls in my mouth at one time. and I can chew them all up at once without sptting any out! And it takes THREE class periods to chew up 44 tootsie rolls!"

Sigh. I'm so glad my son is getting a good education!

And Marching Band, too!

2010-10-17T13:05:00.001-05:00

Marching Band season has come and gone already! It ended up on a pretty good note, with the Pride of SF receiving a Division II rating (just a couple of points shy of a I!) at State contest! They played the music from Wicked. Great job band!

Love it when I can get 2 in one picture!!!

This was Friday night after running the game ball from Sumner to the ‘burg. For the school song and National Anthem, they just wore their XC uniforms. Then, they went to shower and change in to marching band uniform.

except the Seniors…they got to be “cool”.

Sorry for the blurry, fuzzy pictures. It’s hard to get good pictures at night in a football stadium :)

Our band ROCKS!

Football Fans!

2010-10-17T12:52:00.001-05:00

We cheer the Iowa Hawkeyes on for every game, but they aren’t the ONLY team around here (contrary to what some may think :-) The S-F Green team plays almost every Sunday, and Ethan is having a very successful season! They’ve only lost one game! Woo HOO!

Football photography is a bit tougher than cross country, LOL. I never quite know where to focus the camera! Here are a few shots of the season. Ethan is #60!

Great job, SF Green team! I’m proud of you, Ethan! It’s been fun to watch you play football!

Cross Country Season

2010-10-17T12:23:00.001-05:00

Wow…Rachel’s cross country season is OVER, and Cameron most likely has just one more cross country race in his high school career. I SO love watching my kids run! They’ve really made me proud this year (well, every year, of course)!

RACHEL

don’t know HOW she can smile after running like that!

see Ronnie and Ethan there cheering her on?

GREAT JOB RACHEL!!

CAMERON

Yes. I know. He needs a haircut!

sprinting to the finish…

I’m PROUD of you guys!

OK…Ummm…

2010-10-17T11:58:00.001-05:00

that jazz band thing was WAY last winter. I have no idea while it just now posted. I’m REALLY confused…LOL Maybe it published itself to remind me to post something newer than AUGUST!

High School 2A Jazz Band Festival

2010-10-17T11:57:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning found most of us up and moving before we REALLY wanted to, for a trip to our high school for State Jazz Band festival. Our kids performed at 9:20. They were GREAT! They have missed SO many practices due to bad weather…so for the amount of time they had to practice, I was quite impressed!

Rachel, Katelyn, Cameron and Karly…the back row kept things together! :-)

Rachel, Katelyn and Cameron

Rachel and Katelyn play their improv duet…may were they GOOD!!!

Cameron and one of his solos. You rock, Cameron!

Cameron’s solo…he only practiced a couple of days due to his early morning class…but he did AWESOME!

Cameron and one of his best friends, Justin. Oh, the things those two think of…in fact…right now…I think they are thinking…”OK, when we are done here, let’s go to Justin’s house and make mashed potatoes with chocolate milk!” ‘cause that is what they did later that day. They made instant potatoes, and used chocolate milk instead of the milk AND the water!! Ewwwwwwwwww!!!!

Julie and I don’t even ASK them what they are doing any more!

Thanks for playing in the band, guys. We really enjoyed hearing you play!

LCMS National Youth Gathering-New Orleans

2010-08-04T17:20:00.001-05:00

Ron and I were blessed beyond belief to be able to attend the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans with a group of our youth from church. The weather was HOT, hot, HOT, but the gathering was just amazing. Our kids were awesome, we attended some super Bible Studies, workshops and mass events.

Our family group for the week.

The kids, after a 17 or so hour bus ride!

The girls relaxed by the fountain and cooled off while waiting for Pastor to bring their bookbags :)

This was the point where Ron was saying “Wow…I’m glad there are only 15 of us!”

Sunday’s servant event…clean up at a theraputic horse farm.

We ate jambalaya and cajun potatoes

and gumbo (and alligator, but no one got a picture of that one :-)

Martha and I made a no sew blanket.

That was given away within MINUTES of completion, to a mom who lives in the 9th ward, for her 8 year old daughter in her new room! How cool is THAT?

No words for this one…

every night we gathered in Martha’s HUGE room for a “debriefing” of our day and to go over everyone’s plans for the next day. One of the highlights of each day!

Nephew Nathan (traveled with our group) Nephew Aaron (traveled with his Indiana group) and Cameron got to meet up.

We fought a crowd of 25,000 going into and out of the Stadium each evening!

Rachel got to meet up with the Indiana cousins (and girlfriend :) for a few moments, too!

The view from our seats.

Our kids got to help hand out boom whackers. Yeah…25,000 people with boom whackers. Interesting…

We always tried to keep our eyes on the guy in the Indiana Jones hat! Helped us keep track of him in the crowd!

We got to ride the cable car

and shop in the French Market!

And got to go for a riverboat ride.

and pose with the locals, before heading on the bus toward home!

Lovin’ my Garden!

2010-08-04T16:48:00.001-05:00

This is what came in yesterday! Pico de Gallo here we come!!!

Of course, I won’t use ALL of the jalapenos in this batch. That might be a BIT hot, even for my heat lovin’ family!

Besides throwing them into some yummy pico, our favorite thing to do with these jalapeno peppers is to slice them in half and stuff them with a mixture of cream cheese, bacon bits, onion powder and garlic powder and then grill them til the bottoms are blackened and nicely roasted. YUMMMM. We’ve eaten oodles of those this year, and from the looks of the pepper plants…we’ll be grilling some more up soon!

Jalapenos and Hibiscus

2010-07-14T13:29:00.001-05:00

I LOVE alliteration and although these to words don’t LOOK like they would – um- alliterate? – I think they sound fun together :-)

It is HOT outside today. I mean…HOT! And humid. Like you step outside and hit a wall of heat and your glasses steam up and you kind of wilt and instantly are soaked with sweat kind of hot and humid. AND I LOVE IT! (especially when I return to my air conditioned house, LOL) I just LOVE summer and the heat and humidity. I’m just so happy.

And so is my hibiscus. It is definitely getting the hot, humid, wet, tropical weather these days. And it shows!

I picked this hibiscus tree up at Sam’s Club this spring. It hung out in my bathroom for a while, ‘cause the temperature outside wouldn’t stay above 50. I worried about it for a while, because all the flowers bloomed and then fell off and it was just this plain tree. But when I moved it outside and it got LOTS of rain and now the heat…well..just LOOK at what it has done! SEVEN beautiful blooms on it!

And speaking of HEAT….

we are sure hoping these babies produce some! LOOK at what came out of my GARDEN today! Aren’t they beautiful???? We are hoping for lots more off of our 8 jalapeno plants :) But we are thrilled with this beginning!

Ahhhh…summertime. I am SO happy!!

Mall of America—revisited

2010-07-10T12:10:00.001-05:00

Since we have 3 kids working at the pool, it is REALLY difficult for them all to get any length of time off together. So our “family” vacation this summer consists of doing things individually with each kid, as they come up with ideas. We spent that week in South Dakota with Ethan (and he went to Ohio with me, and then again with is dad…he’s almost as much of a traveler as Ron and I are this summer!) Ron took Cameron fishing yesterday, and they’ll probably do that again a few times (as soon as Ronnie replaces that fishing pole…yeah…things didn’t go so well yesterday :-)

Rachel’s idea was the Mall of America. Ron suffered through it once already this summer with me…and that was more than enough for him. So, Rachel and I took off on Wednesday morning and headed a few hours north. We hit IKEA ( LOVE that store!!) and Kohls (no tax on shoes or clothing in MN, ya know!) and then relaxed at the hotel for the evening (well…by the time we got done at Kohls, there wasn’t much evening left…we pretty much crashed.

After getting up on Thursday just in time to hit the hotel breakfast, we headed to the mall with a “shop til we drop” mentality. We had a great time! We mostly browsed (except at Old Navy…the girl NEEDED more flip flops, ya know…she’s only got a dozen pair or so!) and enjoyed our day together.

In the …well…it used to be Camp Snoopy, but now it’s Nickelodeon something…area, there is a butterfly garden that you can go in for just $2. THAT was fun! Here are some pictures from that.

I think this is my favorite one! I love this setting on my camera! Doesn’t it just look COOL?

We left the Mall in the early evening, headed back to our hotel and did the hot tub/pool thing for a little while. Then crashed early, ‘cause we had to get up and hit the road the next morning for Rachel to get to work at the pool. Whew…what FUN we had!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CALEB!!

2010-07-07T01:10:00.001-05:00

Wow…19 years! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday when you were

And just look at the young man you’ve grown into!

You are strong, intelligent, kind and thoughtful and I’m so proud of the young man you are! I can’t wait to see what God has planned for you next!

Ron and Ethan are at my sister’s in Ohio tonight, so they missed out on all the fun! We missed them! We went to Planet X in Cedar Rapids.

Oh, this just makes me laugh out loud! The game SO wasn’t going her way!

Love my kids! Miss you, Ethan!

They also did this spinny bike thing…to see how many times you can spin the bike completely around in 1 minute!

Isn’t she just so CUTE? :-)

Caleb finally got birthday treats at about 11:45 pm! BUT…the accordian was worth the wait!

it was a GREAT sister who made the treats for him!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!!

Lunch at the Barn

2010-07-07T00:35:00.001-05:00

Absolutely NOTHING beats Sunday dinner at the Barn Restaurant at Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio, unless it is Sunday dinner with GREAT friends and CUTE babies! Well..I can hardly call Autumn a baby any more…she’s gonna be a big sister VERY soon!

Lisa and I enjoyed the buffet lunch with Dad and Dorothy and our dear friends Steve and Kathy, Travis, Landon, Kasey and Autumn. We missed Ashley, Anthony and Mason…but they were busy making hay (while the sun shined, ya know :-)

Kasey and Landon

Travis, Autumn and Steve.

and we added Kathy in this one :-) Thanks for coming to meet us for lunch! It was GREAT to see you all!

Happy Birthday Party Day, Sue Ann!

2010-07-07T00:25:00.001-05:00

Lisa and I arrived at Sue Ann’s party right around the 5:00 pm start time! My brother-in-law saw me and said “Hey! You aren’t supposed to be here!” My sister just said “Well! If you were trying to surprise me, it didn’t work. I’m NOT surprised you came! I figured you would get here if you could!” Madi, my niece FLEW … almost literally…I don’t think her feet hit the floor from all the way across the room! SHE was surprised! As was my nephew Jordan. He heard me call his name, after he arrived from his baseball game, and said “Hey! That voice sounds familiar!” What fun birthday parties are! My dad and step-mother also said “We thought you would try to get here if you could!”

It was really fun to visit with Sue Ann’s friends, my family and also a couple of old friends from my youth group days at church!

me and Madi Lou!

me and Jordan

David, Sue Ann, Ross and me

I’m not telling WHAT birthday it was…but it was a BIG one :)

Dad and Dorothy

Ross and Sue Ann

Sisters…

Thankfully the photographer was zoomed in and you can’t really SEE the bunny ears!

Sue Ann, Dorothy, Dad and me

I’m thankful that Lisa made the road trip with me!

You don’t wanna KNOW how many pictures I had to take to get one where Bill wasn’t doing something…well…STUPID! :-)

yeah…I don’t know…

Happy “almost” birthday, Sue Ann!

Another Road trip

2010-07-06T23:11:00.001-05:00

Ok, so my sister was having a big birthday party on Saturday the 3rd. A BIG birthday…and a BIG party. I wasn’t planning on making the trip to Ohio yet again, having just been there in May for a confirmation and June for a graduation. I had no one to help me drive…and I just couldn’t face that road trip alone again. So I had RSVP’d my regrets for the party.

But…my friend Lisa called me last Wednesday and said “I don’t have to work Friday or Monday and I want to DO something. What are you doing this weekend?” I said … “Well…this might not be what you had in mind, but…my sister is having this big party on Saturday and I wasn’t going to go, but if I had another driver…” And Lisa said “OK…let’s go!”

Wow…so by Friday morning, she and I were on Interstate 80 headed east! What a great time we had! We stopped in Mishiwaka, Indiana for the night, where we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Papa Vino’s Italian restaurant (he was our second choice, because the Chinese place was closed for a vacation…but wow…it was a GREAT second choice!) and an evening in the Hampton Inn (my hotel of choice!) It was a great hotel, other than the ice machine directly across the hall (according to Lisa anyway…I never heard it, LOL)

We spent Saturday morning visiting the Amish area of Shipshiwana. It was HOT, but we enjoyed our shopping there! Lisa treated me to a buggy ride touring the area!

What a smile!

An enjoyable morning spent in another beautiful part of God’s creation!

We wrapped things up there and headed on to NW Ohio just in time for…

(continued in next post!)

My lovely yard!

2010-07-06T22:58:00.001-05:00

I just love spring and summer time, and watching all the flowers and plants blossom and bloom and grow in my yard! I sometimes grumble about weeding, but it’s worth it when I can enjoy the fruits of my labor :)

I also enjoy photography and playing with different settings on my camera :)

fisheye

mineature (Isn’t that COOL?)

fisheye again

FUN!

I LOVE my hibiscus flowers!!! Well…I just love them all!

Youth Group Trip to Valley Fair

2010-07-06T22:44:00.001-05:00

June 28th was the Minnesota South District’s Lutheran Day at Valley Fair. We had a crew from our church that went, including all SIX of our family. It was a gorgeous day…a bit chilly and cloudy in the morning, but it cleared up nicely and we all had a great time!

Ethan and Ron…front seat of the Renegade! Ethan likes those front seats!

climbing….(yeah…Ethan and Ron are in the front seat again! And NO..I’m not a chicken! I went on it, too. I just went a few trains ahead of them :-)

almost to the top…

and on the way DOWN….(yes, Martha…this is where I screamed!)

This is one of the Valley Fair photographer guys…that wants to take your picture so you can buy it later. Sam grabbed my camera and said “Hey…can I take your picture?”

The guys…Caleb, Sam, Cameron, Danny, Ron and Ethan.

And yeah…I forgot to get a picture of the girls!

Ethan at the top of the world! Or…at least the top of Valley Fair!

This ride spins, shakes, rattles and rolls! Wow it was FUN!

That’s our girls on there. This is one ride I said “NO THANKS” to!

They insisted it was “an AWESOME ride!” I just enjoyed it from the ground!

Thanks, Minnesota South District, for hosting such a FUN day!

The END of this Vacation

2010-07-06T21:58:00.001-05:00

was marked, as most of our vacations are, by supper at Dairy Queen :) We stopped at the one in Blue Earth, MN…marked by…

Ron and Ethan and I had a wonderful time together. The weather was perfect almost all the time and we were able to see some beautiful parts of our country that were hand molded by our amazing Creator! What fun to look out over all of these beautiful things, and see the hand of God in them! We are thankful for the beauty He created, and the opportunity to see it first hand!

Wyoming-Devil’s Tower

2010-07-06T21:53:00.001-05:00

Since we were SO close to the edge of the state, we headed west JUST a little more and went to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming on Thursday. Another simply GORGEOUS day!

and another OH so cute Prairie Dog Town! HUNDREDS of the little critters!

I think THIS might be my very favorite photo of the trip :)